The propagation of a Vanda orchid is problematic because the plant has a monopodial growth habit. Since a single shoot axis develops without pseudobulbs, uncomplicated methods such as division are no longer necessary. However, you are not completely without a chance. How to propagate a Vanda orchid with cuttings.
How to propagate a Vanda orchid?
To propagate a Vanda orchid with cuttings, cut a non-flowering cutting with aerial roots, place it in soft water for 2 hours, then plant it in peat-sphagnum substrate and leave it slowly in the partially shaded window seat grow and thrive.
Appointment in spring reduces the stress factor
In the course of your care so far, you have already learned how sensitive a Vanda orchid is. It is therefore obvious that the drastic intervention by taking cuttings means pure stress for the sensitive plant. Therefore, choose a date at the end of winter when growth is at a low level.
Cutting and nurturing cuttings – This is how it works
If a fully grown Vanda orchid has developed numerous aerial roots, it is suitable as a mother plant for propagation from cuttings. Please use freshly sharpened and disinfected cutting tools. Although the mother plant thrives without substrate, a cutting requires an airy soil mixture for rooting. Therefore, prepare a pot filled with a mix of peat and sphagnum. Follow these steps:
- Cut off a non-flowering cutting with several aerial roots
- Put in soft water for 2 hours so that the root strands become supple
- Plant the cutting so that the cutting point is 5 cm into the substrate
- If necessary, stabilize the offshoot with a small wooden stick
In the partially shaded, warm window seat, water your child very sparingly over the next 6 weeks and spray him regularly with lime-free water. The young Vanda only receives the first fertilizer when fresh shoots appear. After an average of 3 months, a Vanda cutting is mature enough to be cared for like an adult plant.
Tip
You optimize living conditions for a substrate-free, hanging Vanda orchid by combining the plant with a Tillandsia usneoides. If you simply hang the Spanish moss in the aerial roots, the risk of drying out is significantly reduced. Only when diving a Vanda orchid are the two epiphytes separated so that the tillandsia does not drown.
