vanda lecture I went to

[ScottMcC]

I went to a lecture on vandas yesterday. The guy who gave it was very good. He divided a plant as part of the lecture.

His basic method: water at least daily, fertilize almost every watering, greenhouse with lots of light, very hot and humid. He grows his with just a wire hanger, no basket or anything, which impresses me, but apparently that way he can cram about twice as many into the same space (apparently he has about 700 full size vandas plus about as many juvenile plants).

The kicker for me was his root trimming method...any time the roots get so long that they touch the floor (ie about 6 ft), he comes by with a hedge trimmer and whacks them off about a foot off the ground.

[cb977]

Hi Scott,
my large vanda has free-flow roots about 4 ft long. I did something wrong this year and the blooms weren't what they were last year, although there were 6 of them. I learned recently from a lady in my club (she has about 300 'chids, a lot of them are vandas on a hanger, no medium) and she says that she always trims the bottoms, keeping them at about 2 ft. According to her, the roots at the very bottom aren't really doing much for the plant, so she shortens them to let the plant put more energy into growing new healthy roots higher, and into nurturing for the upcoming blooms. She's got a beautiful collection, she was featured in the newspaper story that was run prior to our show. I was originally scared about cutting the long roots, but if it works for her...it'll work for me
by the way, vandas on a hanger with nothing else are my favorite way to display them. Simply stunning!

[justatypn]

Vanda's I do not have but my sister has one and she also set the roots to thicken so to speak, higher verses letting it grow out of control. She tells me it has helped in the overall appearence of the v. It's due to bloom and hope she will take a picture for me.

One day Vanda's will be added to my collection when enviroment allows it. But it is nice to see a neighbor's hanging in a tree.

[cneos]

We grow vandas almost exclusively in a 14 x 14 foot greenhouse. Plants are in teak baskets, without any kind of potting medium. We machete the bottom parts of the roots once a year. This forces new root growth and strengthens plant, making for better flowering too. Many plants bloom two to three times a year. Not bad for a New Hampshire vanda grower.