Just repotted two Vandas and a Christensonia - Orchid Board

crazymonkie · #1 03-24-2012, 03:18 PM

Hey everyone! The top of my thread says it pretty succinctly: I just bought a three-set of orchid baskets from a seller in Florida by way of Amazon (pretty rough-hewn baskets, to be honest) along with some special "Vanda mix" (coarse bark and big charcoal chunks) and moved them from plastic pots that seemed to make the roots unhappy. One of my V's had nothing but part of one root left and doesn't seem to be doing anything, the tricolor is putting out two very healthy roots and looks to be bouncing back from the rough winter, and the Chr is...well, I sprayed it with antifungal and Neem oil a few times... it's got some dead-looking brownish-whiteish spots that look to my eye like sun damage (but can't be because it was in a shaded area on a north-facing patio with no direct sun till yesterday), and some yellow spots that I took to be fungal damage. It's got a section of good root near the base and one aerial root that's half-dead because of lack of water (despite twice-daily heavy misting!!!!) and damage to the middle of it through contact with the (for it) sharp edge of the plastic pot it was in.

So I'm a bit worried about that one, is what I'm saying.

Now, what I've done is put the plants on the top of the mix and put the mix in to fill the baskets. Have I over-filled? Should there be BIG spaces, or should it be more like in a pot or net pot? Right now I filled the pots in so the mix doesn't fall out. Is that the right way, or have I over-filled? I'm mainly concerned about how the roots will react if they go down into the mix, which it looks like will be the case with the tricolor.

Bud · #2 03-24-2012, 07:49 PM

if you want to do the basket with media mix method: I usually put a bed of coconut fiber on the bottom of the wooden basket or a paper towel will do but it will disintegrate after a while= its just to hold the media mix inside the basket; then curl the roots in the basket and then sprinkle the media all over and around the roots...use a soft rubber coated wire to anchor the plant to the bottom of the basket so it is stable...

I have vandas in S/H
I also have them in drilled glass vases with media mix
I also have one vanda potted but with large media ..

you are in a grow zone where you can hang the vanda outdoors...you have humidity in your atmosphere(11am to 3pm is the harshest sun it can burn the leaves) so make sure it is shaded on those times of day

I bring the vandas in when the temps are low...they dont like the cold or frost

vandas drink and feed a lot...it will save you from spraying indoors if you can hose it outdoors

tucker85 · #3 03-24-2012, 08:02 PM

My vandas are in wood baskets with no medium. I think large spaces in the medium is fine. Don't cut off any of the roots yet, even they look dead. Growing roots is the primary objective with vandas. I would use something to encourage root growth like KLN or my favorite Maxicrop Liquid Seaweed.

crazymonkie · #4 03-26-2012, 01:38 AM

Thanks for the replies.

Updates: Right now, the Chr is resting up to make new roots (at least that's what I'm telling myself), and the past few days of direct sun have given it a reddish tinge on the edges. The plant has two roots, one of them that half-cut one I mentioned earlier, and the other the portion of a larger root that was pretty badly rotted (I got all the plants in coco husk fiber, then apparently overwatered because I'd never used coco husk fiber before).

The end result? Two Aerides with small root systems (cut most of the really bad stuff off one just today), one of the V's (luzonica, the other is a tricolor and is doing great now) left with a portion of one root and not showing any progress, and the tricolor briefly totally rootless.

I pretty much put the mix into the baskets like I would if they were pots.... anchor plus moisture retention. I'm still not sure if I did it right, and now because the tricolor's big root (there are currently two) is heading straight down into a big piece of charcoal. Hopefully it'll turn and not push up the plant.

Should I tie the plants to the sides of the baskets? I've heard that's a good idea. I've got plastic-coated metal floral ties, which I've used for my first mount- a Br nodosa- and that seemed to keep everything nice and together.

As to keeping them outside, that's what I did once I got the baskets and put them out there. I move them back to the patio when it gets dark because of the nocturnal insects and slugs, and that seems to keep them safe.

They- and a seedling full-sized Cym that I've got- all get about 3 hours of full sun for sure, maybe another 5 or so of indirect or dappled sun, and so far there hasn't been any sunburn. Except maybe the Chr, of course, but again, I'm just fooling myself.

Should I buy rooting hormone? Does anything else seem wrong or right?