Medium or no medium???? - Orchid Board

Candice · #1 08-14-2007, 12:29 AM

I will be receiving my first vanda here in a few weeks and I want to care for it properly.
So I am guessing that wood slatted baskets are the preferred? Is this correct?

Then do you prefer any medium in the basket?

Just the Vanda?

A lil bark/charcoal....sphag moss?

Does anyone have

to give me an idea also???

I know lots of light...and LOTS OF H2O! I have that pasrt down. And to dunk the basket with the Vanda into a bucket of H2O, rainwater preferred, once a day when dry.
I tried going through the threads and reading in different books and websites, to include AOS, but nothing really about the preferred medium.

Thanks in advance for the advice

I HEAR I'M GONNA NEED IT FOR A VANDA!!!!

Candice · #2 08-14-2007, 11:44 PM

Does anyone like me

No one wants to post their opinion on these questions for me so I can get an idea????

PLEASE HELP

somebody....anybody????

Maybe its not clear:

I NEED HELP. 1ST VANDA. ME DUMB.

justatypn · #3 08-14-2007, 11:51 PM

I will help you, not well versed on these guys but can give you a hint of what I do...

Dunking is good

I have 2 in wooden baskets and grow indoors being in a condo, but I do have sphag within the basket to help prolong the moisture because watering is always a challenge. Once a day, twice if I can work it in.

Hope this helps a bit, maybe other vanda lovers cna chime in on there experiences....

flhiker · #4 08-15-2007, 12:24 AM

Hi Candice, I'm very new to orchids but I do have 2 vandas and 1 is in a basket with coconut liner and bark mix and the other 1 is a clay pot with bark mix, and are doing great new roots and new leafs, I understand that vanda's like water so I water mine everyday (they are outside) except when it rains and fertilize every 2 weeks with half strength of First Rays liquid orchid. I hope this helps and someone with more experience chimes in

Palito · #5 08-15-2007, 03:26 AM

some use large pieces of charcoal and the plants stay in the pots indefinitely. some use a bit of moss very loose on the roots. The usual way is bare root. As you know this plant demands a lot of water to thrive.

Any alternative will work. So it's really up to you and your watering habits and where the plant is going to be located. My vandas are outdoors bareroot but in winter it is problematic to water them when they're in the house.

Candice · #6 08-15-2007, 03:46 PM

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS!!!

FLHICKER~ Thanks for the pictures! They are great and really appreciated!
I am sure once I get started with it, when it comes home in a few weeks, I will have more questions....now I have to buy its container.....
THANKS AGAIN AND STILL WELCOMING OTHER COMMENTS!!!

Candice · #7 08-15-2007, 05:56 PM

Gin, Thanks for answering...Dennis referred you and recommends that I follow you since you grow Vandas well. It is a Mokara Chark Kuan Orange.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ayphotohosting
That's a similiar one. Any kind of bark you are saying? Not necessarily orchid bark, right? What feed do you use, does it matter as long as it is ok for orchids? So you don't feed every time you water?
My level of humidity here can get to 80%, which is the current status, and as low as 50%.

Candice · #8 08-15-2007, 05:59 PM

Oh and Gin, for soaking them once a day, you just take the entire basket and soak it in the bucket, but for how long? Just the roots right?
Thanks!!!

LILROCORCHIDS · #9 08-15-2007, 08:48 PM

HELLO I'M NEW TO ORCHID BOARD . I HAVE A BUNCH OF VANDA'S SOME JUST ATTACHED TO A WIRE ,SOME IN SLAT BASKET WITH NOTHING, SOME IN SLAT BASKET WITH COCONUT HUSK FIBER , SOME IN SLAT BASKET LINED WITH COCONUT HUSK WITH BARK MIX ,SOME IN SLAT WITH LARGE CHARCOAL CHUNKS AND OTHERS IN SLAT WITH HYDROPONIC MEDIA . THEY ALL WORK IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE CONDITIONS ,IF YOU HAVE ENOUGH HUMIDITY THEN YOU DON'T NEED MEDIA . I MOSTLY LIKE TO USE COCONUT HUSK IN A SLAT BASKET .

HOPE THIS GIVES YOU SOME HELP , IF YOU WANT MORE INFO LET ME KNOW.

ROCCO

Cory001 · #10 08-15-2007, 08:54 PM

I just grow mine on a wire, but I grow mine in a greenhouse. I have a misting system that keeps up the humidity. I spray the roots with a fertilizer mix.