I have heard that if the plant is turned upside down and left there it will initiate more roots....

I would try and contact the Orchid Society. They would know what to do.

The global authority on vanda's is R.F.Orchids in Homestead. They are generous with information. Call them.

jane
Sounds like a plan !!l over the years the only vandas I've lost were those with media in the basket lol They rot have always grown them in empty slat baskets .Seem even more sensitive than the average orchid to drainage They do best during summer with the heat and humidity and daily rains May try your subggestion as I obviously need to do something drastic lol
Shaved Have acccidently tried that what it did was make a U turn both flower and stem. Another interesting aspect was when the roots reached the pond . Figured they would reverse nope they happily grew along the water surface even algae didn't stop them lol
Another thing I've learned about them is they actually do climb trees . Two on my vanda bed have actually moved themselves six inches higher into the trunk!! The roots reach up attach and the shorten pulling the entire plant up!!
Would love to see these growing wild??
since drastic action is called for think I'll wait until spring for ideal conditions It is initiating another spike so will be in flower until after New year anyway. Thanks very much for the suggestions !!! gary

You want at least 3 good roots on the stem before you cut for the best results. Growers on the Florida Orchid Growers or FOG page on Facebook can help with advice. They have been spraying with Maxicrop this year for root growth. Some also swear by an occasional dose of Mega thrive or Superthrive.
I think you are right about waiting until spring when roots are in grow mode.
You can trim the roots hanging from the basket but... I would suggest winding the roots in a circle(like a hose) and fasten with garden velcro tape. I do this and it makes my DH happier when he has to mow and not get hit with roots.

This post was edited by coffeemom on Wed, Sep 11, 13 at 9:27

Hi
Here is a pic of vandas growing on two conjoined palms. there are 4 different kinds in this group, The terete/terete straps love it may put this strap into this group. The advantage is that they can get as tall and as rooty as they like lol gary

Gary, I only mentioned putting the pieces in pots to keep an eye on them until 'something' happens, dead or alive. If the roots send up something green, you could tie it to a tree or basket. I bet the green top would make roots. Could be wrong, had it happen with Phals which lost roots.

I cut a long neck Phal off the roots. I did have a couple of roots beginning from under the crown so I knew I had a good shot. It did grow and is fine.

I didn't get anything from the roots although they were very healthy. I thought the cut crown (leafless) might initiate a keki but it didn't.

Your situation is different as there are no roots near the crown. I've had luck using KLN rooting hormone. Managed to root plants I held little hope. Spring would be the best shot. Great plant, I don't blame you for trying to be careful. Sounds like a terrific bloomer.

Jane

Jane
In the above pic the two larger are Terete/ strap hybids
To the right and left are teretes note how differently they root? There is a strap to the left out of the pic and like the one in the SH only produces roots at the bottom. and they grow at about a third the rate . These were pieces destroyed by Jeanne so i just grouped them altogether.
I never hesitate with surgery on these because they always root the entire length of the stem also if you cut the growing tip they will branch. The straps don't lol
Have tried rooting hormone in the past along with snipping the growing tip if you look at the first pic you can see where the leaves changed direction but not habit lol Going to try again this winter with hormone along with a slice from the stem. very reluctant to put it into the group as it get damaged by wind and rain due to the size of the flowers
A neighbor gave me a terrificly overgrown muti growth Catt that was planted in a treefern filled with sphag. impossible to remove without damage and it's holding WAY too much water Got 3 that went into baskets but the fourth went into a crotch of the cassia tree. it aborted two new growths but has started two new growths in the opposite direction This is my first attempt with the fancy catts Time will tell i guess thanks for the help!! gary

Gary... which root hormone are you using and do you notice a response from your orchids.

Hi
A brand called "Take root" The strap is the only orchid I've used it on. No response but this time going to a take a thin slice from the stem, prune the roots . Difficult to apply to just the stem . feel that it was washed off in the past . gary

When I use Maxi-crop, in a few days you can see a positive response from all orchids. Orchid roots should have a translucent tip. Sometimes green or red. Sometimes they are reluctant to show the tips but maxi-crop brings them out. Also you can see along the root new roots will branch out. Also the root are plumper.

All plants like it. The orchids with exposed roots give immediate feedback. But it works on all plants.

It is made from Norwegian seaweed. The stocks replenish so there is no depletion. And it works. So Gary get some it sounds like it might make a difference.

Awhile back I put a bit of Milorganite in some of the orchid pots, and can see the difference... would Fish Emulsion be the same as that Maxi-crop? thanx, sally

The active ingredient is humic acid in maxi-crop. I think different than fish emulsion...

Maxi crop is from seaweed

Yes Maxi crop is made from Norwegian seaweed. The naturally occurring chemical is humic acid. A root stimulator. I use it a lot.

Thanx, sure sounds 'stinky' and 'stinky' is good! the worse it smells the better it is.... I'm going to google and see where I can get me some of that stuff... I tried some fish-meal years ago, put it under some roses I planted, the next morning I went out to the garden and the roses had been dug-up by some critter, they had tried to eat that fish-meal! The feed-store I got it from never carried it again, he said it was too smelly and customers complained! LOL, sally

It smells like the ocean. Not strong or smelly. It will stain your clothes. Maxicrop Soluble Powder is what I get. Cost less to ship dry and mix with water at home. It goes a long way. teaspoon to the gallon. http://maxicrop.com/pages/product_4.html is the website. The other vendors buy from this website.

This is a game changer for orchids and all plants like it.

That's a beauty, Gary. Thought I'd stop in and say hi to you! Ana

hello Ana
Where have you beeen?? Your advice has been missed !! Here is a pic of my new incarnation of my very old garden. Arriving at that "jungle clearing" look but MUCH more to do . Note the EE at the right That's a piece of the one you gave me many years ago . gary

What is the name of that huge leaf on the right? LOVE that jungle-look, my son loves big-leaf plants...thanx, sally

I have the same problem with a vanda. It has gotten extremely tall with several "branches". The branches have roots so I know I can cut that and pot the cutting. My question is what to do with the bottom part that is completely bald. There is at least a foot and a half that has no roots and no leaves. Do you guys think that that half will leaf in the future?

Gary, I love your garden. Wow, what a lot of work! Please post more pictures.

I also want to say hi to Ana, I also miss your advice and your beautiful garden. I'll never forget that day you showed me your beautiful beds and plants and all those blooming orchids in the back hidden from view. I loved that greenhouse!

Gary, I see the difference with the type of roots. I have only one Vanda which is a strap type and too small to worry about at this point.

Considering your experience with orchids, I'm hoping you will be the person to experiment and cut that Vanda (next spring) and see what happens. We'll all wait to see your results before taking the knife!

Jane

Sally
That is one of a huge group of plants called aroids or Elephant ears . There are a gazillion kinds to choose from .
Some develop leaves in excess of 8 /10 feet Some of the members of the family are Alocasia /colocasia /caladium /calla many colors forms and growth habits . Some evergreen some winter dormant.
you could build an entire garden around this family lol
TXgrace What i am going to do is cut a small slice from the rootless area cover with rooting hormone along with pruning the major group of roots . have tried this in the past and it did not work but I think the rain washed the hormone off. so will do it during winter dry season.. Hopefully it will develop roots and I can divide the plant up lol
jane
It is developing another spike so will be in flower until next year . Runaway my most floriferous orchid so very reluctant to stress lol But MUST do something lol thanks gary

Bought this beauty today. Now I need some advice on how to rebasket her. I believe that she has 2 (not babies anymore) keikis. Should I cut her?

Bought this beauty today. Now I need some advice on how to rebasket her. I believe that she has 2 (not babies anymore) keikis. Should I cut her?

Hi
That looks like a terete vanda probably with some mokara
relatives ?? Are you keeping it in a protected area?? I'd wait until spring to do anything particularly since it's in bloom. Usually you can cut anywhere that results in each section having at least one root.
How tall is it?? What is it in now ,slat basket?? I have some growing on trees well over 15 feet Can't really make out the detail from your pic.
As to a follow up on the oruiginal post I used the procedure I outlined produced 3 new sets of leaves at the top many new roots at the bottom but not a one in the middle lol
I whacked a couple of teretes without benefit of roots and they responded by offsetting one in four locations!!! Hooray. IME teretes are MUCh more vigorous than straps but come spring i'm going to do the surgery no matter what the results lol It is even MORE lopsided than when I first posted lol
gary

Garyfla
I believe it's about 6ft. No basket. Just hooked on a hanger. The flowers are about done.since there's no sentimental value for me, I'd really like to cut it up, prune the roots, re basket it, therefore it's easier to handle, water,care for it. I don't know how old it is. But I would like to be able to make one decent plant out of it.any advice on pruning the roots?

Hi
You ought to be able to divide it into several . Try to cut so that each section has as many roots as possible .
Slat baskets with no media is a good choice.
The teretes that I did the surgery on have responed well but still don't have the courage to do the strap in the pic lol.
Good luck and would love to hear the results ?? gary

rooting hormone will kill a plant quick, I am not messing with that stuff. I am having a vanda shipped outa Hawaii and am waiting which gives me plenty of time to read up. Basically these things are professionally grown up to be all it needs for a growing season as long as you provide proper lighting feed and water it correctly in an environment it'll live in. Mine comes in a couple inch pot and I am assuming it'll be a baby. It is for my arboreal pink toe tarantula, so she can balance and hop amongst the leaves of it and other plants in her terrarium, climb and just have a joyous time. The vandas are real variable growth kind of plants seems like, so right now it's just a wait and see what size and how quick it'll grow, hopefully slow and thrive on it's own without much attention thing for me. I hope it can deal with sitting on some dirt, bug wastes, spider messes and grapevine in 80% humidity at about 65-75degrees f for awhile in a growlight the tarantula can hide from, at least 4 to 6 months. lol. I'll give it 20 years and then expect huge in a different terrarium.

Hi
no pink toes for me just a few obnoxious crab spiders lol
Here's the Vanda flowering again in spite of the weather
Still have not solved the original problem lol
Good luck with your project gary

I have some Vandas growing on a large African Oil Palm. Probably a year or so ago a palm frond fell and broke off the tip of one of the Vandas. The tip only had 2 larger leaves with a new short leaf just emerging and no visible stem. Rather than throw it away I just put it into the crotch of an old frond and left it. A few months later I noticed it was still there and green. It had put out a large thick root which was attached to the palm and not hanging down in the air. It hasn't grown a lot but is still looking good. The original plant put out a new shoot. I think the critical thing was that the broken off tip was very healthy to begin with so had enough in reserve to produce the root.

Hi
I find the variuos types of Vandas have slightly different growth habits Terete types for example root very easily ,grow at twice the speed of straps and flower half as much In fact I have several over 10 feet tall and only occasionally flower while the strap in the pic flowers at least twice a year. Hybrids of the two families seem to be in the middle
One has only flowered once in the last 10 years yet grows like a weed lol the smallest piece will root even attach Some day i will figure out how to grow these ?? lol gary

Hi, Gary. Sorry to bring up an old post, but I was curious about what you did and how it went? Thanks!

Hi Gary, I have a strap vanda in a similaire situation to yours but no basket. I read to "crack" the stem and the stress would cause it to throw out more roots above the crack and it did! Come spring I am also going to cut off the top with it's new 6 or 7 roots and re pot that in a plastic basket. And keep my fingers crossed the remaining pot of stem and 5 foot roots will throw up a new shoot! I 've seen some that seem to have 10 or more shoots but mine definitely isn't one of those!

I am not an orchid expert, but I do know how my friend propagated her vandas. She simply cut them off, roots or not, and put them into a basket with strings and large bark pieces to hold them in place. It seems that once they are cut, they NEED roots, so they make them quickly. Don't do it until after the bloom fades, though.

I found a video on you tube on propagating Vandas. I think it was by 1maria. Very informative. Sometimes you get lucky and everything keeps growing but she said generally try to cut segments where you have at least 3-5 roots and 3-5 leaves. Allow cuts to dry for 20 days before resuming regular watering.

Here are a bunch of Vandas planted as a hedge!

OMG! How gorgeous!

hi

Fantastic!! Someday mine will look like that?? lol

Is it in Florida?? gary

Couples Tower Isle, Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

Ah

A friend sent me some pix from the gardens in Singapore and the Vandas were over their heads Unfortunately my friends were there for a convention and have zilch interest in plants so I got no ideas on culture though it appeared they were growing on wires much like grapes

Wouldn't it be wonderful to not have to fight with the cold?? Thanks for the pix . gary

I've seen the same sort of thing done in Madang, PNG. But, aside from the right temperatures of course, you really need high relative humidity all year and good quality water.

Tropic

I've grown Vandas for many years but generally in the usual ways .Slat baskets ,in the shadehouse with winter protection .The above pic in the palms was bits and pieces of various ones that I moved out there several years ago.

They are terete/stap and hybrids as well as some epidendrums Have had terrific growth but not much flowering but they were small pieces and I suspect too much shade but the palms have grown considerably so I think that problem is resolved During cold I cover with a temporary tent made of frost cloth usually when temps fall below 45 have always used tap water on all my plants including the orchids Though a bit hard and alkaline I think it's okay generally the rainfall is enough.. I think this summer I'll see much better results . This winter has been about average low has been 39 and way above normal rainfall in fact too much lol

I;m expecting great improvement this summer lol I have catts. epicatts dends, and phals attached to the trees . While they do survive easy to see that they are stressed so the numbers and quality of the flowers is less.

My shadehouse is in need of serious repair and feel I'm getting too old for that so decided to try some experiments with the plants .

Have always wanted an "epiphyte" garden and caution (good sense} is being replaced with experiments lol Thanks for the pix!!! gary

Hi

Finally performed the surgery yesterday now have a slat basket with a stem and lots of roots and a stem with lots of leaves and no roots .I put the basket back in it's original spot, the stem went into a group of epicats and teretes.

I soaked them both for an hour in the fish pond seemed very dry in spite of all the rain. Now if the temps and humidity will stay up I'm guessing the basket will resprout the cutting maybe ?? Time will tell ?? gary

Great photos! I am so jealous of everyone who can keep their orchids outdoors in baskets or mounted on trees all year around!

Sultry where are you? I m in either 9a maybe 9b and I leave mine outdoors.

I'm in the Jax/Callahan area. We definitely freeze several times here in the winter.

Gary, I used to wonder how much root to trim on my vandas as they were hanging 10ft off the ground by a single 9 gauge wire tied to the plant and roots dragging on ground. I Tied them by a wire only as the baskets would cause roots to interlock and it became a tangled mass of roots. To separate baskets with roots from neighbor plants all ingrown was a tough task. I first would soak the plants with dragging roots and then coil the roots into a bundle and tie them to base of plant to keep them off the ground.

I have had the "should we trim roots on vandas and when?" with Michael Coronado at RF orchids and other vanda growers and response has been that you should not cut live roots unless absolutely necessary, then only when plant is in active growth. Giving the roots a hair cut will spur existing roots to branch out, so be ready to feed regularly and at vanda levels.. Good luck with your plant

Ben

That particular Vanda I've had since early 80's has been the runaway most floriferous . Always once usually twice a year Often spikes again while still in flower. Over the years I've always grown them in slat baskets setting the smaller into a larger basket as they grew .Worked great until it got 10 feet high lol They have always been kept in a GH but since I'm no longer going to run the GH they are going out into the "wilderness"lol

Here is a pic of some phals that were moved out . Actually flowered on the second year but quality and quantity was way below average It has grown this year but mostly roots and of course the temps fell below ideal but for short periods Should repeat in April /May