Need some Vandaceous help - Orchid Board

crazymonkie · #1 03-10-2012, 11:02 PM

Hello everyone!

I guess this is actually my re-introduction, since I came on here about nine months ago, but have been lurking and trying to do things on my own for a bit.

I'm now the proud owner of about 10 vandaceous orchids-two Vandas, two Aerides, one Holcoglossum wangii, a Christensonia vietnamica, and several others that I can't call to mind right now. Starting slowly, I'm going to put them all into slatted cedar baskets. I just ordered a 3 set of one 4", one 6", and one 8" basket, without hangars or a place to hang them, and I need quite a bit of help (obviously!)

So, a bit of background: I got these things because the orchid seller misunderstood what I meant when I said I'd like a FEW Vandaceous orchids. I did mention wanting a Zygopetalum, so I did get one, and that one gave a volunteer offset when I repotted, so I technically have two.... right now they are in 4" deep pots that were many years ago used for succulents. Yes, I know they're supposed to be moved to airier locations, hence why I'm getting the baskets.

I'm going to be putting together some sort of hangar for them, making sort of an outside coat rack or huge hobby horse made of metal or, if needed, plastic, so I can move them to and from the full/really close to full sun, avoiding the landscaping crews and sprinklers that my apartment management brings around every week and every night respectively when it gets hotter.

I'm living in Austin, and have a decent sized covered patio that is generally about 5-10 degrees cooler than the uncovered outdoors (5-10 degrees warmer in the cold months), and have two fancy plant racks for the plants when it rains. I can't use tapwater because the TDS level on it is insane (I checked out the city's website), but I have a 2-gallon sprayer (soon to be more) that I use to water them which I fill with r/o water at a local fancy grocery store for 25 cents a gallon (cheaaaap!)

My questions are as follows:

-I'm assuming I'll need less drainage for the Vandas in baskets. For moisture retention, should I use coconut chips and perlite or something else?

-Should I get more of those sprayers, and if so, how many? If not, Is there some way I could set up a jury-rigged misting system? I'd have to figure out some way to run the power supply inside my house for the timer I'm assuming I'll need.

-Does anyone have any pictures or advice on making the aforementioned jury-rigged hanging stand? I've seen some pretty-looking wrought iron ones for sale (very expensive) that have three hanging spots, but I'm really concerned that those would be A)Prone to rust and B)Very heavy and a pain to move

-I've heard that most Vandaceous orchids don't like temps below 85 or so for more than a few hours at a time, but the only time it rains out here is when it gets close to 55. I usually move them inside when it gets cold and/or when I sleep. Is this okay, or am I being too nervous about this?

-I've got a few pieces of firewood that I'm going to cut to the right shape (the bottoms are triangular right now).... should I even bother with this right now?

Guess that's about it. Thanks ahead of time!

Bud · #2 03-11-2012, 12:13 AM

your grow zone is humid even in winter(I checked your weather forecast and its going to be 80's in the day and 60's at night=ideal for vandas)...you maybe have frost only for a month or two and then spring comes early...
80F is the ideal temp for vandas but some of them can withstand 105F in the tropics provided they are under the shade and the leaves dont burn...(11am to 3pm is the worst sun damage)
55F is tolerated by vandas for a week or two but you need to water them room temps not cold water=I water my vandas with tepid water from the sink in winter.
you can hang the vandas in wooden baskets bareroot in your grow zone...but with my vandas in wooden baskets in Manhattan: I put a bed of coconut fiber and then coil the roots inside the basket and the space in between the roots is filled with a mixture of bark, lava rock, charcoal and hydroton or clay chips(broken pots that I hammer down to small size)
try investing on that large rainwater container from Home Depot that you attach to the drainage pipes from the awnings that will contain almost 6 mos of water for your plants
there is a cheap automatic indoor watering pipe system I read on one of the posts of the members...it must be still here just search for it.
you dont need a heavy duty hanger for your plants...I just get hooks in the hardware store and hang two to three plants on each hook...post them at intervals of 12 inches apart a couple of feet away from the edgeof the patio shade
remember you still have to put the vandas indoors in winter...nothing permanent
trust your instincs and common sense on these...improvise

crazymonkie · #3 03-11-2012, 12:41 AM

Thank you very much for your help! Yes, you are right, it's humid quite a bit out here (the weather report claimed it was 100% humidity tonight, but I think they were measuring at the airport, about 9 miles south, where it tends to be a little wetter; it felt more like 80-85% to me), and it's been quite a change for me moving from L.A. to Midland/Odessa TX (semi-desert, sort of prairie-ish, blazing hot in the summer, freezing cold in the winter, nearly 0 humidity) to here as far as humidity is concerned.

We don't really get frosts out this way, except for once in a great while. This year things got down to the lower 40s to mid 30s (oh I know- poor us, right

) and that was a decades-old record that was close to being broken. So I do know I've got it made that way.

So far as water retention is concerned: I ask because I've been mentally comparing myself and how I water with the results that I've seen these past few days with the rain my orchids have been getting (most are in pots in straight medium bark, Dens and Catts and such) and I'm concerned that I'll be under-watering them. I want to make sure the roots get the air they need and that I don't under-water them. I've already had trouble with aerial roots on my other orchids that have gone over pot edges and then just *pfft*, and I blame myself for that.... though it could be that the plastic edges are really sharp.

Regardless, I found bags of coco chips and (separately) coarse bark mix listed as Vanda mixture.... I'm thinking of buying both, but does one seem like a better idea than another?

Re: hanging things- I live in an apartment, so I'd probably have to get permission to drill holes in the overhang of my patio. I'm not even sure if it's plank or several layers of wood up there. I'm still sticking to my idea of a mobile hanger, though still not sure what to do.

Again, thanks!

tucker85 · #4 03-11-2012, 10:51 AM

I would use your city water on the vandas. Hard water won't hurt them. Any time they can be out in the rain, that could help also.

I grow all mine in wood baskets with no medium. I water every morning. Unfortunately vandas are high maintenance when it comes to watering.

Fertilize with a weak solution once a week.

Some direct sunlight in the morning or afternoon can help. Vandas require a lot of light but the leaves will burn in the midday sun.

Vandas can handle 55 degree weather without a problem. I bring mine indoors if it's going to drop below 50 for more than a few hours.

Your local orchid society would be a good resource. Check out the website for Heart O' Texas Orchid Society. The next meeting is Tuesday April 3, 2012 at 6:45 pm
at Zilker Botanical Garden Center, 2220 Barton Springs Rd, Austin, TX 78746
Orchid societies will let you sit in on meetings without joining. It won't cost you anything unless you decide to join. You will probably find members there who know how to grow vandas in your environment.

crazymonkie · #5 03-11-2012, 07:36 PM

Thank you for all the advice. I've heard mixed things about Austin city water.... the stuff we get is, I think, pumped in from San Antonio, but I can't find any TCEQ or Federal water reports for my zip code. So I am still worried about the TDS levels. Maybe I should get a home test kit, or send some off to get tested at a lab (though that's probably expensive, right?)

I've been meaning to go to our orchid society meeting, but a lack of funds got in the way of going since I've moved here. Still, though, I'm quite sure I'll be going next month.

Does anyone have suggestions about where I should/can hang these things? And what sort of hangers should I use? I went to Lowes and found a few options for hangers:
-12 gauge (or 14) electrical wiring and galvanized hooks strung together
-Braided galvanized stuff, just a few cents per foot but not able to be fashioned into hooks

Maybe there are some others? I couldn't find something thick enough that I'd trust to hold the weight of the wood for mountings (though baskets should be fine) but that is also solid metal.

Also, any suggestions as to how to make a hanging station- like the hobby horse idea I mentioned earlier? I've got kind of limited space and would like the station to be mobile and not too heavy.

tucker85 · #6 03-11-2012, 08:14 PM

Orchid baskets should come with the wires or the wires may be sold seperately. Get the wires that are made for the basket, don't try to make your own. I don't have a good picture of a basket with wires. Here's the closest picture I have. Go to Google and search for hanging plant bracket. You'll see lots of hanging options.
I don't have a good picture of a basket with wires. Here's the closest picture I have.

crazymonkie · #7 03-11-2012, 08:37 PM

"Should" seems to be the optimal word here. I won't mention names, but I was planning on buying baskets from a major nursery that has done me right until recently. They seem to have decided to sell the hangers separately, and right now it looks like they're only selling the hangers for the round plastic net pots (three hooks instead of four).

I looked at the brackets, and the problem is this: I'd have to affix them to the uneven and rough stone of the columns on either side of my 1st story patio area. And I'd have to ask permission from my landlord to do it.

That's why I'm really trying to figure out a hanging thing.... think like a scaled down old-style swing set with orchid baskets instead of swings, and you'll have an idea of what I've got in mind. Unless there's some other thing I could use instead.

Bud · #8 03-11-2012, 08:37 PM

I got my vanda wooden baskets from Ebay and Amazon...redwood or hickory wood will last longer and wont decay fast...
why dont you visit your local thrift shop and find yourself an old coat rack...I got lucky and found myself two of those light metallic tube types.

crazymonkie · #9 03-11-2012, 08:40 PM

Ah. Coat rack. Yes, definitely. And this city is great for second-hand stuff too. Got a mission now. ;-)

I'm actually going to order baskets from Amazon. That 3 set I mentioned in my first post. Next week, not this week... I spent plenty of $ on gardening supplies this week, re-potted my seedling (still pretty big!) Cymb Green Giant and mounted up (1st ever!) my Br nodosa.... It just looks RIGHT on that plank.