Vandas in Glass Vases

[wintergirl]

More vanda types in clay pots and chunky bark.

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by wintergirl

More vanda types in clay pots and chunky bark.

They look great! I've killed Vandas in bark before, so I'm sticking with the vase method for now.

[ellie6439]

Hello everyone,
I just got a beautiful vandacious orchid last week and I made an enclosed container made of two plastic planter covers sandwiching my orchid in between the covers. I placed a humidity tray inside to attempt humidifying the containment. I'm hoping this can work with my orchid since I live in NY and I really want to keep her alive. I've been soaking the roots for at least 15 minutes about 3 days straight, I guess reading the posts I should cut it down to once a week. I received the orchid with buds and has since opened 2 buds. How else can I keep my orchid happy and alive?

[orchid lover leslie]

Good Idea

I purchased a vanda a while ago and she just was not doing very well ( in bark). In fact, she looked like I was going to lose her ;(

So I heard that they love lots of moisture, so I thought what the heck. I soak her daily for about 5 - 15 minutes a day. I am please to say she now has a spike with 6 buds !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. I am from the Chicagoland area.

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by ellie6439

Hello everyone,
I just got a beautiful vandacious orchid last week and I made an enclosed container made of two plastic planter covers sandwiching my orchid in between the covers. I placed a humidity tray inside to attempt humidifying the containment. I'm hoping this can work with my orchid since I live in NY and I really want to keep her alive. I've been soaking the roots for at least 15 minutes about 3 days straight, I guess reading the posts I should cut it down to once a week. I received the orchid with buds and has since opened 2 buds. How else can I keep my orchid happy and alive?

If you haven't, read this thread all the way through, starting from the beginning. There are good growers of wonderful Vandas in NY using the vase method.

Good air circulation, plentiful watering, heavy fertilizing and very bright light short of burning are FAR more important to Vandas than is humidity. I would not enclose them inside anything. It would be risking rot. Buds or flowers formed in high-humidity conditions might be harmed by sudden switches to low humidity, but the plants will not be, provided you water them enough.

If you want to raise the humidity around them, get an ultrasonic humidifier. These have been discussed in this thread.

Even in high-humidity areas like southern Florida, growers water them almost every single day, unless they are wet from rain, throughout the year. They water twice a day during hot spells. So, soaking your plant for 15 minutes, once a day, is not too much. I spray my plants' roots twice per day, morning and evening, and soak their roots overnight every 3-4 days.

You can tell whether your plant is getting enough water by the condition of the leaves. Fine linear wrinkles indicate insufficient water.

If you are fertilizing enough, watering enough, and it is over 60 degrees, your plant should be constantly making new leaves. The higher the temperature, the faster they can grow.

[ellie6439]

thanks everyone!
@estacion seca: was reading back through slowly to get more ideas and am very motivated to keep her in the vase (y)

[ce81ar]

I have found over the summer the best way to keep my vanda happy was to hang it in our shower cubicle and hold it under the spray when running the cold water through before showering. Our bathroom is east facing in the south of the UK so quite light during the summer. It reflowered over the summer and has just lost the last of those flowers now.

[Rothrock42]

I have had a V. Fuchs 'Ruby' for a couple of months now. Trying to grow in my house on a window sill. It hasn't been declining, but it isn't thriving either.

I read this thread (well big chunks of it anyways) and decided to give the vase thing a go. I got a 24" tall 6" diameter glass vase and suspended the basket at the top. There are several roots that hang about halfway down the vase. I filled the vase up with water and let it soak for about 15 minutes and then drained all the water out. After that a fraction of an inch of water dripped down to the bottom.

So far so good.

Today was sunny and I was hoping that the water in the bottom would get warm and evaporate. I have a digital temp/hygro with a remote probe. So I dropped that down into the vase. It was reading 80 with 57% humidity. Not sure how accurate it is, but when the probe wasn't in the vase it was readying 72 and 62%.

And of course that is just a one day test. I'll keep monitoring it and see how things go. Just wondering if anybody has any advice?

[estación seca]

I advise you to keep going!

You'll learn how often you need to water by watching the plant. If it wrinkles you should be watering more. A 15-minute soak now and then may be enough, or you might need to do longer soaks more frequently. The plant will tell you.

As to fertilizer, they need much more than other orchids. There is supposed to be a 1 centimeter / 0.4 cm band of light green new growth at the base of the emerging leaf. If it isn't that wide, up the nitrogen. They will grow faster in higher temperatures than yours, but then it's winter.

[jcec1]

Originally Posted by Rothrock42

I have had a V. Fuchs 'Ruby' for a couple of months now. Trying to grow in my house on a window sill. It hasn't been declining, but it isn't thriving either.

I read this thread (well big chunks of it anyways) and decided to give the vase thing a go. I got a 24" tall 6" diameter glass vase and suspended the basket at the top. There are several roots that hang about halfway down the vase. I filled the vase up with water and let it soak for about 15 minutes and then drained all the water out. After that a fraction of an inch of water dripped down to the bottom.

So far so good.

Today was sunny and I was hoping that the water in the bottom would get warm and evaporate. I have a digital temp/hygro with a remote probe. So I dropped that down into the vase. It was reading 80 with 57% humidity. Not sure how accurate it is, but when the probe wasn't in the vase it was readying 72 and 62%.

And of course that is just a one day test. I'll keep monitoring it and see how things go. Just wondering if anybody has any advice?

Mine are in much smaller vases. This will make it much easier to fill with water and soak the roots. That vase much weigh a lot when filled, and be difficult to empty. The roots when soaked become supple and will easily coil and fit into a much smaller vase. I reckon you could get one about 8" in height and the same diameter and that plant would fit nicely into it.