AboutWayne King Expertise Any question about orchid culture. I have thirty+ yrs of growing experience,president 2x of our local Orchid Growers Guild,held a position in most all other offices associated with the Guild at one time or another. Head of Orchid judging team for local club meetings and some shows. Member of two Orchid Socities and local Rep.for Mid America Orchid Congress for several yrs.I have in my collection about 800 Orchid plants of all types.
Experience
Past/Present clients Previously an expert on expertcentral.com.
Question can vandas be transplanted to hydroponic method? Two weeks
ago
I did it and my vanda orchid is turning yellow and wrinkled, am I doing something wrong? Do I need to replant it in some bark or premium moss? I have only a garden shade house and I feel vandas are really hard to grow, its been with me for more than five years already planted in some moss,just green but doesn't flower, growth slow. I would appreciate if you could help me in this matter
Answer Deanna, I don't know of anyone who has tried to grow vandas hydroponically. In the tropics they often grow on trees and branches where the roots typically hang in the air. The two features they seem to thrive on most is air movement and humidity. If you can maintain humidity above 60 percent and provide air movement you might have better success. The growers I know, prefer to grow vandas in a wooden basket(with no potting mix). They grow well hanging them outside, as long as the humidity is maintained, in a semi-shaded environment. Most vandas prefer temperatures in range of 70 -90 degrees F.. Some growers of vandas and ascocendas prefer to place some course fibrous material in the wooden basket such as tree fern or osmunda fiber. These still allow air movement as long as it isn't compacted too tightly and the baskets can be submerged in room temperature water until the roots are green. This is needed only every 3-4 days as the soaked medium and orchid root velamin holds the water maintaining humidiity for that long.
Since you grow in a shade house, try increasing the light level for flowering. There are cooler growing vandas-- normally blue flowering- that appreciate a drop in temperature into the 40's for flowering. If your vanada leaves are a dark green, you need to increase the light level enough to produce a lighter green in color. However, for now, you need change the way you grow the plant that will result in new root tip growth (and eventually new leaves as well).
