Using sphagnum moss for vandas?

[boisemomma]

Well thank you all for your very helpful input..I did pull out most of the moss but left some..couldn't help myself.. will be more diligent about soaking the roots
My goal is to make them bloom for me this year or I'm giving up..but I haven't told them...

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by boisemomma

My goal is to make them bloom for me this year or I'm giving up...

As much light as possible without burning. They can take more sun if there's a fan blowing on them. Water heavily. Fertilize heavily. Motes Orchids and RF Orchids, both in south Florida, use heavy concentrations of 20-20-20 with micronutrients to replace every 5th watering.

...but I haven't told them...

PLEASE ladies. We CAN'T read your minds. TELL US! But remember, if we say we'll do something, you don't need to remind us every six months.

[Fairorchids]

Vandaceous orchids can be grown many different ways. It really depends on your local conditions AND how much time you want to spend watering.

There are two reasons they arrive in empty baskets:
A. Thailand has a monsoon season, where it rains so much that any mix in the basket would rot.
B. You can't ship plants internationally with mix in the basket.
The flip side is, that outside of monsoon season, they need a lot of watering.

What they really need, is high humidity around the roots (the leaves are less demanding), and air flow around the roots as well. That's why the vase approach works well in apartment settings.

You could grow them hanging on a wire on a patio in Arizona, IF you mist them every 60-90 minutes during the day time.

If you want to minimize watering time, in most environments (& geographical regions), you need something in the basket. I have seen:

Clay pot shards
Wine bottle corks
Lava rock
All bark
Spaghnum/bark mix
All spagnum

Growing in a greenhouse in NJ, I use spaghnum/bark mix for most plants. To fit the watering schedule (weekly in winter, twice weekly rest of the year), I use:

4" baskets and smaller, 20% bark
6" baskets & up, 30-35% bark

This mix should be packed finger firm, but not tamped down.

For Rhy gigantea only, which is the only plant in the group that should dry out between waterings, I use all coarse bark.

I have experimented with Ang sesquipedale. I have those in large 8" plastic perennial pots (HD plastic with vertical sides). I have one in the spaghnum/bark mix, and the other in an Aliflor/charcoal mix. Plant in spagnum mix is doing far better (currently blooming on 3 spikes).

When my collection was smaller, I would have my Vandaceous plants outside in full sun from Memorial Day till the end of September. After hardening, I would hang them in full sun. To make that work, on sunny days I had to spray them down twice a day, in addition to the two solid waterings each week.

[Bunch_Of_Roots]

Last year I followed Kim's method of net baskets with sphag/bark mix for my Vanda javierae, and it is growing well.

TL;DR, listen to Kim