Vanda bloom dies

[Deedee]

I have about 10 vandas. They of course, had blooms on them when I bought them. One or two had a nice bloom within a reasonable time frame but now (been over a year for all of them) all I get is a bloom/spike that comes out and then within a day or two it turns brown and dries up. This has happened on all of them that have produced a bloom. And not all of them have produced a bloom. Very little flower activity. When I bought them the nursery said these all should bloom a few times a year.

I've been to classes - seems I didn't water them very much at first but do now. Didn't furtilize much but do now. Keep them in high light in my screened back porch (faces north) and don't know what I'm doing wrong. I do use that extra bloom stuff too. I'm getting some brown spots, told it's some Hawaiian diesease and then I may have put them out in the sun too much and got some more spots but don't put them out in direct sun anymore.

Any information would be greatly appreciated. I may have put this in a wrong area..sorry for the repeat question.


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[Ellen]

It's hard to know what's going on with your plants without more specific information. Where are you located? What's the temperature range on the porch where you keep your vandas? What are they planted in? How long have you had them? Could you post a pic of the brown spot problem? Also the dead spike problem if you can get a pic. With more info, the people here may be able to diagnose your problem.

[Deedee]

Thanks for the reply. I've been away. Here are some pictures that may help figure out my problems. First pic - is this plant ok. Sec pic - black Hawaiian fungus a local orchid person said the plant had. Said it was common. Third pic - the dead bloom. Fourth pic - dead bloom showing root - is the root ok. some orange going on. Fifth pic - kind of spindley and this represents how my vandas are potted. As you can see from the last picture, I live in SW fla with a lot of sun. I keep the orchids in a screened in porch, facing north but do not put them in direct sun. I bring them in when the temp is going to get lower than 60. Temp range can be 90 to 60. Not in one day of course. High 90+ in the summer, 60 in winter. I have had most of the orchids two years. Some just one year. I have 14.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I think your Vandas need more light if they are only getting indirect light. Vandas are high light plants, maybe 40 to 60% of full sun. If they are all potted without medium like the last picture, watering 2 to 3 times a day in warm weather is not too much, but you probably already know this now. I would have the plant in the 2nd picture tested for virus.
http://www.crittercreeklab.com/
Use the double well test, and send them reasonably fresh material, maybe a year or two old. I hope you use safe practices with your cutting tools. The Hawaiian desease thing sounds flakey.

[prisana]

Deedee, I'm not sure if you got to check my reply on the last post you made of the same problem , but I was asking about thrips . I had the same problem where my vanda spikes died before even blooming, the cause was thrips. I also have a friend who grew her orchids in the pool area but the chlorine fume was too strong and killed the blooms..while other friend that also grow them in the pool area had no problem. You might want to look into that too...good luck.