Hi Ken, I love this one too. I've always wanted a blue orchid and this hybrid, I guess is the closest blue orchid there is out there. This definitely deserves a blue ribbon :).
The instruction I got is the roots need to be soaked at least 30 minutes in water twice a week, early in the morning, then dump all the water out. I can't soak this during weekday so I just spray the roots lightly to keep it well hydrated. This gal has been with me for 2 weekends now, so this is the 2nd week only that I 've soaked this.
The roots turns green when they are healthy so, see pic below, they look really healthy to me.
This is supposed to be suitable for being grown indoors so I only plan to keep this in this hurricane base until there is still bloom. From what I read, air circulation in roots is very important to the Vanda, so having it in this vase worries me a bit. After the blooms are gone, I plan to get this baby out of the vase and hang it on my indoor corn plant.
Good question about winter months, I might have to research that a little bit more but I might be reducing the watering on winter months. This is supposed to bloom every 3 to 5 months, let us see. I will be happy if I can keep this baby alive and rebloom even once a year.
It is so beautiful, even my husband (who does not care much about plants) is smitten by it. He is actually proud that he bought it... And this has earned its place in he center of our table in the breakfast nook where it gets bright filtered lights most of the day.
