There's a broadcaster on YouTube named bumblebee. She has the most spectacular vandas that are over 4 or 5 feet tall, bloom regularly, and have leaves from their tops to their very bottoms. She waters her vandas in the shower by soaking them (only once a week!! ) Here's a link that is hopefully helpful.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=679s&v=i2L1kHYtcEc

Thank you so much for the video, her flowers are beautiful, her voice is gorgeous, and obviously if she has done this for 5 years she knows what she is talking about and I'm going to try it too! Thank you!

Lucille,

I think I mentioned this in an earlier post, but I'll repeat. Dunking/soaking in a 5-6 gallon bucket can work very well also.

Good luck,

Bob

Bob I remember that you mentioned that thank you, and I do have a bucket on wheels, but lifting a full bucket to empty it after watering is hard for me these days.

I am setting up an RO counter top system, and what with that and the hudson type sprayer I think I can water everything except the vandas in place.

I love the idea of soaking the vandas in the tub overnight, once a week.

I hope you don't mind this beginner question- what is the difference between pal roots and vanda roots? I know that neither should be over watered, but phals are kept in pots with all sorts of media, and often one sees vandas either bare root or with minimal media. Do the vanda roots rot more quickly and if so are their roots built differently?

You're very welcome Lucille. I have to agree with you about her voice. I've probably watched half her videos just to hear her speak. Her vandas are truely the very best looking specimens I've seen anywhere including even specimens grown in glasshouses and yet she stays beautifully humble about her long term success with them

She also has a video where she takes her vandas after different lengths of soaking and weighs them to see the difference. It's quite interesting to say the very least.

Lucille,

My 2 cents...

I do believe that vandas grow naturally with fairly exposed roots, whereas phals grow with their roots clinging to something. That said, I would think that the vanda roots would dry out quicker and thus could take more water more often on the roots. The phal roots don't dry out as quickly because of the added media and thus don't need water as often. If you grow a phal bare root/mounted indoors, it needs much more frequent watering than if it were potted.

I grow 6-7 mini-vandas, the one or two potted with media get watered at about the same rate as my potted phals. the other 2-3 bare bare root ones in pots get watered much more often, more depending on a greater amount of roots out of the pot. Mounties or potted ones with lots of exposed roots get watered or misted daily. I don't grow them in baskets as I can't provide the needed humidity easily in the winter. My one mounted vanda will get put in a pot next time it needs to be remounted, or I'm bored :)

Bob

So if I tuck the vanda roots in a basket with some media (my phals have leca and lava rock with a topping of ornamental moss) they won't up and die from too much retained moisture?

I really can't imagine the reason or benefit in using media of any sort on them. Unless that is if maybe the vanda has too few roots and/or it's roots are really shriveling up before one gets to watering them. In most environments vandas seem to really do well when their roots are dry most of the time.

So what is the physical difference between vanda roots and phal roots? Or is there really none, and bare nekkid roots for vandas is just an accepted but not necessary growing practice, and as long as one does not overwater all will be well? I don't know, until very recently I've never had a vanda.

Vanda roots like to be exposed to the air and humidity. I tried growing a small one in a basket with just lava rock and it was not happy. It found a way out of the basket and now I have a Vanda, basket and hanging roots.

All orchids have different needs depending on where they evolved. You cannot compare Phals to Vanda. Different plants, different growing requirements.

I think your idea of a weekly show sounds good!

Jane

Lucille,

1. Getting old air roots to switch to a media probably will kill the air roots. If it were me, I'd soak the roots for 10-20 minutes to make then pliable and then tuck them the best I could into an appropriate sized pot with lots of holes. Do your best to not break any roots. Once in there drop in some large chunky pieces of bark/coco chips or some spagh very loosely placed around in the open areas to hold some humidity. Spray daily or more often if very dry. If you are motivated go back and spray a second time after @10 minutes to really get them soaked and absorbing water. The existing roots will probably survive and this will at least add some needed humidity to those roots.

2. As I stated above I grow mini-vandaceous orchids, partly for space and partly because I find they are easier to care for in my conditions. If an orchid gets 5' hanging roots, I can't over-winter it indoors successfully, so there is no sense in me trying to grow those types, I've tried...

3. The people (Hi Jane!) saying totally exposed roots are best are in areas where they can grow them outdoors year-round. They are not indoor growers. If I could keep my orchids outdoors 11-12 months out of the year, I would probably grow them differently.

FWIW: Here are some google pics of potted vandas growing successfully - Potted vandas

Good luck,

Bob

Bob thank you for the images.

I have planted the small vandas in those wood slatted hanging baskets with a small amount of lava rock as the media. I was thinking of doing something similar with the more mature vandas I will be getting soon, with the only change being the roots tucked in a bit. I like your idea of soaking for 20 minutes first.

How does one tell if a particular Vanda is a mini?

Vandas generally basically have all air roots when first purchased (Unless you can find some having always been potted) Old roots generally have a very difficult time adapting to big changes. New roots behave completely differently. I've seen Vandas in a conservatory where some of the long roots of the plants had grown all the way down to the pond below and then the new growing tips just sat there in the water pulling up water to the rest of the plant without rotting. I've also seen Vandas in water culture growing and flowering with just one root or just little knobby roots since that's all the root the plant needs to stay fully hydrated.

I am imagining how beautiful that image of the Vanda in the conservatory with the roots down to the pond must be.

I am happy in my tiny apartment with my little garden, and it is what I can take care of now, but if I win the lottery I'm going to buy a conservatory with a pond.

You cannot compare Phals to Vanda.

I think different people learn in different ways. When I come across something completely new to me, I try to compare it to something I know at least a little bit about. They are different plants, but they are more the same than a Vanda and an oak tree.

Lucille,

"How does one tell if a particular Vanda is a mini?"

Mini vandas are usually advertised that way. They generally have some influence of either Neofinetia, ascocendra, curviflorum, etc... Research/google/this forum is the key if not sure.

Bob

So I spent the day re-doing the baby Vandas in a way that gives them plenty of air but also moisture/humidity. Sort of a happy medium. (Get it, happy medium?, ha, ha)

I put the babies in 4 inch slatted wood pots with a few pieces of lava, and the roots tucked in. Then I put that pot in a 6 inch slatted pot that has moss on the bottom, that will evaporate and keep the babies in more humidity.

I have a couple of more mature vandas on the way, not sure what I will do with them, I want to see them 'in person' first.

Here are my vandas. They grow indoors from October-May in baskets with sphag and bark and most have a plastic bag around the roots to keep warmth and humidity in. I generally dunk them in a bucket a few times a week or bring them to the sink for a shower. I have found that they grow bigger and thicker roots and the long thin ones die away. My vandas tend to bloom 2-3 times per year and seem happy enough in my climate.

Great pictures, and what a beautiful orchid room!

That's inspirational!

Wow, great photo, beautiful room.

I was never successful growing large Vandas in NY. I didn't have your set up or considered using plastic bags. However I did provide trays below them to let them get water and humidity.

They grew well enough, but never flowered. Florida is a different story.

Jane

I'm 'green' with envy, nice room.

Bob

Thanks folks! That room was one of the main reasons we bought the house. It's my winter-survival room :)

A very dynamic environment. Is there room for people? A table and chairs? It looks like people would thrive in there too. On the right days, a cup of tea and the morning paper or a glass of wine and some snacks...Is the plastic bag idea something you discovered or a tip from another grower. I'm sure your vandas would love maxi-crop...

There is room for a chair and table. It's tight, though! In the dead of winter if it's very sunny it will get up to 85F in there and my girls and I will put on swimsuits and pretend it's summer :)

The plastic bag is something I tried last year to keep some warmth and humidity around the vanda roots. I'm not sure how much it helps, but it certainly hasn't hurt them, so I'm doing it again this year. And they get maxi-crop about every quarter ;)

My mature Vandas just arrived, I had never seen a grown Vanda 'in person'. Getting them in a basket? Not happening, lol. I do like the plastic bag idea.

I can just imagine the summer in wintertime in that beautiful room, pretty close to paradise I think.

I did go ahead and buy large wood baskets and piled the roots of the big plants in those over a small heap of moss. I was losing too many hanging vanda roots to the cat who assumed they were toys purchased for her.