Me & my HUGE vanda

[makaldoy]

On all of my collection this one (V. Madame Rattana x V. Kimigayo) is the most huge, fast growing and indeed space hog on my limited growing space. As you can see roots are looped and tied to keep it in manageable size and to prevent it from being damaged and scratched on the floor. You can imagine how tall this Vanda when those roots are not looped.



(Sorry for blurred image. I used my phone camera)

He is now candidate to be re-potted in a bucket with lots of drain hole.

[Triffid]

That's just awesome!
Thanks for letting us see

[Paul Mc]

Oh WOW! Speachless!

[fishmommy]

nice work!
I have one like that as well - about 8 feet from tip to tail.

If you don't enter shows with that one, you should! Culture awards will follow you like flies!

[Junebug]

Wow, that's a gorgeous specimen. Do you have bloom photos from this plant?

I have a question. I have a rather large vanda. It's probably about one foot shorter than your plant and over the past 2 years it has produced 2 keikis which I left attached. The keikis have roots but have not yet bloomed and the mother plant hasn't spiked in about 6 months. In all aspects my vanda appears to be otherwise healthy. Finally the question: Did you notice a lapse of spikes during keiki production by the mother plant? Thanks.

[makaldoy]

Thanks for your appreciation.

@ fishmommy

Yes indeed yours is also huge and her flowers are gorgeous too. It really deserves to be awarded.

[makaldoy]

@June

I think my situation with this vanda is similar to yours.

It's common, but not always for vanda not to bloom when it carries one or several keikis. Maybe the motherplant focus on supporting keikis rather than sending out spikes.

I also said not always because my V. Rothschildiana that carries two keikis still bloomed to me for two times in a year. Probably the keikis of my Rothschi produced a lots of root and now the motherplant might not care about them even if they are still attached.

[Junebug]

Originally Posted by makaldoy

@June

I think my situation with this vanda is similar to yours.

It's common, but not always for vanda not to bloom when it carries one or several keikis. Maybe the motherplant focus on supporting keikis rather than sending out spikes.

I also said not always because my V. Rothschildiana that carries two keikis still bloomed to me for two times in a year. Probably the keikis of my Rothschi produced a lots of root and now the motherplant might not care about them even if they are still attached.

Thank you. You're response has eased my mind. This particular vanda was actually stubborn to initiate her first successful spike. There were 4 undersized aborted spikes before her first successful one. This was followed by 4 blooming spikes during the next 12 months. After intiating her first and second keiki she still spiked but with less frequency. Her largest keiki has grown large enough to bloom, but like mom, has aborted 4 mini spikes. Rainfall has been scarce this year so I've been supplementing by hand watering 2 or 3 times a day. I suspect this large vanda will overcome her slump with longer sessions of drenching rainfall.

Again, I'd like to thank you. It was not my intention to hijack your thread, only to compare notes with another grower of large mature vandas.

Would still love to see photos of your plant in bloom.

[makaldoy]

This has not bloomed yet since I bought it last year. Its flower is almost similar to this without that purplish margin and also saucer sized blooms.

[WhiteRabbit]

WOW!
that's amazing!