Vanda brunnea
 

I have a vanda brunnea that I purchased about a year ago. It appears to be a keiki from a larger plant. Anyway, other than producing some roots, it hasn't done much of anything. Very little growth, no spike, etc. It is about 10 or 12 inches tall.

Anyway, I have read they are a cooler temp grower. Can anybody confirm this? Do I have any chance of ever getting it to bloom in Florida (orlando, middle of the state).

Thanks for any help you can offer!

Hi Jen, looked it up on orchid wiz ...as follows....LIGHT - 3000-4000 fc - plants grow well in almost full sunlight, some shading for mid day is appropriate. TEMP- summer days average 69-71F and nights 61 with diurnal (?) range of 8-10F. Can take warmer temps 75- 81 as it does in spring time where they originate. Likes high humidity 90% summer and autumn, dropping to 65% -70 in winter and spring. Used to heavy rainfall from late spring to autumn, then a 4 month dry spell winter till early spring. Suggests that you water heavily while plant is actively growing, drainage must be good, reduce water after growth is complete in late autumn. MEDIA- grown in hanging baskets good draining media, roots should be allowed to hang, and not trimmed. Brisk air movement around roots very important. Hope some of this helps, maybe someone else out there actually has one that they're successfully growing and will chime in.

Hi ,
I think that advice and infos of Brenda are very good.
Vanda brunnea is a specie mainly from Myanmar (Burma) and North Thailand but can be found in Yunnan province in China and Northern India. It grows at the altitude of 100m to 1600m sometimes 1800m .
Again, I think that what is said about temp. light and so on by Brenda is excellent.
It seems that the drop of temperature during winter months help to bloom and the difference of day and night temperature all year round too.

Hummm...well I don't know if I can give it a good enough temperature difference from day to night. The summers here don't have much difference, but lately it has been raining more and cooling it off at night. Maybe I will get lucky. I will give it another year and see how it goes. Thanks for the help!

Advice above is accurate for V. brunnea (sometimes mistakenly called denisoniana). Lower temps in winter and a 10 degree difference in day vs night time temps is important to set flower spikes. Are you growing indoors? Is your home air-conditioned? Or is the plant exposed to the elements year round? If you're growing indoors, you might try increasing air circulation ... it may help reduce temps a bit, but you still will need a balance of light and humidity.
In NH, we don't have a problem of winter temp drop, day night differences. Don't give up ... brunnea is a great plant to have in your collection.
Hopefully there'll be a grower in your area that has some tips!

Dear Jenn,

Be careful interpreting what people say and(or) read about Vanda brunnea. The actual species is rather rare. For decades, the name V. brunnea was misapplied to a species that is correctly V. liouvilleae and this is what most references refer to. Vanda liouvilleae likes it somewhat cooler than standard vandas but should do fine in Orlando.

Hope that helps, Eric

Correct , brunnea is quite often mistaken with liouvillei . Sometimes I see this mistake in Thailand as well. A check on the shape of the lip and base of it will let you know for sure which specie it is.