Question
Hi - I have a vanda orchid I received last V day (almost a year ago) and following the instructions of a garden shop, I set up a hydroponic planter for it.  Well, needless to say, the directions were completely wrong and the poor thing has sat in water for almost a year versus being allowed to free-root.  :-(  I am now trying desperately to save it.  The mass of former roots are gone, all the leaves except one (and what was to be a new one) are gone, it looks like there is just a hint of green on a few off the remaining roots, but there is the brown/black ring at the bases near the stalk.  The remaining leaves are loose, but still in tact.  Now, it gets transported, gently and by hand between my bathtub/shower where it's wooden planter sits for humidity and heat and my southern facing window for some extra sunlight (I'm in teh midwest, so the light is pretty weak still as it's winter).  I will run the shower once or twice a day (not including it's actual use) just to get the steam going and once a day, I'll give it a "shower" in luke-warm to warm water (to mimic rainforest temps).  Is there ANYTHING else I can do?  Any other signs I can look for for indication of life?  I don't want to cut anything else off... I'm afraid doing so will result in additional shock, damage and loss of any root potential.  

clearly, I'm very new to Orchids.  I also have a Dendro, but it is faring much better - sprouting roots from the top!  It too is hangning the bathroom, but it seems to be faring with minimal care much better than my Vanda.  

Thank you so much for your time and assistance.  I look forward to your respone.

Sincerely,

Kristen Alliegro

Answer
Kristen, I would say you did get some bad advice.  Soak it or mist it every other day and hang it in a south window.  If your water is softened, be sure to avoid softened water as its salts can be detrimental.  I have good luck hanging my vandas under a tree in the summer where they can get some direct light but mostly dappled light.  I just spray them with a hose during the summer and they have been flowering and I have been getting good root growth.  What you might try is to get a bucket that the vanda roots can fit into.  Fill it half full of water and let it warm to room temperature before submerging the roots.  You can do this daily each morning (or as often as you are able), then set it aside to drain before placing it back in the south window.  When the root velamen turns green you can remove it from the water to drain before hanging it.