How do I encourage new roots on Vanda?
 

I have had a Vanda Pachara's Delight for several years in my brightly lit south facing solarium. It has a large healthy batch of roots at its base and it gets dilute fertilizer every time I soak or spray the roots so it flowers 2-3 times a year. Over time I have lost the lower 9" of leaves as the top continues to grow. I've heard that once it gets too tall and a new healthy crop of roots have formed from the leaf axils that one can cut the top off to produce a shorter plant. The original mass of roots below the plant's base continues to grow and multiply but no new roots have grown from the leaf axils. Can someone please advise me how to encourage new roots from the leaf axils?

1) Very high humidity.
2) KelpMax

The latter will certainly stimulate root growth and branching, and in my experience, will also encourage the formation of new roots thr throughout the "stalk".

High Humidity for sure. I live in Zone 9b and i used to grow them outside year round. I think my brother still has my vandas i gave him. I will check with him later today and see if he still has them.

Also apart from high humidity, there is the daily water schedule that should be maintained. you can maybe go every other day but consistent watering are the way to go. Then again i live in zone 9b and i also used to grow them bare root not in pots

Thank you, Ray, for your advice and I will check out KelpMax. And thanks to you, STXorchids 35, for your advice also. I guess I'm on the right track because my Vanda is hanging bareroot and it gets a mild fertilizer in rainwater everytime it is misted which is several times a day and soaked in the same for an hour once a week. I think I will apply a liquid rooting hormone by brush to every dormant node along the bare stem. Thanks again to both of you!

I went to my brothers house today and he still has 2 of my vandas that i gifted him and to my surprise they are doing pretty well! amongst other orchids he has that didnt sell when i sold all of my orchids :/

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k9...psxwfwqpx4.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k9...ps9yv1ocnz.jpg

He told me that hes watered it every other day but right now its been 2 weeks that he hasnt watered because in the mornings theres been very good fog and some rains and plus its been in the high 60s - low 70s in the morning.

Very nice! It's very healthy and I see a new spike coming along. It's an advantage that you live in zone 9b but even though I live in zone 7 in Oklahoma City, mine looks just as nice except that recently I've lost the lower 9" of leaves. I really "baby" it with misting and fertilizing and still a year ago this month it had 3 spikes at the same time and had a total of 24 flowers! Attached is a picture from that blooming. Now all I have to do is encourage new roots along the bare stem so that I can eventually cut it shorter.

I drape my vanda roots with Spanish moss, and use kelpmax too.

While I don't grow Vandas, I swear by KelpMax. In the 4 or 5 months I've been using it I've seen excellent root development.

Thank you both for suggesting KelpMax. It must work well to get such good reviews. I'll google it and buy some.

amazon sells. it and I am glad it does not make the water dark like other kelp extracts.