Hi,
I use womens stockings.....

I know someone in Port St. Lucie who grows phenomenal vandas using the method you describe and old panty hose "bags". Another possibility for material would be old discarded plastic screening, like the black screen used over pool enclosures. Pull the ends together using fishing line or thin wire.

-Bruce

Thanks to a post on this forum, I started making my little bags out of old knee highs- I get 3 bags per knee high and use plant twist ties to close them and hang them on all my orchids (98% of mine are on slabs).
The results are phenomenal!

Thanks for the ideas! I remember about using stockings, but I had not thought about screening.

I had heard that you can buy unfilled little bags intended for tea. Anyone know about that?

Any more ideas?

Hi
This is an interesting idea. Where do you place the bag??
My Vandas grow roots everywhere but in the baskets lol
How do you make contact?? I have three growing on trees
while they grow well they don't flower well. i suspect to much shade.
One more question Have one pushing 7 feet tall . Is there a way to get them to branch?? Have tried cutting the growing tip but it just moved to the side and resumed growing straight up again. I do have some that are branched but don't know why?? Any suggestions??
gary

Excuse my ignorance but, DYNAMITE? What for?

Health food stores usually carry the empty tea bags. especially the ones that sell lots of loose teas.

Larissa

Dynamite is the name of a time release pelleted fertilizer.

Brooke

I use twist ties to tie the bags to the single wire hanger above the vanda. That way when it rains/I water, the fertilizer water drips down the wire, down the plant, down to the roots. Some of the roots actually have started growing vertically up the vanda to get more of it!

For baskets- I have tied it at the top point where all the wires meet to make the hook. It is usually almost directly above the plant, so it also ends up running down the plant to some of the roots.

Of course, not all the roots get hit, and my plants are not nearly as large as yours (7 ft tall- that would need a lot of fertilizer!)!

Wouldn't fertilizer burn be a concern? As the water stops dripping, the last little bit would be more concentrated, I would think, as the pellets have had a chance to melt a bit more, and the final few drips may be stronger than when the rain/hose first hits the bag of pellets.

I hope I explained that well enough... has anyone noticed any burn at all from this method of feeding?

Dear jodik,

Here in zone 10 (south fla.) this method is widely used on vandas in baskets without soil. I have never heard of any burning. Dynamite is designed not to burn. Vandas are heavy feeders.

As for Dynamite, Dr. Motes from Motes Orchids, an expert on growing vandas, suggests using "Dynamite Palm and Citrus Plant Food" as the best formula, as opposed to even the Dynamite for Orchids. He recommends this product for all orchids.

Dr. Motes is a wonderful source of information on orchids. In fact, he sends out a newletters every month. Even though it is focused on South Florida, it has great info for everyone. You can subscribe by sending him email: vandas@mindspring.com. (No website) He also gives free classes in the fall and spring at his nusery in Homestead, FL. He wrote a book, Vandaa, that's great.

Gary,

You said, "One more question Have one pushing 7 feet tall . Is there a way to get them to branch?? Have tried cutting the growing tip but it just moved to the side and resumed growing straight up again. I do have some that are branched but don't know why?? Any suggestions?? "

Vandas normally don't "branch". The grow with only one center. When you cut the top off you have made the plant produce another growing center or a keiki. These plants reproduce by creating keikis from the "nodes" on the side of the trunk where you sometimes see roots. If you cut off the top, like you did, you can make another plant from that cutting, just make sure that it has at least 3 roots to take with it. Then the remaining plant will usually sprout a new keiki, as yours did. In order to grow a vanda needs a central trunk, if it is cut it will try to grow a new one, which is what yours did.

7' is quite tall and healthy! You can make several new plants over time fromt that one. Be careful cutting off the top that can kill the original plant, if doesn't create another center. Keikis are how these plants reproduce.

There are references on the web about how to propagate vandas this way that will outlined exactly how to do this. In fact, there is a another thread on the this forum called, "Vanda Propagation". Check that out and search on here further.

Thanks for the information... I'm trying to learn all I can before I jump in and acquire any vandas or other orchids that are grown in the same manner. The more prepared I am, and the more I know, the better for my plants!