Seagrove Orchids Vandaceous Culture Sheet

Seagrove Orchids Vanda Plant Care Sheet

(Vanda, Aerides, Ascocenda, Ascocentrum, Mokara, Arachnis, Kagawara,)

Some of the most beautiful and rewarding plants that you may grow belong to the vandaceous tribe. Their bright and colorful long-lasting blooms can fill an area with joy. Breeding has been done recently to make some of today's hybrids fragrant.

They are exceptionally easy to cultivate if you own a greenhouse or a lath house. Inside the home care they will require extra attention to detail. As a hobbyist, I did however take the challenge and grow these in the home for more than a couple of years and then move them outdoors all summer for a bit of fresh air. I had a wooden structure similar to a children elementary school jungle jim with minimal shading on the top. These plants have made the move with me from Maryland to Seagrove NC. and now live in the big commercial greenhouse and hang from the highest points so they receive maximum sunlight.

Water, light, potting medium, and fertilizer play equal roles in the success of rearing these plants.

Vandas thrive best in temperatures between 60F and 90F but will tolerate both slightly higher and lower temperatures. Root and flower development are most vigorous with the night time temperature range of 60 - 75F and day time range of 80-90 F. Dropping night time temperatures lower than these, can cause the plant to go into a semi-dormant stage where it will cease all growth. You do not want your plant to go into this stage because, it can stay in this stage for over a month even after you have corrected the conditions.

Light conditions for these plants are the highest you can give them without sunburning the leaves. Inside the home growers will have to compromise by keeping the plants in the sunniest site possible in the home (Southern exposure is the best) for the winter and then move the plants outside to a lightly shaded spot. Vandas can tolerate full sun if they are moved out into this situation gradually. Baby steps just like you would condition your own skin for a full day out in the sun. They can tolerate full morning sun if the conditions in the home were bright and sunny and then you can increase the dosage a little each week. You want to keep your plant growing.

Potting medium-Do not use the typical bark mix for these orchids. They greatly resent any type of restricting mix. Even if your bark mix is in a huge bark mix it will eventually start to break down and will have to be replaced. Vandas do not like their roots disturbed so it is best to stick with an inert mix at all times for these plants. Some people use nothing in the pot or basket. Others like me use wine corks in baskets to hold them in an upright position while the roots are growing and attaching to the basket. You can also use wire ties to secure the plant in an upright position and no medium at all. The roots will attach to corks and baskets and be very happy about the freedom. Large lava rock has also successfully been used.

*The basket is old when I purchased my plant and I would like to know how to handle this situation. Well, do not try to remove the basket from the existing plant unless the existing root system is so weak that it is barely attached to the basket. This would still be a tedious situation for the removal of a few roots without damaging them would be almost always unsuccessful. You would need to soak the old basket and roots thoroughly and gently try to remove these roots. Better solution is to just purchase a high quality hardwood basket and insert the old basket and plant into its new basket in its entirety. A plastic basket never breaks down. When choosing a wooden slatted basket, make sure it is made from hardwoods or wood that is suited to being rewetted on a regular basis. Softer woods break down more quickly and the basket would need replaced. Teak, redwood, and oak are all good choices.

During the hot summer months you will want to water your vandaceous plant every day. When temperatures outside exceed 90F, you may even water it more. The secret to growing these plants vigorously is the high light and good feeding they receive. They are heavy feeders. Inside watering and fertilizing can be easily accomplished by running this sink sprayer on the plants roots and then having a spray bottle with fertilizer mix handy and then giving the roots a spray with this mixture. I would fertilize them every other watering in the home. Always be sure to water them down first and then spray the fertilizer mixture on the plants while the roots are still wet. Your fertilizer mixture would be ½ strength of the manufacturers recommended application. Outside I recommend you use a hose end sprayer to apply the water first and then the water fertilizer mixture. During the summer, I fertilize every watering. Make sure this hose end sprayer has never been used for applying herbicides in the past. Water them early in the day so the water temperature is not too shocking for them. Never water with very cold or very hot water. As the day goes on the water inside the hose can become very warm. If the water temperature coming out of the hose is comfortable for you, then it will be fine for watering orchids. A good technique from the past is that for a midday watering during very hot spells, I would run the sun warmed -very hot water out of the hose until it became a comfortable warm temperature and then water the Vandaceous plants with this water. Remember that watering with cold or hot water in comparison to leaf temperatures can shock your plant or cause leaf damage (tissue-cellular damage)

Rhynchostylis care is much the same except for light conditions should be shadier. They cannot tolerate full sun and should be grown around 50% shaded.

This care sheet is not suited for Neofinetia.