In my opinion, terete vandas need not only full sun, but also plenty of water. Without a nice supply of water and lots of sun, they dry out and look miserable

I have tried different things, and a few seem to work.
1. Plastic pot/tomato cage. I attach the tomato cage to the pot, and filled the pot with lava rock. The plant is full of roots now, stretching for the lava rock. Also, I wrapped coconut fiber in some places on the metal cage (secured with plastic wire) - roots are reaching and digging into it now.
I am sure they can grow in the ground with tomato wire holding them, but I too need bring them in occasionally.

2. Clay pot/driftwood. My hubby drilled a hole in a clay pot (bulb pan), and attached a big chunk of driftwood (do not have a picture...but basically, the wood is inside of the pot, perpendicular to the pot)
Then, threw in lava rock, and attached the plants to the wood.

3. Tree fern mounts: I mounted two on a tree fern totem - works well, but needs more watering (than the first two) - once or twice a day...

I have seen these plants grown bare root...it is possible, but does not work too well for me.
Olya

They grow here very well- in full sun. We just put them by a tree and they grab on. But we have lots of sun and rain and humidity.
For extra cuttings that I want to start, I have stuck them into pots with soil or just plain pebbles to hold them. Then I lean them by a tree.

A neat thing I have started to see here on vandas- hot glue a dowel to the middle of a plastic pot. Tie the plant onto it, then fill the pot with pebbles so it stays upright (similar to Olya's idea with driftwood).

How large must these plants be before they'll start blooming? If it's roof-top tall, then I have a loooong wait to see mine bloom!

Sheila :)

This is the nat'l flower of Singapore, where I'm told it is grown in hedges and pruned with a weed-whacker (gak). A person there advised me to attach the plant to an inorganic mount and grow in full sun with copious water.
So that's what I do. I made a cylinder about a foot (.3m) long and perhaps 2" (50mm) in diameter. I attached a half-dozen cuttings to the outside with wire, and hung in full sun. Hose off if it doesn't rain. Every year or so, I cut down the really tall tops and re-attach to the bottom. The bases usually re-sprout nearer the bottom after this, too.
After 6-7 years, I have a big fat snarled mass of canes (not unattractive). I also believe that these will not flower profusely in less than full or near-full sun.
Regards - Nancy

When I grew terete Vandas/papilionanthe - teres, hookeriana, Miss Joaquim (teres x hookeriana) - in Borneo, they were tied to wooden stakes in the full sun and watered daily. Lots of sun and water. V. hookeriana grows in standing water in open swamp or old flooded tin mines. In my experience, these 3 teretes bloomed when they're 1 meter tall, sometimes shorter. Mine grew up to 3 meters. But you could always take the top off, and the base will produce keiki's. alvin

Gary, sorry... It's taken me a while to learn what I'm doing here. I'm in south Texas and hope to grow the vandas out-of-doors except for a few nights of the year. I've read that these orchids will not bloom until they have grown above anything that is supporting them.

Wonder if that is true?

Richard

I've only been able to coax mine into blooming with lots of fertilizer. I usually fill a spray bottle with the fertilizer solution and mist it daily along with regular watering. When I don't bother, it doesn't bother to bloom.
MsFlintlock

I lived in the Caribbean all the vanda need lots of water, sunshine and fertilizer to bloom at about 4 feet.