Vanda Watering

[Miller]

Hey guys, I was wondering how many of you DO NOT water your Vandas everyday?

Miller

[maggs]

I had replied to your post but it was the wrong set of plants, I have vandas out in the open and they also enjoy sun and rain, when there is no rain I water in the mornings, I am putting some shots where you will see my grow area, those you see are planted in pots with some soil and dried coconut husks, broken up crockery too, if you look you will see them holding on to the wall, I keep my strap vandas hung in wire baskets with coconut husks, orchid medium which I did myself(stones, coals and coconut chips or some wood chips) I water with a mild fertilizer, use some fungicide and pesticide too from time to time,if you look closely at where the dendrobium is hung you will see two wire baskets next to it they are my strap vandas , ,

[Mararda]

Hello,

I am not sure if I can help, but I will answer your question.

My Vandas currently get watered properly 1 in every 7 days, but are sprayed (horizontally) everyday. Two of mine are kept in open baskets with moss and bark, but have free air filtration (they have been drying out on approx a 4-5 day turnover period, but remain alittle green on days 5-6). One is in a plastic pot with bark media, and as it is virtually winter that will get watered much less (I am waiting for it to finish flowering so as to put it in a hexagonal basket like the others). The roots needs to allow 'almost' complete dryout before I re-water as I have found both my Vandaceous and especially Phalaenopsis to be susceptible to bacteria/fungus when it is colder/darker. I now have a moisture meter probe which I think is more accurate than my eyes or probing fingertips..However I also keep a journal on what I do with my orchids on a day to day basis, which I have found useful in seeing patterns etc...(I have found my Phals to be the pathogen weakest, and Oncidium/Odontoglossum alliance to be the toughest - just from rough speculation, esp with respect to fungus...not that I go about infecting them...)

Good luck with your Vandas. They are gorgeous orchids.

Btw, my regime above is for the colder, winter months...I water more as day light and temp increases.
I also keep my Vandas (and Angraecums, I have 2 of these) on humidity trays. To be honest the humidity is more important than how much you water in my opinion. At the moment I am diverting most of my resources towards the more demanding Vandas, however other orchids of mine could also benefit from the extra humidity.

[stateless]

there are times I don't water my vandas everyday, if we've had a few days of steady rain I let them dry out for a day or 2, if the temps are low 50's and it's cloudy I don't water them, winter if temps are good once a day, summer at least twice even 3x, If work takes me away for a weekend I let them go without watering, I don't trust my better half that well and they seem to be fine

[tucker85]

I try to water them every day but I often wind up watering every other day.

[coeruleo]

i do not water every day. most of my vandas have at least a small pot of bark (some are in treefern pots with moss and fern/bark mix) and get water on wednesdays and sundays, except in extreme weather, if it is cold, i skip watering until it is a warmer day, and if it is hot they get the aerial roots spritzed with a mister in the morning. the few i have in baskets with little to no medium get spritzed nearly every day in the morning. but at some point i will get around to potting them like the rest.

[wonderlen]

depends on where u live and where u grow the the vandas. Huston is hot and dry so watering them everyday doesn't hurt. You can water vanda all day if you want, lol, the key is the plant/roots must be dry out completely between each session.

[coeruleo]

one trick i have learned in a dry environment is to water twice. water once, let dry, after a few minutes water again. the roots dry so quickly, it gives them a second chance to soak up some moisture. it is so dry here i can watch the roots dry, and the clay pots. the water twice method has helped, especially when they are looking a bit too dry. the plants plump up more. i start with the vandas and then water everything else, then water the vandas again. i also sometimes fill the sink with water and plop the plants in and let them have a nice soak for an hour or so.

[coeruleo]

maggs, how are yo growing phals with vandas???? mine would croak???

I had replied to your post but it was the wrong set of plants, I have vandas out in the open and they also enjoy sun and rain, when there is no rain I water in the mornings, I am putting some shots where you will see my grow area, those you see are planted in pots with some soil and dried coconut husks, broken up crockery too, if you look you will see them holding on to the wall, I keep my strap vandas hung in wire baskets with coconut husks, orchid medium which I did myself(stones, coals and coconut chips or some wood chips) I water with a mild fertilizer, use some fungicide and pesticide too from time to time,if you look closely at where the dendrobium is hung you will see two wire baskets next to it they are my strap vandas , ,

[Miller]

Thanks guys. One clarification question, what do you consider dry? Hot and arid or hot and humid? Houston is the latter.

Miller