Vandas in Glass Vases

[Monique.rbld]

Trdyl I've tried your method on my rhyncholaelia plants for about 3 days already an the little one is already getting a new root. I have this plant for about a year and it hasn't done anything. Thank you for your idea
Monique

[wgama]

I think I shall try this ingenious idea!

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by JDMANZANA

I've been wanting to buy a vanda but was scared to pieces about killing the poor thing being how Colorado has very little humidity. I visited an orchid farm out in Louisville (Fantastic btw) and was amazed and in love with the many Vanda they have growing from the rafters, planters, and off the wall. I bought a Neostylis Lou Sneary to see how well I would do. After a month it's doing fantastic. So, I purchased quite a few vanda from Bill Asia, only I bought them from his actual website, not Ebay. A week later I received my shipment and yes the poor babies were a bit weak but this is because they've been in the mail from Miami to toasty Colorado for a few days... bare root.

Now I have them arranged around a mini fountain I have and they are all doing very well, however because it's dryer than toast here, I want to try the vase method. All of my plants are seedlings so it'll be another while before they actually start to spike. Does anyone from Colorado have any suggestions? I'm tempted to do this very method w/some of my phals that I rescued from L***S as.

I am very happy I stumbled across this forum and particularly this discussion as I don't wanna dry out and kill my seedlings. The Neostylis has already spiked and bloomed, so I'm excited for my lil NOOBs to get there too.

I am in Colorado as well-- living out in Parker. I have a Vanda growing in a vase and have had mixed results. Vandas really do not like set ups that passively "provide" humidity etc. They like to be actively watered for sure. I tried using moss etc to help the plant along but the moss dried out so fast and only became a barrier for fresh air about the roots. So instead, I put it in a small vase and I mist it whenever I go into my solarium and will water it by soaking several times a week. New root tips are popping up everywhere on older roots. So hey, I'll take it. The plant is also pushing a new leaf so I'll go with it.

How is are your plants doing now?

[trdyl]

Originally Posted by nenella

I'm especially interested on following how your roots that 'touch' the glass especially at the bottom fare? as in my conditions I have learn't that they do better when they don't touch the glass, or bottom if there's any water... Mine Stop growing at the tip and eventually put out new side roots...
Anyone else have any opinions?

I thought I would give an update on the root tips that are touching the glass. I am not getting any stunted growth from them. They are growing as if it were a plastic container. Once the root touches the glass it just keeps on growing and follows the edge around.

[CathyG]

Thank you for this idea! I have 3 vanda type orchids, all doing rather poorly, but alive. I dug through my plant pots and came up with round baskets and some goldfish type bowls. Found baskets that fit the opening and I am giving this a try before I ship the plants off to a friend in Miami. One plant got an old wine carafe.......Hopefully, your methods will work for me as well. I think I will take photos to mark any progress.

CathyG

[Vanda lover]

I'm looking forward to trying this! I already have a bare root Epicat and an Encyclia cochleata that I have over vases, trying to decide weather to pot them or not! I'm definately trying it for my next Vanda relative. In the mean time, I'll watch these and see what happens! It just makes sense.

[Vanda lover]

Do you get much sun in the winter? We don't. My Pak chong blue is in a north west window, with a florescent floor lamp close to it. It gets supplimented slightly, by another window to the west with a covered porch over it. It blooms 3 to 4 times per year. Of coarse, I put it outdoors in the summer.

[Vanda lover]

Originally Posted by Cookiemonster

I have been told that sansai blue isnt too difficult to grow- I've heard pakchong blue is more difficult.
Natts Orchids, they grow tons of vandas and such and they're in your area you should check them out
index they seem like really nice people, I've talked to them on the phone!

I don't know what they are doing wrong, but my Pak chong blue blooms easily.

[amandarenee]

I ended up with 4 vanda coerulea, and had them in vases for the past 2 months. But any root tip that touched the glass started to rot! I bought cedar baskets instead, but now I am worried about them getting NO humidity -- I lined the bottom of the baskets with sphag and put some perlite around the roots (not covering them, under/a little around them), and am soaking them every morning and the sphag is mostly dry by night time.

I am moving to AZ soon, where there is NO humidity (at least here in TX we have an evaporative cooler that makes the humidity in the house rather nice). So I am really thinking I should stick with vase culture. But what about the rotting tips? The one that really rotted has roots that are thick and growing at almost a 90* angle to the plant, so it's hard to get them down in to the vase. And all 4 have such small root systems that the vase is pretty much totally open, so does that really help the humidity?

I would really appreciate some input, I love these little guys and really don't want to kill them. I wish there were more pics on this thread!

[Vanda lover]

I have started experimenting with vase culture, and my problem with it is not know weather I would have to water every day. It's a lot of water, and bother. Also, the roots get so big that eventually you would have to put them in something else anyway. I have mine in a slatted basket with sphag and large lumps or charcoal, which works fine for me. Our summers are pretty dry, and I soak about every 3rd day, with lots of mistings in between.