I do not grow your plant but I do grow a lot of vandas. I think the culture is the same. If so water daily. They like baskets better than pots. And if possible on very hot and/or dry days water twice.

I grow vandas in Boston and they are all in baskets. I also have a Rhyncholaelia digbyana mounted that was purchased in October. They definitely dry out quickly, so I water every day and keep a little blanket of sphag on top of the roots. On the driest days of winter, I spray the roots and tie a clear bread bag around the roots to keep humidity around them. I take off the bag at night. This technique has encouraged my vandas to grow many more vigorous roots than in years prior.

I was thinking of the spagh too. I'll give it a try. I'll try watering 2x daily also. There's just nothing for the water to soak into except the roots so it's hard to see if it's doing anything at all. My understanding is that they like to keep moist but I don't know how else to do it besides using a pot.

Thanks!

I'll try it!

From down here in warm, humid Florida I speculate on growing a vanda in a dry environment. What would happen if you gave an early full watering, let it dry. I'm guessing it will dry fairly quick. So next do it again, water , dry, water. Would the plant be holding more water via the leaves and roots and tolerate the environment better?

In tropical rainforests daily multiple wet/dry cycles occur. And the plants thrive. So in an arid zone would that help orchids?

Doesn't seem to me that they would-perhaps after generations of raising them that way? This guy gets soaked twice every week for a couple hours or so but it's dry again a couple hours later. Though it does appear to help in that there are no signs of real dryness like brown leaf or root tips, it hasn't flourished. Our climate is why I have only one of these types. Originally it was in the bedroom where we have a humidifier going every night. The flowers are so lovely though so I couldn't resist. Let me try Suz's idea and see how it works.

I have a gigantea in a basket and a retusa in a large pot with large chunks of bark.

They grow very slowly, so I wouldn't remove it from the basket because it will take a long time to replace any broken roots. One thing I've done in the past is remove the pins that hold the basket together to make it flexible, then slide the whole thing into a pot.

I don't water mine that often, 3 times a week at most. If your leaves aren't wrinkled you may not have a problem at all.

No wrinkled leaves-they're fine. Thank you for telling me about the growth rate though. It makes a difference. Basket is plastic, so I'd have to cut it and can't see how I might do that without risking breaking a root or three. Surprised the AOS culture page did not say anything about the growth rate. Seattle orchids did. They also mentioned that the plant can take in too much water during the growth season and end up with marked leaves (interesting).

One other question in case it happens-if the root tips do brown, do we cut the tips off like we'd do other orchids with dead portions of the roots?

Thank you all!

Judy

I do not cut the tips when the brown because I have had many of them make new root branches.

As James indicated, you could consider trying a pot-in-pot method (basket-in-pot in this case) if the bagging doesn't work.

I grow several smaller vanda types and over time I've un-mounted/un-basketed and moved all of them to pots with large chunks of media (bark and coconut husk chunks). I do it for the moisture retention in winter, but still have to mist them daily ( even in pots, you get lots of aerial roots...) and water heavily 2x week during winter. Much simpler once you can get them moved outside for the season and use the hose and/or rain. They do grow up and out of pots after a few years, so you have to get them repotted/pot-in-pot every so often. I've had several develop kiekies and then the main plant suffers and the kiekies live on... I like this because it 'naturally' keeps things in check as far as size/space is concerned, and as an indoor grower part of the year, space is very critical to me.

Good luck,

Bob

I have R. retusa on the slab. I can tell that that plant needs bright light. I moved slab on dendrobium's spot and orchid started to grow: two roots, one leave in a year. Roots of my R. retusa covered with sfagnum blanket. I water plant every day. On Hausermann's website I saw Rynchs in pots, so it is possible. Pot in pot method can work, I agree.

While I am doing the sphag on top and the bag during the day, it's a bit of a pain so I'm still toying with the idea of somehow sliding it out of the basket and into the pot in pot thing. Perhaps if I can find a good pair of clippers to cut the plastic without damaging any roots I'll do so. And Northern Orchid, yes I agree about the light. I'm getting ready to hang it in an eastern window in the bathroom for a while.

I'm in Florida and have two of these. They really need their roots exposed to air. I wouldn't put them in pots.

I had a small one I put in a basket with coco fiber lining hoping to contain the roots in the large basket. The roots found their way out of the pot, breaking through the lining or growing up and over the rim of the basket.

Mine only get watered, maybe 2-3x a week. Doesn't seem to bother them at all. They bloom twice a year for me.

I would be more concerned about getting them in the strongest light you can give them.

During winter, you could dunk the roots in a bowl of fertilizer water and spritz them once a day.

Jane

Jane,

A large chunky mix does allow for air movement. Remember?, we have winter to deal with north of the Florida/Georgia line ;-)

Bob