Pictures of Mounts

[Ak_Orchid]

A few people have expressed an interest in mounting orchids, and wanted to see some pictures. I was unable to post pictures in the thread where I posted this before:

I love to mount orchids. It does mean that I have to water them more often so I do try to limit what I mount. A few of my mounts do go outside in the summer, however living in Alaska, most stay inside. I water all of them by "dunking" them in a bucket of water. Typically they get watered every other day. I make sure all of my mounts are small enough, or are mounted in a way that it can still be submersed in a bucket. Most of them hang over an area that can stand some dripping, for the few that are hanging over carpet, I put a drip trays down. If one of my orchids (typically a phal) starts to grow leaves in wild directions or is having problems with roots rotting, I mount it. So far the orchids all love it, and I love the natural look they give off. I've only been disappointed with one mount, and that's not because of the plant, but what I chose to mount it to. It was early on in my mounting days that I mounted a seedling that I purchased at my orchid society. I used some sort of fern, or twigs smashed together into a square shape. (last picture) The material started to break down from day one, and has only gotten worse. Fortunately the orchid seems to like it, I just hate little twigs breaking off every time I grab it. I learned my lesson and haven't mounted anything to that material again.

Pic#1-Phal violacea var. coerulea ('Krull's Navy Blue', AM/AOS x 'Crystelle' HCC/AOS)
Pic#2-Rhyncholaelia digbyana
Pic#3-Phal violacea var. coerulea ('Gulfstream Blue' JC/AOS x Self)
Pic#4-Phal violacea var. coerulea ('Gulfstream Blue' JC/AOS x Self)
Pic#5-Phal Baldan's Kalaiedoscope 'Golden Treasure' AM/AOS
Pic#6-Bulbophyllum macrobulbon
Pic#7-Blc. Lucille Lundberg 'Yellow Sky'
Pic#8-Middle-Masdevallia princeps Sides-Darwina Charm 'Blue Star' HCC/AOS
Pic#9-Top Left-Dendrobium Cathy Beck Bottom-Sedirea japonica Top Right-Bulbophyllum barbigerum
Pic#10-Dendrobium Kuniko

[tizzycat]

They all look really happy and healthy, very impressive.

The phals look great.

[norris]

Hi Ak_Orchid Thanks for posting those pics, you have quite a variety, and it gave me some ideas, especially what you wrote about the mounting Phals that are having problems. I have one now that might be a good candidate.

[Brooke]

Beautiful mounts - I can't wait to see the bloom pics on your three violacea seedlings.

Brooke

[Tobi]

They all look fantastic!! We'll be looking forward to some pics when they bloom!

[articuno75]

I really love these and have been checking all kinds of threads on mounts cause I'm getting ready to mount my project Encyclia onto grapevine. I do have a question and it may sound ridiculous.

When using fishingline to tie down a plant, over time does it cut into the plant and have to be reset? This kind of worries me.

[Ak_Orchid]

I'm careful not to wrap the fishing line directly over any roots. I make sure that they're covered in moss before wrapping it up. New roots growing out occasionally have to grow around the fishing line, and sometimes it looks like the line is cutting into the roots, but they keep growing. The fishing line is just another obstacle for them to grow around. I've neve had problems with the line cutting into part of the plant before. I guess one of them could get big enough to start cutting into the plant, and at that point I would re-wrap it. I think it would take a while before you would have to worry about that.

[berkeleysgr8]

Looking at all the great mounts on this part of the forum has made me interested in trying a mount. I have a few Phals with keikis. I think I might try mounting one of the keikis. Afterall, it wouldn't be a total loss if it didn't work!

[patticake]

Gorgeous mounts, Sean! Really nice.....

[fred]

very nice work with mounting those orchids
I am with Tobi I am also looking forward to seeing them in bloom

[jay]

Those are all incredible looking mounts. I hope that you post more pictures as they come into bloom.

Do they all hang? Do you have any photos of them all in their growing space? I would love to see a big family shot.

[myorchid]

Those are awesome mounts. What kind of wood do you use? I might like to try one with my Phal keiki once the roots get long enough.

Great pictures.

[sandra]

These are some of the most interesting and lovliest mounts I've seen Sean. The pieces that you chose for these plants and visa versa, match beautifully and are so complimentary to each other. I even think the first mount that you aren't so happy about, looks great, really!

BTW, out of curiousity, what are the average temps in summertime in Alaska?

[PhalPal]

The first pic of your little Phal is just lovely; what a healthy plant! I have found my species Phals love being mounted and do very well.

I move all my bloomers to rooms where I can enjoy the flowers. For mounts, I use banana hangers. You know, the thingy you can hang bananas on so they don't bruise?? I have one in my kitchen and it seems such a waste to have fruit on it; I hang my mounts and get to enjoy them too!

[Ak_Orchid]

Originally Posted by jay

Do they all hang? Do you have any photos of them all in their growing space? I would love to see a big family shot.

Some of them hang, some of them sit on racks. I've mounted some of them so that they can hang in the future. I'll take some pictures of my growing area this week and post them. I'll be putting some of my orchids outside in the next month or so.

Originally Posted by myorchid

What kind of wood do you use?

I make a trip once a year to Whittier, Alaska (about an hour away) to collect driftwood. There's one particular spot that have huge piles of driftwood. Each time I go there I find interesting pieces of wood to mount to. I also purchase some bark from local greenhouses.

Originally Posted by sandra

BTW, out of curiosity, what are the average temps in summertime in Alaska?

Most of the time we're in the high 70's, but it's a really dry heat. We don't have the humidity that the lower 48 has. Anchorage has pretty mild weather all year long due to ocean currents. In the middle of the state they have temps into the 90's in the summer, but they also get -70 degree weather in the winter. Anchorage doesn't spend much time below 0.