Watering a mount

[Myxamatosis]

What is the rule of thumb for watering a mount. specifically I have a deciduous dendrobium mounted in sphag. about four inches across. I have been watering it every two or three days.

Are their any good quick and dirty methods of gauging moisture content / root health etc...

Sam

[patticake]

I put mine in a container of water every few days for about 15 minutes each time. Other than that, I spray them well with a spray bottle twice a day, every day. They tend to dry out fast up here. I'll spray once a day if it's been overcast, and they're still a little damp.

[benetay]

Wow, 15mins per orchid that's going to take a while for soaking them. Do you have a lot of pails or container?

Cheers!

[delphiguy]

all of my orchids that are mounted are watered at least once a day in the morning,
sometimes, when i arrive early from work early i water them again. but that is because
we have much dryer weather now so this seems to work for me, just not sure it it'll
work for you.

[myorchid]

Every couple of days I put mine in the sink and let them soak for a while. I only have three mounted ones so it is not too bad.

[trinigirl]

I also water mine every day. I have many mounted ones, maybe 25-50. I don't soak them, since that would take too long.

For a dendrobium, I believe they like to dry out between waterings. A lot depends on how tightly packed the spag is, how many roots are exposed, humidity, etc.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to soak it once a week, and also keep watering every 2 days like you have been. My mounted dend gets watered every day, but not soaked.

[dtje2000]

I wonder if y'all could take a photo of your mounted dens and post it? I have some in baskets and some in pots (regardless of deciduous or not)...was wondering about trying to mount one and what it would look like. I've seen some of the deciduous oriented pointing up and pointing down...is the growth habit based on the species?

[lissie0113]

and advice about watering for a nobile den in a treefern hanging pot/mount? i just purchased this beauty but i have never had anything mounted in tree fern and have no idea how to care for it! does it retain well or dry out quickly?

[dtje2000]

Melissa, you just gave me an idea for my den that has its canes hanging downwards...after it blooms I will put it in one of those treefern "pots" and continue to hang it sideways so the canes are still pointing down...

Would still love to see some pics of others' mounted dens!

[lissie0113]

awesome! yeah this one looks pretty cool... all the canes kind of hang over the edge and its really natural looking... i just dont know how often to water with the tree fern.... so far its been every 2 or 3 days, and it seems to be doing okay except that the blooms only lasted about a week. the blooms on my other nobile den, yellow song 'canary', lasted for about a month give or take... so i guess i will just see what people say and keep trying.....

[FLBob]

I water my mounts nearly every day, while dens are just a small part of my collection I do have a few mounted on cork. I always water very well.
Here are a few of my dens on cork. I watered early this morning but you'll note that some roots are still very dark green while those in full sun have turned white.

[lmartiny]

DT. This was my first mount effort. Since then the dens were not doing so well so I took them off and potted them so they would not just die. The Phal is on it's lonesome right now but I think I'll add a couple more. It wasn't a good idea to mix two types with different needs. The phal is spiking though. I do have trouble keeping them hydrated enough now that it is getting hot, plus the drought. This mount is big too so I can't soak it unless I put it in the pool.

[trinigirl]

Here are some pics of some of my dend mounts, I do have other types mounted also.

[trinigirl]

The third one is in a basket, and the last one is in a very small pot. It think of it as a mount because there are so many roots hanging free.

[lmartiny]

Trinigirl. Very nice plants.

[dtje2000]

Wonderful mounts! Thanks for sharing... there's something spectacular about seeing the orchids grow in the way nature intended. Gives me warm fuzzies that lasts all day long! I have some cork slabs doing nothing at the moment...they are about to be pressed into service!

[benetay]

That's great, we can't wait to see the mounts that you will be doing. I'm sure it will be fabulous. I just spray them with a pressure sprayer on days that are generally warmer or about once every 2-3 days depending on the weather.





Cheers!

[dtje2000]

Oh wonderful! I love them, Benetay! What is the wood used in that first mount? It looks way cool.

[benetay]

It is a normal driftwood i believe not those bogwood.

Cheers!

[Myxamatosis]

Are those little green flowers under there?

Sam

[benetay]

Yes it is. Green leaves with green flowers! Glad that you spot it.

Cheers!

[FLaCo]

If the mount is mobile I soak. If it is not I mist heavily 3-4 times that day.