I've heard that vandas are more difficult to grow than Phals or Catts. Is
this true? I would love to try one. Does anyone have information to make
growing a Vanda succesful?

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.

That said, there are several that do grow well in pots. Mostly Ascocendas.
We've mentioned Princess Mikasa. I think John deBiase is a good one too. Su
Fun Beauty.

K Barrett

"susan' scott" wrote in message
...
I've heard that vandas are more difficult to grow than Phals or Catts. Is
this true? I would love to try one. Does anyone have information to make
growing a Vanda succesful?

Whether a particular orchid is deemed "hard" or "easy" to grow depends on
the grower's habits, location, etc. Here in So. Fla., many people consider
vandaceous plants easier to grow than phals. [I even have one client who
can grow everything BUT phals ...].

However, the needs of the two different types of plants are very different.
Here, vandas are generally grown outdoors in very little shade [hanging in a
palm tree, or on a pool enclosure under just the screening]. For much of
the year, Mother Nature provides ample water, so the only real "pain" is
dragging them into the guest bathroom for a night or three, two or three
times a year, when we get our brief interludes of winter cold. So that the
plants can stand up to our summer rains, they're generally grown in slat
baskets with little or no potting medium.

In a strictly indoor situation, it can be (1) difficult to provide enough
light and (2) tedious to water them every day or two. If you need to grow
yours potted, so as to water less often and less messily, I recommend that
you start with one already established in pot culture rather than trying to
"re-train" one that's been grown "bare in the basket" for its entire life.

Good growing,



--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com
"susan' scott" wrote in message
...
I've heard that vandas are more difficult to grow than Phals or Catts. Is
this true? I would love to try one. Does anyone have information to make
growing a Vanda succesful?

In article ,
susan' scott wrote:
I've heard that vandas are more difficult to grow than Phals or Catts. Is
this true? I would love to try one. Does anyone have information to make
growing a Vanda succesful?


It's the temperature requirements that defeated me. I grow my
orchids indoors in my home. After looking up the requirements,
i realized that there was no way that i could manage to get a
vanda plant to bloom again. They're beautiful, but i'd rather
spend my money on a plant that i'd have a greater chance of
success with.

Of course, if i ever get my own greenhouse, it's a different story.

--
-john

February 28 1997: Last day libraries could order catalogue cards
from the Library of Congress.

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