what's wrong with my vanda..??

[licinius9]

i have a robert's delight that i bought at an orchid show and it had the most beautiful, big, purple flowers and healthy green leaves..now, it's leaves are getting brown spots and turning yellow and falling off and the spike in the photo has now bloomed and the blooms are WAY smaller than when i got it..what's up..?!?!

[nenella]

Hi, it looks to me like sunburn?; but i am not an expert..
how do you water & how often? The top part looks pretty healthy, and only has really yellow on leaves in the middle of the stalk?
Hopefully some vanda experts will chip in..

[dgenovese1]

Hi Licinius9,

I'm sorry to hear about your sick Vanda. It's hard to tell for certain without knowing about your growing conditions, but Nenella may be right...the yellow leaves could be a sunburn. They may also be because the plant is not receiving enough water, which can also explain your smaller flowers.

It looks like you are growing the plant in a bucket of water...or perhaps you are just watering it in the photo. While Vanda plants like daily watering, they also require their roots to dry out between waterings. If you don't give them a chance to do this, the roots will die, thus leaving the plant in a dehydrated state...causing yellowing leaves (that eventually fall off) and smaller flowers.

Please give me a little more info on your growing/culture conditions so I can provide you with additional/more pertinent feeedback.

[Roy]

To me it looks like a rot. This can happen when the plants don't dry out over nite or over a few day with the water in the leaf joins. Don't water the plant itself at all, just the roots.

[JennS]

I think it looks more like sunburn too, but haven't really experienced rot with vandas. I have watered mine late in the day with no problem, but the temperature probably stayed around 70 those evenings.

Did you get your plant in direct light? Can you tell us about watering?

I had one that bloomed much smaller then when I got it (also at a show) and it was mainly due to lack of watering it often enough, but also partially due to not getting enough fertilizer. It took several blooms to recover....

[licinius9]

I water it once a day for an hour in that bucket and it hangs inside where temps are 78-68 degrees farenheight with 60% humidity..

[licinius9]

I also fertilize every other week with 11-35-15..

[Swamper]

does it get direct sun?

[JennS]

Do you leave the bucket full of water all day? If it is in the bucket all day (with water or without) wouldn't that be very likely to induce rot with very little air circulation?

[dgenovese1]

Licinius9,

Thanks for the additional information. I'm still apt to think that the leaves are yellow from a burn, although as Roy pointed out, it could be a fungal rot of some kind.

When you water it, you may want to reduce the time in the bucket to only 10 minutes, rather than for a whole hour. It will be enough for it. Also, make sure that you are providing good air circulation for it. This will help prevent fungal infections and aid in the drying of the roots after watering, which is very crucial for healthy Vanda growth. Check your roots for good health. Are they soft or firm? Are they a nice green after watering, turning a grayish white color when they dry? What do the root tips look like? How much light are you providing for your plant?

Vandas like high light conditions, but not direct sun, although in Germany, you may be able to get away with early morning or late afternoon sun, because your latitude is farther north.

The roots should be a nice grayish white color when dry, with green/gold/brownish red tips; the whole root should turn a nice green color after you water it. They should also be firm to the touch, never soft or mushy.

If you could post a photo of your roots (up close if possible), it would be helpful.