Hi Sue, I went to your home page and saw your were from Canada. I wanted to e-mail you direct but I see you don't have your e-mail posted there. In any case I bought 3 vandas from Angel Street Orchids. Here is there home page: http://www.angelstreetorchids.com/ I bought Ascda. Blue Tahourdin 'Bronze Grape' which to my surprised arrived in spike. I also purchased Ascda. Motes Hot Chestnut 'Mary' HCC/AOS and a Vanda (Med Laughlin x Agatha Motes) 'Maui Spots' They were very cheap and of nice size and quality. I grow them in an attached green house. I grow mostly paphs. but have the vandas on the glass side where the door is. Picture a free standing green house without one of the small ends. That would be the side that attached to my house. It is not a lean two type. I heat it in the winter in the day to 68 and down to around 60 F at night. They are mostly bare root and get watered every day. I can tell you from experience the Ascda. Princess Mikasa's are great ones to grow. I have one pink one and a couple of the blue ones (one clone and one none clone). They bloom often for me. Especially once they get some size to them. My pink one and dark blue one are currently in bloom. I go to South Carolina in the spring and fall via car, so always try to check out Lowes for those bag vanda orchids. They are small but will grow in time. I even tried a couple of flasks of vandas about 6 years ago. Many died and I wonder if I'll live long enough to see any of them bloom. (I hope too :-) as I'm not ready to kick the bucket for many years.

Click on Bob8 and it will bring you to my home page and then click send and e-mail. Then we can talk off of this site if you prefer.

Always will to talk orchids and try to help.

Bob in Albany, N.Y.

hello, Bob, talking here is fine because i find that others with interesting insights may join in - I always like to hear different view points. the Mikasa blue that is spiking has two keiki's attached to it. the keiki's are almost half the size of the mother plant. very neat. can't wait till they are of blooming size. how many of these do you have? and because they are bare root what do you do when you go on holidays?
sue

I'm not sure of the exact count but must have 30 or so, that range from small non blooming bag orchids to a couple that are pretty darn tall. Probable the largest one that I own I bought pretty small but in bloom. It keeps getting bigger and bigger. The length of the spike is longer as well. My second tallest vanda has never bloomed, yet it sits next to two that do bloom. Most of mine do not have keikis. I have a single plant that I purchased in bloom at Parkside Orchids that I thought was two plants. It now looks like four full size plants. Only 2 of which have bloomed.

I go away twice a year for 2 to 2 1/2 weeks per trip. My neighbor comes in and sprays the vandas and waters the rest of my orchids. I'm sure she only does a fair job but it keeps everything alive for me.

hello, Bob, thanks - I try not to be too nosey but i find it interesting to know what people have and what they do with them. I need some advice, though: one of my ascocenda's already declining: the bottom 2 set of leaves are turning yellow & there is a new leave growing at the top. the roots don't seem to be growing. I have put it outside. it is sprayed daily with seaweed. any suggestions on what i should do? all the others are doing well: green - no yellowing and new leaves growing. they all get the same treatment. thanks.
sue

The vandas many time lose leaves from the bottom. Then eventually they may start growing roots in that area. I don't know if I'd be spraying seaweed every day. As a matter of fact I never heard of it. A good all around fertilizer they appreciate. Like I said before I have a hugh and I mean hugh vanda taking up space in the greenhouse that has never bloomed. That one is losing lots of lower leaves and replacing them up top with new leaves. There are plenty of roots. It seems happy yet won't bloom.

When I grew under fluorescent lights I keep blooming a Vanda Pats Delight (Pat not Robert) Most of the mericlones are of Roberts Delight. In any case I watered it every morning and evening upon returning from work (while I was changing cloths). I would just drop it into a big plastic storage container that I had bought from Walmarts. Bought it and just tossed the lid away. Back then in the summer I would put the vandas outside and watered them with my hose. Always at least once a day.

Hope that answers your question.
Bob in Albany,N.Y.

hello, Bob, yes, thanks for the response. mu experience had been that the new roots would "kill" off the leaves at the point where they come out. i have not seen where the leaves fall before the roots. also, in the past when this happened, the plant declined and died. so i thought the same thing was happening. ever since i started with seaweed on my orchids, i have found to leaves to be of a more vibrant green; that's why i really like it. i also use superthrive, spray and grow and B1.
sue

Just looked at this thread today since it was not addredssed to me :-). I saw the count growing and got curious. Anyway, since I am here, an obseration: to be helpful, Bob's advice should be put into context littlem, his greenhouse see's your sunroom and raises you two Aces. I am not a cardplayer so I may have said something completely dumb. I would be very concerned seeing early die-off of those bottom leaves. All the seaweed or Vit. B1 in the world isn't going to do any good if you can't find a way to get several thousand more footcandles into your Asco's each day. They are much more forgiving than Vanda's but west light in Zone 11 is one thing. In Zone 5 you need at least South and West or South and East OR (my favorite) any compass point you choose (except North) and a healthy amount of artificial light.

H

hello, Howard, thanks for contributing. actually, whenever i look at my growing conditions: I have gotten into the habit of asking myself: would Howard say this is enough light? so, in this case I have the Asco. outside on the verandah which get sunlight from the south. it has a railing so it cuts off some of the light and there is a verandah above it, so it does not direct light noonday light. so if you still think that it needs more light than that, i can move it to where it will get sunlight from sunrise to sunset. thanks.
sue

Direct uncontrolled sunlight from sunrise to sunset would likely fry it, maybe not every day but come one particulary hot and dry one and 'ooops'. Better is a system of partial shade all the time vs fixed periods of complete sun and no sun at all like you have at present. Of course it can work to do it the easy way but it is harder when problems arise to know exactly what is causing it. Too much, too little or both (too much with too little duration).

H

hello, Howard, thanks for your help.
sue