Advice Please
 

Greetings from Tomorrow,
I haven’t been posting to the group much this year, the Orchids have been doing well and I stay so busy doing nothing that I don’t know how I ever had time to work.

Anyway I am starting to have a few small problems so I thought I would come back and beg forgiveness for being away so long, I have read post from time to time I just didn’t post.

1. We are having ton of rain, like 5 inches a day or more and I have had a few leaves turn yellow with a black spot. According to the book “Orchids: a care manual” by Brian & Sara Rittershausen my orchids are getting to much water. My pots are hanging on my front fence and the pots are wade open and drain “very” well.
1.a. What I think I’m going to do is hang pipes under the eves so that the orchids won’t be in the rain everyday. I can put them back on the fence when the weather dries out in a few months.
1.b. What do you all think about this and how dry should I let them get. I try to fertilize weak, weekly if it’s not raining. I can water/mist easily when I hang them on the pipe.

2. Tell me about hanging roots please. Some of my orchids are getting “Big Long” hanging roots with half-inch tips. Is this supposed to happen this way? I think the Vandas are the ones doing this.


TIA,

Orchids grow on trees. So when it rains they don't get hit with all of it. The tree branches and leaves direct much of the water away from the orchid. Plus in nature there's no pot to hold the water in.

Just something to keep in mind.

Vandas do put out long roots that can hang and are thick. Thick roots on a Vanda is good. It's when they're thin that I start being concerned.

If you want to see Vandas growing naturally, here it is:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ndia-asia.html

Thanks, I'll get them back in a day or so.

Thanks