beefy
Deeply Rooted
picked this one up at Lowe's. what would be the best thing for me to plant it in? (both container and media)
New Vanda Orchid, Pachara Delight
- Thread starter beefy
- Start date
OaklandCityFarmer
Deeply Rooted
Planting orchids can be a wonderful challenge!
So orchids tend to need a lot of oxygen and this needs to be considered in both the planting medium and the pot.
Shallow, smaller pots tend to be better for orchids since the tend to do better in smaller growing conditions. Specially designed pots that have slits on the side allow for better air circulation but can be a challenge to find. Good drainage is also very necessary.
Commercially available orchid growing mediums are usually the best to go since mixing your own can be costly and would produce more medium than you would need. Unless you plan on doing more orchids. Again oxygen in th soil needs to be maintained at higher levels, think big particles of perlite, lava rock, charcoal, fir bark and gravel.
Now, some species of orchids require slightly different growing conditions so I would recommending doing a search on your variety.
Good luck.
So orchids tend to need a lot of oxygen and this needs to be considered in both the planting medium and the pot.
Shallow, smaller pots tend to be better for orchids since the tend to do better in smaller growing conditions. Specially designed pots that have slits on the side allow for better air circulation but can be a challenge to find. Good drainage is also very necessary.
Commercially available orchid growing mediums are usually the best to go since mixing your own can be costly and would produce more medium than you would need. Unless you plan on doing more orchids. Again oxygen in th soil needs to be maintained at higher levels, think big particles of perlite, lava rock, charcoal, fir bark and gravel.
Now, some species of orchids require slightly different growing conditions so I would recommending doing a search on your variety.
Good luck.
- Thread starter
- #3
beefy
Deeply Rooted
I've about decided to put it in wooden basket but i havent decided on media yet. i read that vandas dont even need any, really.
where are dawn/skip and doc_gonzo???
where are dawn/skip and doc_gonzo???
Dawn419
Chillin' In The Garden
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2007
- Messages
- 48
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 27
Dawn here!
It's been totally hectic here with Skip/doc_gonzo being back at work.
We plant our Vandas in the wooden slat baskets (for larger plants) or clay posts occasionally (for smaller ones).
We use either Schultz or Better-Gro Orchid Mixes for planting.
The Better-Gro link also has Orchid growing info for specific plants.
Hope this is some help!
Dawn
doc_gonzo
Chillin' In The Garden
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2008
- Messages
- 20
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 27
hey beefy,
sorry i've been remiss in checking in over here. i've been back to work since recovering from our cycle accident. the doctor wouldn't let me go back to my bench, so the boss man put me back to work writing code for the cnc routers that cut and bore all the cabinet parts. needless to say that after spending 10 hrs a day in front of a computer, it's not real appealing when i get home.
back to you'r o'kid, vandas thrive on full sun, even more so than cattleya and their related cousins. they love larger chunky fast draining medium like what dawn and ocf mentioned. in the summer out in the full sun on the porch they like to be soaked twice a day, mist the exposed roots whenever you get a sec. from the size of the specimen in you'r pic i would definately go with the basket, and don't be surprised if it blooms toward the end of summer. if not this summer then next for sure with proper care. this winter hang it in you'r brighest south facing window, continue misting daily but only soak about once a week. if you heat with wood you may want to soak twice a week, just stick it in the sink and hose it down. hope this helped, i'll try to get here a little more often. the indoor and gh section is about the only place i check out over here, dawn is my little outdoor gardening guru here at the "broke down palace".
cheers
doc
oh btw dont bother to try and extricate the roots from that plastic basket, just drop it in the new basket and toss the media in on top of the whole thing. the beauty of vandas is that when its time to re-basket you can take the whole mess and drop it in the next size up. if you get it up big enuogh we can discuss air layering at a later date.
dg
sorry i've been remiss in checking in over here. i've been back to work since recovering from our cycle accident. the doctor wouldn't let me go back to my bench, so the boss man put me back to work writing code for the cnc routers that cut and bore all the cabinet parts. needless to say that after spending 10 hrs a day in front of a computer, it's not real appealing when i get home.
back to you'r o'kid, vandas thrive on full sun, even more so than cattleya and their related cousins. they love larger chunky fast draining medium like what dawn and ocf mentioned. in the summer out in the full sun on the porch they like to be soaked twice a day, mist the exposed roots whenever you get a sec. from the size of the specimen in you'r pic i would definately go with the basket, and don't be surprised if it blooms toward the end of summer. if not this summer then next for sure with proper care. this winter hang it in you'r brighest south facing window, continue misting daily but only soak about once a week. if you heat with wood you may want to soak twice a week, just stick it in the sink and hose it down. hope this helped, i'll try to get here a little more often. the indoor and gh section is about the only place i check out over here, dawn is my little outdoor gardening guru here at the "broke down palace".
cheers
doc
oh btw dont bother to try and extricate the roots from that plastic basket, just drop it in the new basket and toss the media in on top of the whole thing. the beauty of vandas is that when its time to re-basket you can take the whole mess and drop it in the next size up. if you get it up big enuogh we can discuss air layering at a later date.
dg
- Thread starter
- #6
beefy
Deeply Rooted
wow, doc, its almost as if you can read my mind. i got a wooden basket for it and started cutting the plastic basket off. i would sure hate for it to strangle the roots when it gets bigger. then i couldnt cut the plastic without damaging roots so i was like "oh screw it" and put it in the wood basket, LOL. How long do those wood baskets last before they eventually rot? full sun you say???!!
cattleyas like sun too??
cattleyas like sun too??
- Thread starter
- #7
beefy
Deeply Rooted
my vanda is getting ready to bloom!!!!
Broke Down Ranch
Deeply Rooted
Ohhhh, take pics!beefy said:
- Thread starter
- #9
beefy
Deeply Rooted
i will its still a ways off. probably bloom coinciding with the first frost...
- Thread starter
- #10
beefy
Deeply Rooted
getting ready:
