I bought my Vanda in September last year. In November it flowered. Since December 07 to now, it never flowered again. When will I get new flowers, and what I should do to ensure it? Thanks for helping
Many vandacious orchids only bloom annually. You may just have to wait until the plant is simply ready to bloom. However, where and how you grow the plant can influence the plant's ability to bloom. Most vandas prefer fairly bright light and some will tolerate almost full sunlight. As a result, many people that are trying to grow the plant indoors may never see a bloom spike. For best results you'll have a better shot if you place the plant in an orchid basket in just slightly subdued light. Don't clip the roots unless you are certain they are dead. The roots are the only way the plant has to pick up water. Florida retail growers water their plants daily and do their best to keep those roots plump and green. Most of them water several times a day, one major grower has a timer set to water 5 times a day for 5 minutes at a time. Try your best to keep the hanging roots damp enough they remain green rather than dried out. If you really want to learn about vandas buy a copy of Dr. Martin Motes' excellent book called Vandas, Their Botany, History and Culture. Dr. Motes is the recognized authority on that tribe of orchids. You can often find his book on Amazon. With any luck you'll grow another spike. We have over 30 of them and most bloom each year about the same time each year.
vanda - How to make it bloom Dear Steve, Thanks for your answer . I hang my basket under a deck (the deck is 10 ft above ground) so it is in the shade most of the day, except 2 to 3 hours of late afternoon sun and I water it every day with a hose. Somehow it still looks dry compared to another vanda which I keep indoors. Do you think that location is ok? Also, should I suspend watering orchids for a while to stimulate flowers?
There are times when vandas do not bloom for several years and it grow tall. I have read somewhere (which I did in my vanda) that you can induce flowering thru this method. Sterilize a sharp knife. Make 2 incisions in the stem vertically where you want the flower stalk to appear 0.5 cm deep. All you have to do is wait for those flowers. The first time I did this, 2 flower stalks appear. From then on, it gives me flowers 2 times a year. My vandas died when we were flooded 8 years ago.
When we lived in Florida until 7 years ago I kept all my vandas in a situation just like you described. I rarely got blooms until I followed Dr. Motes' advice and moved them out into the yard under a tree that did not have a lot of leaves. Dr. Mote lived just a few miles from my home so I had access to asking him questions directly. Once I moved them all out into brighter light I began to grow many more bloom spikes. On Dr. Motes' property he has the attached to the sides of many trees. Many of his receive almost direct light at least part of the day. Another major Vanda grower in Homestead, FL has them attached to the sides of trees as well. Try looking up RF Orchids on the net. The Fuchs family has grown and hybridized spectacular vandas for many years. I don't know how much advice they give on the net (haven't checked their site in a while) but you can contact them and they are normally quick to give advice. For those in South Florida, they are a great place to buy plants and seek advice. I'm a retired photographer and finally figured out a little trick which can tell you if you have enough light. Try this: If you have a camera with a light meter get a piece of gray cardboard like what comes inside a shirt from the cleaners. Set your camera to film speed ASA 100 and the shutter speed to 1/60th of a second. Have someone hold that gray card next to your vanda and check the light meter reading in the camera. Anything below f/8 is not likely to produce a bloom spike. The ideal for most vandas appears to be around f/11. Now, if you have a camera that is digital or does not indicate the actual light setting you may find that difficult. Most descent cameras can be set manually so you can still come close to receiving a good reading. An alternative is this: Hold your hand next to the vanda and look for a shadow. If you can see no shadow at all you likely do not have enough light. Ideally, you should be able to see just a faint shadow of your hand on the ground. We move all our vandas out under a small arbor during the warm months. During the winter they are in a "tropical" atrium. But they rarely bloom in there due to inadequate light. The light under the arbor is quite bright and we grow many more spikes outdoors as a result. As for the advice above, that one is new to me. If it works, I can't argue. I've just never heard that one before and could not find anything in Dr. Motes' book. But since the writer lives in the Philippines where these plants actually grow they would have first hand experience. Good luck! I know they can be frustrating. I've been frustrated many times! But with persistence, they can be among the most spectacular blooms on the planet!