Hey Helga,

I grow lots of Mokaras outside in my yard. They bloom all year long without much fertilizer, although they get lots of Florida sunshine. Try exposing it to more light and see what happens.

Hi Helga -
I also grow outside in south Louisiana most of the year - I only have 2 or 3 Mokaras, and I remember that they did take a few years to start blooming; once they start, though, they bloom pretty continuously.
The suggestion of more light is a good one, because your plant certainly sounds plenty big enough to flower.
I think Mokaras have the addition of Aranda (I'm never *sure* though) and in theory would need less light than the straight Vanda, but I grow them all together - they don't roast, so the extra light doesn't hurt 'em.
Regards - Nancy

Hi Helga, I think we are now neighbors, possibly. A few yeas ago I lived in Salem and I met a commercial orchid grower who moved to Silverton to be with someone he met online. After a season or two he had to move the greenhouses east over the mountains so they could get more light. Now he commutes from the greenhouses in Pendelton to Silverton twice a week. That is how drastically different light amounts are in Zone 8 (coastal) Oregon and the Zone 5 interior. Mokara should not need as much light as Vanda but after all this time if yours has not bloomed it indeed needs more light.

H

Hello HOward, I have followed your previous advise about "more light" for some time. Phals especially, as you suggested, do well in it. A personal "thank you" for that.
As for the Mokara, I can't believe light is the culprit for not blooming. It hangs high in the GH, soaking up all the sun it can possibly get during the winter. As soon as night temps stay over 50 deg. it's outside all summer in full sun and lots of water. I sometimes even wonder if it gets too much light as the leaves feel rigid and hard. I recently noticed a growth among one leaf joint, different than that of a root. My hope soared, but, in time noticed it to dry out. Not sure if it was a keiki or a bloom bud.
Last summer it survived an afternoon of blazing heat in the GH as the overhead exhaust fan was off burning part of the bottom leaves. Still, it keeps growing on top. If I knew how to post a pic on this site, I would. Pictorial info is always better than written discription.
I have read in a previous vanda post about dynamite fertilizer. Is that what you are using? I have not fertilized often.

Thank you mar3514 and Nancy for your answer. Are your Mokara in full sun during the summer, which could be hotter than the temps here in Oregon. Will research growing requirements for Aranda.

It is hard to believe, I know but if you have ever spent any time in Florida you would know that the sun is much more intense than it can ever get in Oregon, winter or summer. The difference adds up to tens of thousands of footcandles. It sounds weird but growers in northern latitudes do use halide and sodium lights in greenhouses(!) to overcome some of that difference. They wouldn't spend that kind of money if it weren't neccessary to get the results they want. This summer in the PNW saw a couple of heat waves in which the temp went up over 100F but the light intensity wasn't really any higher than any typical summer day in the PNW. It isn't the heat the vandaceous orchids want its the light intensity.

H

Are you saying, that after 6 years of grooming I have to give up on it? Not in my character :)!

During the winter I do grow my catts under a 1000W HDL Metal Halyde lamp. I'll try adding the Mokara to the table to give it more light, then wait for next spring. If it isn't going to bloom.... out it goes!

Your comments about the various intensity of sun light is interesting. Thanks, for turning on MY light.

H.

I have to agree- they like sun- the stronger the better.
We grow them in FULL sun in Puerto Rico and they bloom a lot. The ones at my pool get no care from me at all and not one second of shade and they bloom religiously every 2-3 months. Once they get some shade, the bloom frequency seems to reduce.
I am not sure you will ever get the amount of sun they need.

Helga, don't give up on this one just yet. I have a Mokara, bought almost 3 years ago (in Florida), and it's bloomed beautifully every year since. I have it under 600 HPS lamps, in the basement. It's grown with the rest of the vandas, ascocendas, etc. I fertilize mine every week, with less in the winter, although it does get the same amount of light.
Mokara =Arachnis, Ascocentrum & Vanda.

Carol

Carol, your post brings up the question of night time temperatures. If the plant is outside in full sun from June?/July to Sept/Oct.?, how warm should the nights be?
It rains a lot here (though not as much were we live as further north), when the temps can dip to near or below 50deg. for a week.
I recently heard, that this orchid needs a higher Nitro ration. Is that what you feed it, Carol?

I suppose your nights in Puerto Rico, Rayandgwenn, are balmy - summer and winter?

Thanks. I appreciate your replies.

Helga,

Depending on what species are in the genus, I would say the night temps not go below 60F to be on the safe side.

I tend to fertilize the vandaceous orchids with a higher ratio of phosphorus, like the Dyna-Gro 3-12-6 Blooming Formula, and the 7-9-5 General Formula.

Carol

Hi
I grow all my Vans outdoors because I CAN"T grow them indoors .They waste away.
They frequently get into the 40's and occasionaly the 30's for short periods . I would not argue that these temps cause "Stress" But I know for a fact they can survive anything above freezing. They certainly seem to be the most heat tolerant as they grow best during the long humid hot summers. Far better than my other orchids.
They also seem to NEEED the greatest amount of light.
gary

I don't know how many of you have ever seen those charts that show the musical range of all the instruments of the orchestra. Most instruments have about a three octave range. Some like oboes and trumpets have less, just over two octaves. The human voice has about a three octave range, opera singers may have four. The piano has seven and the pipe organ can have ten! The Vanda is the pipe organ of the orchid world when it comes to temperature range. In one of those beginners books that we like to recommend here, I can't remember if its the Sunset or the Ortho is a chart just like the musical instrument chart of ten or fifteen orchid families and their temperature ranges. Some odont families can tolerate temps down in the 40's but are croaking at 75. Other like phals and some species dends can deal with temps in excess of 100F but don't really want to see anything less than 65. Well in that book the line for Vanda runs from 40F clear through 110F. A wider range than any other orchid family. They might be cheating a bit by ignoring the fact that some species of Vanda clearly favor the cooler end of the range and would not be happy at 100F let alone survive it but in this day of extensive hybridization it is unlikely that you can even purchase a vandaceous orchid that you could kill by providing a temperature that you yourself could survive (naked). It isn't the temps its the light levels that do us in in trying to keep these plants.

H