How to treat mount wood before mounting?

[Olive Cook]

Hello all, I found a piece of driftwood in my garden yesterday, and I think it would work great to mount my mini Phals... however, I'm not quite sure what to do to it first.
I'll have to take a picture of it a bit later, but could someone shed some light as to what I need to do to get it ready for mounting?
I've had it soaking in plain water since yesterday evening.
Thanks!

[katrina]

I had some old drift wood that I used to use in a tank...I did several soaks in distilled water to leach out the salts. The plant has been living on it for 2 yrs now and doing great.

Since your driftwood was living in the garden, you might consider boiling it to kill off any critters that might have made it a home. ? If too big for boiling, I know there's a way to bake it (so to speak) to kill off any nasties. Hopefully someone will pop along that knows the oven temps and time needed.

[Olive Cook]

Well, I don't have a stove or an oven quite yet, our house didn't come with one *blush*
Is there anything I can soak it in that would be safe for the plant?

[Julez]

When I purchased my drift wood, I was told to soak it in really hot water. My piece was fairly large so I had to fill the bath. I did this a couple of times and I was really surprise at the amount of colouring that came out of the wood. I also gave it a really good scrub with a stiff bristle brush too. My terrium is now complete so I will be posting pics sometime over the weekend.

[rcb]

Originally Posted by Olive Cook

Well, I don't have a stove or an oven quite yet, our house didn't come with one *blush*
Is there anything I can soak it in that would be safe for the plant?

Olive good old bleach will also kill pretty much anything. But then you have to soak it a few times afterwards to get the bleach out.


What I do with mine is - soak, preferably at least 4 hours in a strong bleach solution, then 2- 3 soaks in clean water afterwards, until you can no longer smell the bleach on the mount.

Then I let it set outside for about a week, but in a dry place, with hopefully direct sun, which will get rid of any remaining bleach.

One thing to remember though, is it will bleach it out a little, so if you really like the color of it, you may not want to try this.

[katrina]

I'm not sure about soaking it in anything else...the wood might absorb it and that could potentially harm the plant. I would just go ahead and soak it in water to leach salt and/or other stuff out. Distilled is best for soaking out salts.

The reality is...if you keep it outside...you might find a visitor or two could take up residence anyway. I know, I know...sounds yucky but last year I had some sort of larva/worm thingee take up residence in one of my small mounts. I was tipped off by the "shavings" that appeared. I ended up pulling out the big guns and spraying into the hole and then poking around w/a piece of wire. No more worm thingee.

[Olive Cook]

Just a thought... Could I treat the wood with Bayer 3 in 1? I know it's safe for the plants, and it would kill off anything that may call the wood home...
Has anyone else tried this?
Do you all think it would work like it seems to me it would?
Thanks!!

[-k-]

I used driftwood for all of our mounts from a trip to lake Ontario. In line with what others have written I soaked the wood in the tub in hot water and scrubbed it. After I let it air dry in the sun, once dry I scrubbed it again then back in for another soak to get off any remaining dirt. I made some modifications to the wood so after each modification it went through the same treatment but at that point it was more for aesthetics.

Post some pics of it when you have the chance, driftwood have alot of character!

[Olive Cook]

Here it is, sorry it took me so long, these spring allergies have been kicking my butt, lol!
I love the "swirly" look to the wood, I do think the color is a bit too dark though, so I may try the bleach treatment

[-k-]

That's sweet, I see the swirl you mention and it will make for an impressive mount.
Good find
I hear about the spring allergies -ugh-

[Shannara]

Edit: just saw you don't have an oven. Maybe heat up some water over a grill or outdoor firepit to get the water nice and hot then drop it in?

HTH

Shann~

[katrina]

Chances are treating w/the Bayer would be a waste of time because I doubt it would penetrate the wood enough to get something living deep inside it. And, you'd have to use an awful lot to get any sort of real heavy absorption...if you ask me...that would be too much money spent for the minimal results.

Just soak it really well...over a few days period...changing the water out at intervals...and you should be fine. I don't use bleach as I'm allergic to it but Renee is right...it will kill anything. Just be sure to soak it out well after the bleach treatment (multi times) and then let it air out well like Renee said.

It's a cool looking piece of wood. Do you know what type of wood it is? Remember, soft wood will rot much quicker.

[Olive Cook]

I have no idea what kind of wood it is unfortunately... it was just sitting there and I thought it looked like a good mount piece
I guess I could go look like a crazy person and put a pot of water on my BBQ grill to boil the wood; then my new neighbors will think I'm a witch or something, lol

[katrina]

I'm willing to do a lot for the 'chids but heating up a grill to boil some water...nope, not going to do it...that would be way too much work for me

If it's a soft wood, it'll simply rot out quicker and you'll have to remount the plant onto something else sooner. Not a huge deal. I have a plant on a piece of wood that's fairly soft...it looks cool so I leave it for now.