part S/H..... part Mount

[Rivka]

so i kinda live were it is not the right climate for mounting, but i have wanted to do it anyway.
i have moved most all my 'chids into s/h and been thinking of other creative things to try.

so i worked on this and wanted to share.
i got this Oncidium? given to me by a lady that was moving out of country and it was in terrestrial mix and had almost no good roots and shriveled little flat bulbs. so i repotted it and pinned it all stable and waited and waited, nothing.
the thing i most noticed when i was repotting it was that the way the bulbs were growing on the rhizome was strongly fanned out, almost a spiral and i could really see why it might love to wrap up a branch, it also was really 4 groups of bulbs, finally recently two of them have started a new growth giving me some hope

finally i just went for it and built my own half s/h, half mount:

i started with a metal mesh tube i formed and fit inside a drink bottle that i cut the top off, it has no other holes.

picture 1 shows the bottle in the bottom of that and how the balls fit around the outer layer to hide the bottle.

picture 2 shows how i secured each section to the outside of the metal grid and pulled the roots carefully inside and fanned them out. all the sections and roots are above the cup layer.

picture 3 shows the roots inside the container before the next layer of Leca

4 and 5 show it all built and finally hanging, it now hangs inside near my kitchen sink where i can mist it regularly

hopefully since the roots can grow into the leca and even into the water in the bottle if they want to, it will get enough moisture. it will be interesting to see how much of the leca wicks enough to keep pace with all the evap that can happen with it being open to airflow.

so far it has been a two weeks and the growths are growing strong and though i have not seen new root growth the pbulbs don't seem to be declining and might even be plumping up a tad, so my fingers are crossed.

[Milk]

I like it!
It's a really cool idea.

[exasperatus2002]

Now thats what I love about this website. Creative people such as yourself and a good knowledge base. I wonder if it'd work better with an onion bag to avoid the eventual rusting of the wiring. Even though thats galvanized it does oxidize over time.

[syndywindy]

Very interesting idea. Please keep us posted as to how this works. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you.

[exasperatus2002]

how tall is the bottle/reservoir in the middle of your mount?

[Leathal]

Well that is pretty cleaver

[PhalNewbie89]

That is pretty neat.. I wish I could come up with stuff like that :P

[Ray]

I think it's a great idea, but would anticipate the evaporation rate to be so great above the bottle, that the wicking will not be able to keep up.

[lmartiny]

That is a very clever idea.

[Rivka]

Originally Posted by exasperatus2002

how tall is the bottle/reservoir in the middle of your mount?

it comes up to right below the lowest bulbs, so hopefully they will get some water and it is reasonable for then to grow into it if they would like. it was a mini gatorade bottle with the top shaped part cut off so i think maybe 4 in

Originally Posted by exasperatus2002

Now thats what I love about this website. Creative people such as yourself and a good knowledge base. I wonder if it'd work better with an onion bag to avoid the eventual rusting of the wiring. Even though thats galvanized it does oxidize over time.

i was thinking about different outer surfaces, actually first used cool fishnet stocking! but in the end i picked this because it will hold up even if it rusts, and was sturdy to make a clean tube shape and just big enough that the leca could "bulge out of it" (actually most of it falls threw, i had to go into my assortment or large side to find stuff that would stay in.

Originally Posted by Ray

I think it's a great idea, but would anticipate the evaporation rate to be so great above the bottle, that the wicking will not be able to keep up.

you may be totally right, currently i run water over it very often. and hopefully the roots will continue to grow deep in the center of it that might stay a bit wetter. and since the bottle has no drain holes, the water level is kept right at the top most of the time, so the wicking does not really have that far to go. it will be interesting to see if there is a big difference in how well the various groups of bulbs do and if that related to how close or far away from the top of the bottle they are

i have thought of actually covering the back side so that it got less circulation, and a few other things too. but i will let this grow for a few months and see how it does. thankfully it is hung right n front of my sink so it gets lots of misting whenever i am around in the mornings

[orchidlover55]

That was a great idea, did you think of that? I wish I could be creative like alot of people are , I may get my husband to make me one like that . I would like to hang one over my kitchen sink this winter and like you said mist it everyday. Thank you for sharing your idea's and your pictures I like it

[davetheorchidaddict]

I mount about everything so I will try that , it is new idea so I like to try new things.

[Rivka]

Originally Posted by orchidlover55

That was a great idea, did you think of that? I wish I could be creative like alot of people are

thanks, yeah i did think it up, please dont count yourself out, i feel most folks are more creative than they think they are.

i do have a background of making things and using just about everything for something other than it was designed for. i went to school for industrial design hoping to put that part of me to good use, but life had other plans for me, so i'm now happy a garage level creator

i love going to stores like home centers or hardware stores and just wander the isles and look at shapes of things, not their labels. i get most my ideas that way!

[berniep]

G'Day Rivka

A very interesting idea please make sure you let us know how it works or if you have to make any adjustments. Thanks for showing us.

Cheers
bernie

[jerrymeola]

Your S/H should work well.

Like any mount it requires more water than a pot, but with hydro pellets you can see the level of drying and know when to water.

Oncidium roots grow very slowly on mounts. I have some that do not show any new roots in over a year. But lots of flowers so who cares.

One advantage of your mount is that it will hold itself in place without much new root growth.

Everything seems to come together with this mount.

[katrina]

Excellent idea and I love the looks of it! Keep us posted in it's progress.

[Rivka]

i sure wish i new what the chid really was, it was given to me by someone that said it was a "phaf or something that sounds like that" and was told not to cut the spike cause it would re-bloom. she said she say it bloom twice since she had it.

well it is certainly not a "phaf" since it clearly has rounds flattish pbulbs that are about silver dollar in size. it does have a very nice inflorescence that looks like ti has a healthy but not currently active tip

you can read about my thread when i was trying to figure out what it was here

[Joe Geoffroy]

Could you please tell me what S/H means???, Hydroponic or something similar?

Thanks for your help
Joe

[Rivka]

Semi/Hydroponic

[Yiu Lin]

This looks absolutely fantastic!
Keep us updated with new growths, roots and hopefully blooms soon!

[Rivka]

i was just gone for 2 weeks, i had set this mount in water right up to below the lowest plant roots, hoping that it would not dry out too bad, seems like to made it quiet well and in the two places that had new leaves to start off with have now sent out small new roots that is heading into the LECA, my fingers are crossed and this look hopeful

[Weta]

Great idea Rivka,

What do people think of this (or a variation) for a Stanhopea? Given the formation of the flower spike generally making them incompatable with SH. Has anyone tried a Stanhopea in semi-hydro with any success?

Cheers
Mike

[exasperatus2002]

I wonder if this would work with a Vanda since I cant maintain the higher humidity levels they like normally. Would the more consistant moisture levels in the leca make up for the lower ambient humidity?

[LouisW]

Very cool idea!!

I dont think that it would be able to keep moist in my climate but I bet with the more humid climate you guys have over there it might just fly.

And all you have to do is dunk it in a bucket of water once a week or so and i bet it will do great. I really hope it works for you, this is a really cool way to mount.

[Azure]

That's such a cool idea! Hope it works out for you.