Vanda in a Pot, culture

[cirillonb]

A new story entry has been added:

Vanda in a Pot, culture

I live in an apartment condominium in Northern Virginia. When I got interested in orchids I realized I had a desirable true east exposure from the windows. I fortunately also had 6 inch deep window sills. The apartment also has a whole house humidifier that runs at about 40+% humidity full-time during the heating season. Direct downdraft from the heater/air conditioning vents has been diverted so as not to strike the orchids. The few orchids with which I began seemed to thrive. Then one day my wife and I were at the National Capital Orchid Society show and she was captivated by a large, dark blue flower that we discovered was called a Vanda. On further research it seemed these orchids were particularly fussy in their cultural requirements. I read that most are grown bare root in hanging baskets, often outdoors in places like southern Florida. That the roots required frequent watering or misting. That they would not tolerate being too wet, nor too dry but demanded relatively high humidity. The also preferred bright indirect light but preferred only short periods of direct sunlight. These did not seem to be conditions easily met in a relatively small condominium where the growing spaces also doubled as bedrooms.

Being at a stage in life where I can afford to experiment, I decided to try to adjust the plants purported fussiness to the realities of my environment.

The first thing that had to go was the idea of a hanging basket. It had to grow in a pot and that had to be of modest dimensions.

Next it could not require too frequent watering. Orchids are my joy not my masters. I decided it probably would not like usual bark mixtures since they held too much moisture. Being willing to be avant-garde I decided to try EpiWeb imported by First Rays Orchids (Welcome to First Rays Orchids) from Scandinavia. It is a firm foam-like plastic material made from recycled milk containers. It holds no water except what might get trapped in the tiny spaces in the foam. It is available in sheets for mounting but also in 1 inch cubes which was what I used. This material seemed adequate to support the roots and plant but I needed something to retain some moisture to fulfill the criteria of not requiring daily attendance. Again from Rays I decided to add in PrimeAgra which is a Light Expanded Clay Aggregate (LECA) of which there are several similar on the market. This product remains moist after soaking and is often used in semi-hydroponics culture. I mixed this about 3 to 1 of EpiWeb to PrimeAgra.

The lucky plant was a Pakchong Blue purchased mail order from Hausserman

[Sun rm.N.E.]

Interesting method with a good outcome.
Please post a picture

[cirillonb]

I tried to post several pictures but they did not transfer with the text. If someone give me a step-by-step way to do it as an edit, will do. Or perhaps an add on the end of the article.
Nick

[cirillonb]

I added the pictures to the thread since I could not figure out how to put in the article directly.
Nick

[John Adams]

Hi Nick,
What a Beautiful Vanda. I am glad to see it doing well for you. You might want to check out the Ascosenda orchids. The Ascosenda is a hybrid between the Vanda and Ascosentrum. Some of the Ascosentrum orchids require less light and are much smaller than the Vandas, so the hybrids might do better on a windowsill. They are also very colorfull.

Good Luck
John Adams

[breeindy]

Whats all over the surface of the soil? looks like metal fillings!

[kavanaru]

Breeindy, that's Epiweb a great culture medium...

[BettyMendlovic@gmail.com]

I have bought some beautiful blooming orchids and never get them to bloom again after the first bloming is over.
Has anyone experience in orchids in Mexico City?

[Jonna]

I am new to orchids but I'd guess that it is somehow related to your high altitude and lack of humidity. I've found that most orchids sold here commercially are grown in the foothills of Veracruz. Although, whenever a nursery plant dies here in Mérida people say it is because it was grown in the greenhouses around Mexico City and not adjusted to our climate.

Give them more light and more humidity, that's seems to be the usual problem.

[violacea]

Originally Posted by John Adams

Hi Nick,
The Ascosenda is a hybrid between the Vanda and Ascosentrum.

Would that be Ascocentrum, John? Or is this a new hybrid name?