K Barrett ) wrote:
: I think what gives them the rep as being difficult is their higher light
: requirements as well as that they are heavy feeders. Plus, if you can't get
: them to adapt to pot culture, they are a pain to grow indoors because of
: their high humidity requirements.

Man, do I feel like an oddball. My first Vanda, by some great chance of
serendipity, proved to be a pretty tough individual. It survived its early
years as a pretty horribly abused, poorly lit (e.g. lived under a shoplight
with 2 40W cool bulbs for a couple of years), underwatered (less so now but
I used to be one of those water when I remember kind of gardeners) little
plant. I bought it in a 1" pot at KMart over 15 years ago. Now a days it
lives in a 6" pot on the window sill where it gets enough light and care to
have bloomed once a year for the past 7 or so years. I repotted it earlier
this year in aliphlor(sp?) as an experiment (it's always been in med-large
bark until now). I think that experiment has been successful so far since as
I write this it is blooming for the second time this year. I don't get a lot
of flowers, maybe 4-6 per spike, but it blooms consistently now that it gets
enough light. I wish I could say what kind it is but the label disappeared
many years ago. It is a Vanda though and not an Ascocenda, I remember that
much from the label. So in my very limited experience Vandas (or Vanda I
should say) have proven pretty bullet proof. In the last year or so I've
gotten an Ascocenda, another Vanda, and a Vascostylus and they are growing
well but with the exception of the Ascda I haven't had them long enough to
see if they'll bloom. The Ascda should have bloomed this year but it didn't.
I don't know why it didn't but it was in pretty bad shape when I bought
(worse than it appeared to be it turns out otherwise I wouldn't have taken
it on) so it be recovering from the abuse at Home Depot.

So, I'd say go ahead and try one. They can be had pretty cheaply at the
warehouse places like Home Depot so the experiment won't be too painful if
it fails (for you anyway). The biggest issue I found was getting it enough
light to bloom.

Dave