Hallo all,

I have a Vanda here and I do do not know how to make her bloom.

I've read some information, that she needs lots of light and moisture.
Unfortunatly I do not know how to provie lots of light. I direct sun the
leaves get burned. I do not know how to solve the problem and why she gets
burned at all, as she is supposed to get lots of light. I've seen
fotographs where a Vanda was exposed to direct sun without any problems.

She is growing like crazy, new roots and leaves, but no blooming. I
suppose it's because of lack of light. But it's a dillema, because she
gets burned when exposed to sun.

Can someone provide some advice? How to get a Vanda to bloom in central
europe?


Thanx in advance,


Andreas

First of all, it's important to know the name of your Vanda. Is there a tag
with a name on it?
Secondly, most orchids may need a gradual increase in light so they don't
sunburn. Move it out into the sun gradually, increasing the hours (one,
then two hours) and the time (i.e. first morning sun, then gradually into
noon sun) of sun exposure.
Any more suggestions, guys?
BTW, you can write anything in German if you have problems with English. I
am the resident German translator. :-)
--
Reka (in hot, sunny, humid South Tyrol)
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
--Winston Churchill
"Andreas Mueller" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news
Hallo all,

I have a Vanda here and I do do not know how to make her bloom.

I've read some information, that she needs lots of light and moisture.
Unfortunatly I do not know how to provie lots of light. I direct sun the
leaves get burned. I do not know how to solve the problem and why she gets
burned at all, as she is supposed to get lots of light. I've seen
fotographs where a Vanda was exposed to direct sun without any problems.

She is growing like crazy, new roots and leaves, but no blooming. I
suppose it's because of lack of light. But it's a dillema, because she
gets burned when exposed to sun.

Can someone provide some advice? How to get a Vanda to bloom in central
europe?


Thanx in advance,


Andreas


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Hallo Andreas,


There is not much advice that one can give you I'm afraid.
As Reka suggested you should increase the light level gradually, I
have no idea where your plants came from, but I'm sure it wasn't grown
in full sun before, so it will need to adapt.

Now I do have some other questions for you:

- do you have a name for it ? Except for it being a "Vanda".
- has it flowered before ? and if so, when ?
- how large is the plant ?
- have you had it for long ?


I have to admit that I don't really monitor the flowering period of
our Vanda's (a shame yes, I know :-) ) but I am sure that they can be
quite variable in flowering season (right everybody ?).
If you acquired the plant recently then you may just have to be
patient a bit longer...

Apart from the general rules: lots of heat, lots of humidity and lots
of light there is nothing much left...


kind regards,

Kenneth Bruyninckx
Akerne Orchids, Belgium

http://www.akerne-orchids.com


On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 18:49:57 +0200, "Andreas Mueller"
wrote:

Hallo all,

I have a Vanda here and I do do not know how to make her bloom.

I've read some information, that she needs lots of light and moisture.
Unfortunatly I do not know how to provie lots of light. I direct sun the
leaves get burned. I do not know how to solve the problem and why she gets
burned at all, as she is supposed to get lots of light. I've seen
fotographs where a Vanda was exposed to direct sun without any problems.

She is growing like crazy, new roots and leaves, but no blooming. I
suppose it's because of lack of light. But it's a dillema, because she
gets burned when exposed to sun.

Can someone provide some advice? How to get a Vanda to bloom in central
europe?


Thanx in advance,


Andreas

Vandas are heavy feeders Try using 20-20-20
half strength twice a week also ocassionaly use super bloom evvery third or
fourth time at half strenght as well. they should do well under 50% shade cloth

Hallo all,

I have a Vanda here and I do do not know how to make her bloom.

I've read some information, that she needs lots of light and moisture.
Unfortunatly I do not know how to provie lots of light. I direct sun the
leaves get burned. I do not knowhow to solve the problem and why she gets
burned at all, as she is supposed to get lots of light. I've seen
fotographs where a Vanda was exposed to direct sun without any problems.

She is growing like crazy, newroots and leaves, but no blooming. I
suppose it's because of lack of light. But it's a dillema, because she
gets burned when exposed to sun.

Can someone provide some advice? How to get a Vanda to bloom in central
europe?


Thanx in advance,


Andreas

On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 20:53:31 +0200, Reka wrote:

Hallo Reka,

First of all, it's important to know the name of your Vanda. Is there a tag
with a name on it?

Well, it's called Vanda Coerulea. I suppose, that it's the most common.

Secondly, most orchids may need a gradual increase in light so they don't
sunburn. Move it out into the sun gradually, increasing the hours (one,
then two hours) and the time (i.e. first morning sun, then gradually into
noon sun) of sun exposure.

Well, she already stayed exposed to the sun in a window months, but when I
leave her outside on a balcony in direct sun, she gets burned. I'll try
something to shadow her a little bit.


Thanx,

Andreas

On Tue, 26 Aug 2003 02:21:41 +0000, Martin wrote:

Hallo Martin,

Vandas are heavy feeders Try using 20-20-20
half strength twice a week also ocassionaly use super bloom evvery third or
fourth time at half strenght as well. they should do well under 50% shade cloth

I don't understand what U mean with 20-20-20? I'm using a "normal"? orchid
fertilizer already. And what is superbloom? I suppose, it's something that
contains some plant hormones? What are the ingredients?

I'll shadow her in the next time.

Greetings,

Andreas

On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 19:55:31 +0000, Kenneth Bruyninckx wrote:

Hallo Kenneth,


have no idea where your plants came from, but I'm sure it wasn't grown
in full sun before, so it will need to adapt.

I suppose, taht it came from the Netherlands, where all plants come from
;-))

- do you have a name for it ? Except for it being a "Vanda"

Vanda Coerulea (I suppose the most common one)

- has it flowered before ? and if so, when ?

yes, one year ago in the summer (when I bought it)

- how large is the plant ?

it is some 50 cm in height now. Some leaves are burnt :-( but she grows
lots of thick roots.

- have you had it for long ?

well about one year.

Apart from the general rules: lots of heat, lots of humidity and lots
of light there is nothing much left...

You seem to know a lot about orchids and Vandae. As I see, that You are
from Belgium and I'm in Germany, the light conditions are the same.
So do You use artificial light? What kind of artificial light? Does a
vanda need lots of light all over the year in order to bloom?

Do You advise to use any chemicals?

Greetings,

Andreas

On Tue, 26 Aug 2003 02:21:41 +0000, Martin wrote:

Hallo Martin,

Vandas are heavy feeders Try using 20-20-20
half strength twice a week also ocassionaly use super bloom evvery third
or
fourth time at half strenght as well. they should do well under 50% shade
cloth

I don't understand what U mean with 20-20-20? I'm using a "normal"? orchid
fertilizer already. And what is superbloom? I suppose, it's something that
contains some plant hormones? What are the ingredients?

I'll shadow her in the next time.

Greetings,

Andreas


The number 20-20-20 refer to the main chemical makeup of the fertilizer. The
first number is the amount of nitrogen(growth) the second is
phosphorus(flowers) and the third is potassium(roots) . This example is called
a balanced fertilizer. Super bloom would have higer phosphorus like 10-60-10 to
encourage blooming

on (Martin) wrote in message ...
On Tue, 26 Aug 2003 02:21:41 +0000, Martin wrote:

Hallo Martin,

Vandas are heavy feeders Try using 20-20-20
half strength twice a week also ocassionaly use super bloom evvery third
or
fourth time at half strenght as well. they should do well under 50% shade
cloth

I don't understand what U mean with 20-20-20? I'm using a "normal"? orchid
fertilizer already. And what is superbloom? I suppose, it's something that
contains some plant hormones? What are the ingredients?

I'll shadow her in the next time.

Greetings,

Andreas


The number 20-20-20 refer to the main chemical makeup of the fertilizer. The
first number is the amount of nitrogen(growth) the second is
phosphorus(flowers) and the third is potassium(roots) . This example is called
a balanced fertilizer....




IIRC, a balanced fertilizer is one that contains the three basics, NPK.
An unbalanced fertilizer contains only one or two of the three.
The proportions don't matter. A 30-15-30 fertilizer is balanced too.


J. Del Col

V coerulea takes a lot of light but full sun isn't necessary, I believe,
even in central Europe. My experience with V coerulea is that it blooms in
spring or late winter and can take less light and lower temps than most any
other vanda and generally like it a little cooler than most. I wouldn't push
my luck on either one if you want blooming. I give maximum light in winter,
50% shade in summer, winter temps of 55F min 80F max. If the plant is
mature, you should get blooms.
Gary
"Andreas Mueller" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 20:53:31 +0200, Reka wrote:

Hallo Reka,

First of all, it's important to know the name of your Vanda. Is there a
tag
with a name on it?

Well, it's called Vanda Coerulea. I suppose, that it's the most common.

Secondly, most orchids may need a gradual increase in light so they
don't
sunburn. Move it out into the sun gradually, increasing the hours (one,
then two hours) and the time (i.e. first morning sun, then gradually
into
noon sun) of sun exposure.

Well, she already stayed exposed to the sun in a window months, but when I
leave her outside on a balcony in direct sun, she gets burned. I'll try
something to shadow her a little bit.


Thanx,

Andreas

You seem to know a lot about orchids and Vandae. As I see, that You are
from Belgium and I'm in Germany, the light conditions are the same.
So do You use artificial light? What kind of artificial light? Does a
vanda need lots of light all over the year in order to bloom?

Do You advise to use any chemicals?


Andreas,


We grow all our plants in a greenhouse, so we do not need any
artificial lights in the darker winter months.
That is not to say that the plant might not like it.... just that we
feel that it is not economically viable to put up artifical light
throughout the greenhouse.
I know in the past my father recommended some 300 Watt of cool white
tubes per square metre to be beneficial to the plants and that would
be a lot of tubes in a 700 square metre greenhouse :-)
Of course nowadays you have special growth lamps, but stil they are
not cheap.

Since you had the plant for a year now it should flower soon (or even
should have flowered already).
From your reponses I gather that you grow it indoors ? Right ?
If so, do you grow it at a east, west or south facing window ? And
close to the window or a distance away from it ?

Concerning the chemicals, I assume you are talking about fertilizer.
Yes, orchids and plants in general do like a bit of food once in a
while.
The comparison that I always tend to make is one bnetween a human
running a marathon and a plant producing a flower. To survive we as
humans need to eat regularly, so... if producing a flower (growing new
leaves, roots etc) is a heavy exercise for the plant... then yes, it
needs food as well.
Which orchid fertilizer that you use depends on your own choice really
(and on what you can find locally of course).

We use 2 types: an NPK 10-4-7 and a 4-8-8.
Why 2 ?
Because seasonal changes do have an impact on the growth of the plant.
In spring and summer they get 10-4-7 with a higher N-concentration
(10) to give extra food to produce new growths & roots, in autumn and
winter howvever days get darker, the light intensity is decreasing
rapidly and too much N(itrogen) in a fertilizer would result in "weak"
growth/tissue which in turn would be more prone to bacterial and
fungal infections. So we switch to a formula 4-8-8 where we give more
P(hosphorus) and K (sodium) to strengthen the plant to get through the
darker winter months.
That is the reasoning that we follow and therefore we use 2 formulas.
Are the other formulas therefore bad ? No, I'm sure they are not.
Anyway always follow the instructions on the label !

If your plant is grown indoors then try to increase light intensity
(hanging outside in the sun doesn't seem necessary for me) and see how
the plant reacts.
And then to be honest all you can do is wait, talk to your plant,
threathen it with the prospect of being turned into compost if no
flowers are produced and wait some more...

Plants can be stubborn and even a slight change in position may be the
trigger for flowering;


kind regards,

Kenneth Bruyninckx
Akerne Orchids, Belgium

http://www.akerne-orchids.com

On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 22:52:56 +0000, Kenneth Bruyninckx wrote:

Hallo Kenneth,

Thanx for Your advice.

From your reponses I gather that you grow it indoors ? Right ?
If so, do you grow it at a east, west or south facing window ? And
close to the window or a distance away from it ?

Yes, You are right. I'm growing my orchids indoors. I have some
Phalenopsis a Zygopetalum and a difficult vanda ;-) Only the Zygopetalum
and the Vanda are the difficult ones for me.

I have windows facing to the east and to south-west. I left the Vanda for
some time in the window facing east and then changed to the south-western
one, because there's more sun. Now, I'll just have to see and try out some
stronger fertilizer.


Concerning the chemicals, I assume you are talking about fertilizer.
Yes, orchids and plants in general do like a bit of food once in a
while.

So, do You only use fertilizer? No other additional plant hormones or
something like this?


We use 2 types: an NPK 10-4-7 and a 4-8-8.
Why 2 ?

Now I did look a little bit closer on the fertilizer bottles. So before
(some 3 months ago) I used a 5-5-5 fertilizer. Then I bought a new one
which is 6-3-6.

I did some chemistry studying some time ago. But I never did learn
anything about different fertilizer concentrations for plants.

What would be the maximum N-P-K concentrations recommended? It's no
problem for me to mix a 10-4-7 or say 20-10-10 fertilizer, now that I
understand to what all this relates.

So what do You think should the maximum concentration of N-P-K be?

And then to be honest all you can do is wait, talk to your plant,
threathen it with the prospect of being turned into compost if no
flowers are produced and wait some more...

Yes, I've already threatened it...;-)


Thanx a lot and greetings,

Andreas