Vanda cristata is native to Assam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China South-Central, East Himalaya, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam, West Himalaya. It grows on moss covered trees in the montane forests at altitudes of 600 to 2300 meters.
Vanda cristata also called as The Comb Vanda, Aerides cristatum, Luisia striata, Trudelia cristata, Vanda striata, is a species of the genus Vanda. This species was described by Nathaniel Wallich ex John Lindley in 1833.
IDENTIFY VANDA CRISTATA ORCHID PLANT
Vanda cristata is native to Assam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China South-Central, East Himalaya, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam, West Himalaya. It grows on moss covered trees in the montane forests at altitudes of 600 to 2300 meters.
It is a small sized, warm to cold species with a stout stem carrying coriaceous, recurved, truncate tridentate apically, conduplicate, linear, 7.5-12.5 cm long and 1.2-1.8 cm wide leaves that are articulated basally to the imbricate sheathing leaf bases.
The Comb Vanda blooms in the spring and summer on an axillary, descending, short, 2 to 6 flowered inflorescence with short, broad bracts that are shorter than the leaves. The flowers are 4-5 cm in diameter and have uniform yellow to green, narrow incurved sepals and petals. The thick, fleshy prominent lip is yellow, cream or white, striped with purple to maroon or red-brown. Its tapered lip mid-lobe bears two slender elongate processes or horn-like processes at the end, which look like tusks. Lip shape and color varies greatly. Not only does it vary from flower to flower on the same inflorescence but also markedly year to year on different flowerings of the same plant.
VANDA CRISTATA ORCHID PLANT CARE AND CULTURE
Cultural information should only be used as a guide, and should be to be adapted to suit you. Your physical location; where you grow your plants, how much time you have to devote to their care, and many other factors, will need to be taken into account. Only then can you decide on the cultural methods that best suit you and your plants.
Light:
Vanda cristata prefers bright filtered light at all times. Supplement the daylight with artificial illumination in winter if possible. The ideal photoperiod is 14-16 hours.
Temperature:
Throughout the year, The Comb Vanda need the temperature of 21-29°C in daytime and 11-19°C in nighttime. For successful cultivation at home, it is necessary that the night temperature always be at least 10 ° C lower than the daytime.
Humidity:
This species need high humidity level, about 50-80%. As a rule, good ventilation should be ensured with high level of humidity.
Substrate, growing media and repotting:
Vanda cristata is best grown in pots with two parts of osmunda fibre or shredded bark to one part of sphagnum moss as substrate. If the potting mixture includes fibrous material, use only big chunks of fibre. This is necessary for good drainage as are plenty of clay-pot fragments and pieces of charcoal in the mixture.
Watering:
Water plentifully at all times, never allowing the potting mixture to dry out. Do not let pots stand in water, however.
Fertilizer:
Apply standard liquid fertilizer at half strength to these orchids with every other watering. Apply the fertilizer all year round.
Rest period:
Vanda cristata does not need a rest period in winter, nor for stimulate flowering. The given cultivation should maintain throughout the year.
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