Massie mounting

[tom499]

I've just pulled a masd. out of its pot to snip off a few bad leaves. I found the moss its been living in a nasty brown, quite gooey now. The roots are all lovely and white, so it looks like I was lucky.

I would like to mount it, I was thinking of some green squared netting stuff, its abit like chickenwire but plastic. I was going to attach it with some more wire and use moss as the medium.

Has anyone got a masd. mounted? or any pleuro, I'd be greatful for any ideas.

Thanks.

[tom499]

Ok this is what I came up with.

[robb]

hey that looks great tom. i was considering doing a similar type of mounting for some phals (providing i manage to buy the house, no need to start modifying a rental!) under the north-side deck. figured they'd love the lack of direct sunshine, but getting bright light all day long.

[tom499]

I saw a photo of a bulbo growing on a flat piece of that plastic with moss. Found some in the garage and saw it made a nice cone shape. bit of string to fold it and done.

I cant do anything complicated like with wood, but it gives the plant the extra airation without losing stability.

See how it goes anyway

[orchid_girl]

That is neat! Hope it works good!

[Orchidflowerchild]

Gah, I wish I could find the power cord to my old computer so I could get all my old pics off it.... I used to have a wardian case FULL of mounted pleurothallids. I had one really nice Masd. deformis that was mounted int he crook of a juniper twig with a bit of live mos and some dried sphagnum. Eventually, the plant and a nice mat of moss were happily growing on that little mount, and the pendent flowers would make a ring below the tuft of leaves. It was quite aethetically attractive. ALso, with a bit of inginuety, I'm sure I could've figued out a bse for the mount so it could sit level.

As for stability, I always use strips of nylon pantyhose (bah, who wears those, anyway? A film of sweaty nylon is NOT what I want on my legs!) to tie the little guys down, because it doen'st bind and cut the plants/roots, but hiolds them quite securely until they can root onto the mount.

Alternately, I use tree fern mounts or crushed treefern and/or sphagnum in net pots.

-Cj

[kmarch]

About 5 years ago I was in California and I visited Andy's Orchids in San Diego. I walked into his cool house (not small) and the walls were covered with mounted Masdevallias and Pleuros, a few Bulbos, and a few other things. There must have been 2000-3000 plants mounted hanging there. This told me that many Masdevallias can actually do really well mounted....(and you all knew this line was coming next)....if the culture they like is well maintained, namely high humidity, hight moisture. Andy's cool house felt like a cool steam bath if you can imagine such a thing. The daytime hight temp was somethign like 70-72F but it must have been around 100% humidity.

Question: If the lifespan of sphag used to pot Massies is relatively short, how would one replace it on a mount? Does it last longer with a mount?

[Orchidflowerchild]

Well, for my part, I was always excited when I got plants from the south american vendors and they had some live moss on. I eventually had quite a crop of live moss in the wardian case, so many of the mounts had no need to replace moss, as it was growing gangbusters, too. I suppose one could just slap some more moss on with a bit of nylon, if necessary. I highly recommend treefern slabs for Masdevallias, as they provide a naturally moisture-retentive quality and lots of space for roots to wander around inside the mount, itself.

-Cj

[kmarch]

You guys are all so darn clever! I love this forum!

[Orchidflowerchild]

Like you said in the mini phal thread, it's just a matter of extrapolation of what a plant needs. THey're epiphyted in nature, much of the time, and even when they are terrestrials, they grow in very shallow leaf-little type substrates, rather than actual soil or anything like that. I imagine they are simply opportunistic and will grow on any substrate that is appropriate. After all, a happy masdevallia is an absolute weed. I actually started mounting them because many of the species with pendant or lateral inflorescences are so much more attractive, that way. I'm a big believer in letting the plant tell me how it will best display itself.

All other things being the same, the biggest thing about growing pleuros mounted is to keep the humidity up. They lack pseudobulbs and they have very fine roots, so drying out is the kiss of death. As long as the humidity is high enough to keep them from dessicating, they do very well, this way.

-Cj

[tom499]

That is one of the main reasons I decided to mount it I was having trouble keeping the humidity up and keeping the plant damp, without rotting the roots and leaves.

I sort of gave up mounting onto wood because the plant had so many roots in different directions I would squash them, and I never really found a suitable piece to use.

My theory with this design is that I can remove it from the mount at a later date without too much disturbance to the roots and be able to replace the moss.

i was going to use an aquatic plant pot but couldnt find the right size. The holes in this one should be sufficient to give the medium air so it will dry out faster. I cant dunk it daily if need be.

I think I'll call it the "net cone mount"

[Orchidflowerchild]

I recently ordered 50 2" net pots from jim's orchid supplies out of florida, as well as two large planks of treefern (I'll cut it into pieces as I need mounts). He also sells 3" and 4", I think. I really like net pots, if I'm going to be growing a pleuro in a pot, for just that reason. With the open structure of the pot, the moss can dry from all around and doesn't get soppy or compacted in the pot. Also, you might look into shredded treefern as a potting medium, as it is more open, dries more evenly, and doesn't rot like Sphag. Inorganic/inert media are also great for pleuros in pots. I used to make a mix of fine treefern, charcoal, and perlite for the bigger pleuros that would be a pain to mount. I imagine I'll be making the same mix, once it becomes necessary, this time around.

Here's a link to Jim's Orchid Supplies http://www.jimssupplies.com/

-CJ

[mbasden]

I have a schomburkia on a raft and it i quickly running out of room. Since the roots are all in the raft, how do you re-raft(?) this thing? Help, please

[Orchidflowerchild]

Originally Posted by mbasden

I have a schomburkia on a raft and it i quickly running out of room. Since the roots are all in the raft, how do you re-raft(?) this thing? Help, please

Well, personally, I'd just let it consume the raft. As long as the mount itself is not rotting, why bother it? If the plant isn't growing all around it, you could just secure the raft to a new, bigger raft, too.

Personally, though, I wouldn't worry about it. Just let the plant wrap itself all around the raft.

-Cj