only one from the tribe!
Vandas are one of the most popular hybrids commonly preferred by many hobbyists as it has the widest range of colours (except green colour). The blooms are large and showy and are long lasting. Crossings with Ascocendas brought out the orange hues. Most of the species used for crossings and hybridisations with other Vandas are with more easily available types coming in from the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.
Our Vanda helvola is a very large plant and with its irratic flowering seasons make this a difficult specie to deal with and that is why not much is being used for crossings. This plant also do not grow well at sea level unless it is specially grown in a cold room environment.
It if found growing in hugh colonies on vertical limestone cliffs embedded with old roots of large timber trees. The ones we witnessed consisted of over a hundred plants!
This is a collectors' Masterpiece but with almost total clearing at the highlands, It is going to be very difficult to obtain. Some young hobbyists should ponder into getting the seed pods and artificially propagate to increase its survival so that many collectors can appriciate such Rare Malaysian Species.
