What's wrong with my vanda's flower spike?

[ThePizzaMonster]

Is it a goner or is there something I can do?

[thefish1337]

looks pretty crispy to me. yup, its a goner.

[aliceinwl]

Yes, it looks like the spike has died. From the folded leaves of your Vanda, it may not be getting enough water. Try increasing watering frequency and/or soaking time depending on how you water. Dehydration can cause plants to abort flowers/spikes.

[ThePizzaMonster]

Originally Posted by aliceinwl

Yes, it looks like the spike has died. From the folded leaves of your Vanda, it may not be getting enough water. Try increasing watering frequency and/or soaking time depending on how you water. Dehydration can cause plants to abort flowers/spikes.

Didn't know about the folded leaves, it was like that when I got it. I've been misting it heavily for a few minutes once a day. I'll try soaking it, I did that at the beginning but some roots didn't seem to like being handled so I stopped.

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by ThePizzaMonster

Didn't know about the folded leaves, it was like that when I got it. I've been misting it heavily for a few minutes once a day. I'll try soaking it, I did that at the beginning but some roots didn't seem to like being handled so I stopped.

Where you live, I would expect that it is fairly humid, warm, and with quite a lot of rain. If it isn't outside, it should be. Drenching rain would be the best watering for it. When it doesn't rain, water with a hose.

[WaterWitchin]

What Roberta says ^^... and misting once a day isn't enough.

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[ThePizzaMonster]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Where you live, I would expect that it is fairly humid, warm, and with quite a lot of rain. If it isn't outside, it should be. Drenching rain would be the best watering for it. When it doesn't rain, water with a hose.

That’s correct but unfortunately I live in an apartment so it’s in the balcony. I’ll try soaking it instead of misting. It’s grown lots of roots so I thought it was doing ok.

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[aliceinwl]

Maybe try to rig something with a bucket the plants roots can hang into to soak to minimize disturbance. I’ve been soaking my Vandas this way overnight and then rehanging them in their windows in the morning.

[Orchidking]

Originally Posted by ThePizzaMonster

That’s correct but unfortunately I live in an apartment so it’s in the balcony. I’ll try soaking it instead of misting. It’s grown lots of roots so I thought it was doing ok.

Your leaves should be more firm and a darker colour.

When I saw your picture I thought of dried hay straight away.

So yeah what people have said, even let it soak in a bucket of water overnight.

The leaves are on the verge of dying and it had no chance of supporting a flower spike.

Look at the leaves closely and you will see what I am talking about, I can literally see wrinkles on your leaves where the dehydrated leaf veins are starting to show.

I am suspecting by the colour of your leaves that you do not adjust the ph of your water - this will cause nutrient lockouts and lower leaves will start to yellow. I would recommend you read up on how the ph can affect your plants - it's more important than feeding nutrients although I am suspecting your plant is looking for a good nutrient feed too.

Don't try to make any radical changes though, you risk doing more harm than good, just soak the plant well for now then look in to getting a ph meter to test your water and go from there.

[DirtyCoconuts]

Where do you live? Both generally and in what geographic type of region(coastal, mountain, valley, cloud forest, surface of the moon....)

And this balcony, does it have an open roof? Access to falling rain? Sun exposure?