Huge vanda roots

[Shadowfire]

Hi guys,
Just received my first vanda in thd post....and this thing is HUUUUGE! ! 6 foot long including the roots and huge ink blue flower spike !! So my question is once its done flowering, I want to change it into a difrent hanging basket, but cant without cutting the roots. .will this hurt my plant. ..it has looooads of roots about 4 foot of them .

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[Ray]

Of course it will damage the roots.

Option 1: Put the whole thing in a larger basket.

Option 2, removing the old one:
1) Saturate the roots with water.
2) Cut the old basket away, piece by piece, to minimize damage.
3) Soak them again, just to be safe.

..then, either

a) try to weave those roots through the slats of the new basket, or
b) disassemble the basket, slide the slats through the root mass, and reassemble it in place (that's actually easier than you may think).

[Shadowfire]

The roots are just massive .
Intertwined all the way from the plant to to ground. .about 4 foot long and very think

Thr plant is strong and healthy, so cant I cut a few roots just to free them away from each other...I dint mean hack at them..I.know you can cut cattleya roots and phals without to much issue..are vandas more susceptible to damage ? I will get a picture on here somehow.

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[Bud]

I have seen Thai growers cut the roots in half and the plant doesn't get affected. But then again Thailand have the humidity and heat in the atmosphere to sustain the plant even if it is not watered everyday. I like the roots very thick, four feet long and growing....that is why I feed my Vandas seaweed mix to attain thick robust long roots....it will help gather more energy to bloom for the next cycle....the small basket trapped within will not affect the plant as long as you can still be able to hang it.
But its your call.

[nikkik]

Recently, I bought some huge vandas with huge root systems bound into plastic pots with broken down media. The grower told me to cut a third of the roots off, which I decided not to do. I opted to cut the pot away, soak the roots, cut away damaged roots and remove the slats in the basket to pot it up. Ray is correct that some damage is done to the roots even with the greatest amount of care. With that being said the plant is thriving and has produced so many more thick, healthy roots. So if you remove some, I think your plant will be fine, but I would keep as many intact as possible.

[BradGC]

If you have just acquired this plant, i'd say you should just leave it to get acclimatised for a year before doing anything drastic

[Shadowfire]

Yes I have just received it yesterday , I live in australia NSW and although we are still hot in the summer the plant came from up north in Queensland which is warmer and more humid to a degree , so at the moment I have it hung on my balcony. .can they take slightly cooler climates during the winter..
?

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[BradGC]

Yes a little. I'm on the gold coast and grow about 20+ Vanda's.
During winter they will stop growing and go dormant.
The roots will go "backwards" , where you'd normally see them with the green tips growing, they will instead almost die back very slowly at the same rate that they grow. So in total over winter you'll lose a couple cms of roots. I think it's like they're using the stored nutrients from the roots.
But as soon as summer hits they will go back to strong healthy growth.

I grow mine under 4-6 hours of direct sun, out of wind.

I'm sure you'll be fine to grow in your region but I'd leave it till spring with active growth to repot

---------- Post added at 12:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:42 PM ----------

Also you can put it next to a wall of your house that holds warmth over the winter evenings

[chrisdclarke]

Im in NSW too. I've struggled with Vanda's, particularly this Autumn. I made the decision to mount them all on gum branches in February, which wasn't too intelligent.

Where did you get the vanda from? Sounds amazing! Would love to see a picture!

[Shadowfire]

Makay orchids in Queensland. .
Its massive. .but have no idea how to upload pictures on here !! I'm using the tapatalk app on my phone's for forums. :-/

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