Tree-fern or Cork

[pikkumyy]

Hi all,
i was just wondering which mount material you would use, i would have asked what mount generally but seeing as how we all live all over the world different woods would be available, so i thought i would pick what seems to be the two most common mount materials.

so i was wondering which of the two you personally prefer and why?

[Ron]

Hi, currently I am mounting some species Phalls on tree fern slabs (small to meium) and CoCo mats about 14 inches by about 8 inches and an inch thick.
All seem to work well.
I have about 20kg of virgin cork from the trees in Canberra and have not used them on Phalls but will in the near future.
All is good products.

[katrina]

I use both and like both.

[Andrew]

It depends on what you want to mount and how frequently you want to water. Treefern retains more water than cork. For orchids that need a lot of water, this is an advantage; I can see why Ron would mount Phals on treefern. For orchids that like to dry out more quickly, I find cork is more useful. Personally, I prefer pot culture where possible so most of the orchids that I have mounted are those species that need to dry out quickly after watering, eg twig epiphytes etc. I find these species grow best on cork under my conditions so I use a lot more cork than treefern.

[psyc1210]

I use only cork, I had a few on tree fern and started noticing a white substance and assumed it was salt build up. Pulled the little Phal off of the mount, and the roots were not as great as I expected. I blame the tree fern. Now it is happily growing beautiful roots on cork.

[syndywindy]

I use cork, or wood. I had one mounted on tree fern and just didn't care for it.

[pikkumyy]

Originally Posted by syndywindy

I use cork, or wood. I had one mounted on tree fern and just didn't care for it.

what was it?