My first try

[myorchid]

In my order of birthday orchids, I got some grapewood thinking I would try mounting an orchid. I didn't know which one but when they came, the Miltona Earl Dunn was small and looks like it might be OK to try.

Tell me what you think. It looks OK and seems stable.

[Anton]

Looks great.

A little tip /trick:

I was introduced to using nylon stockings as a tie instead of wires or fishing line. If you cut a piece about 1/2" to 3/4" wide and tie it at the back of the mount, you'll find that the fine mesh of the stockings is almost transparent on the roots and plant, and is soft and gentle.

Because nylon stockings roll when you cut thin widths, that is the reason for cutting the wider band, and you'll find you'll be able to control the material rolling up a bit better and keep it as a band.

I can show you some examples if you like. I used to use fishing line, but by using nylon stockings I need less material, and it holds the plant better.

[myorchid]

Anton,

Yes, I would like to see some examples. Maybe I should redo mine using that technique?

Thanks!

[kid a]

I know this might be a silly question, but what kind of moss is that? And it does look great!

[myorchid]

It is bagged sphag moss that I got from the nursery. I soaked it in worm tea before using.

[articuno75]

It looks like Chilean Spagh, but I really can't tell. Does it say on the bag? There are different kinds of spagh. New Zealand (which has different cuts and grades), Chilean, and the run of the mill stuff that came from your local lake. (Yuk ).

[myorchid]

not really sure, what kind it is. I hope it will be OK for the orchid.
So far my mount is staying put. I like the look of it, hope it grows OK.

[articuno75]

April, yours looks great and will do just fine. I like it.

[solay]

It kinda looks like moss for top dressing of plants to cover the dirt. Does it hold moisture well? Anyhow, it looks good to me. I don't know about the moss. Maybe someone else will know.

[Anton]

April, here's one of my Dockrillias and some Tolumnia mounts showing the nylon stockings holding the plants on.

Then top one on the dockrillia is to show what happens if you don't make a wide enough band from the stockings.

[patticake]

April, I think it looks beautiful! Great job. I can't wait to see it bloom! Nice.....

[PhalPal]

April your mount looks great to me too! As long as it doesn't wiggle too much and feels very secure the roots will adhere and grow onto your log.

Anton - You use only the nylon, no moss under or over the roots?? Or did you remove that once the roots attached?

[myorchid]

I thnk I might remount it tonight. This morning the moss was totally dry and it wasn't even a full 24 hours! It doesn't seem to hold water very well.

I do have some of the sphag that I got from Jerry's plants that I will use tonight. It seems to hold water a bit better.

I may try the stocking trick to see how it holds the plant on.

I will post new pictures tonight.

Thanks for all the support. I really like the look of a mount, makes me want to mount more of them, but where would I put them??

[orchid_girl]

Very nice myorchid!! I like the mount!

Anton did you just use the stockings and nothing else?

[Anton]

Yes, just the stockings, Tolumnia and Dockrillia don't like to be too moist, both mainly get their moisture from the atmosphere, the Doc is usually found near waterfalls and gets light overspray occasionally.

Other plants, such as yours may be different, but if you have a look at these plants in the wild, they just cling to the tree trunks and don't have piles of moss to sit on. There may be a slight build up of debris over time, but not a lot.

Growers tend to forget how these plants grow in their native habitats and don't research it much. I personally try to find out what they look like in the wild, and there are plenty of Websites showing them in situ, then try and reproduce those conditions as closely as I can.

Aesthetically orchids mounted with moss look good, but, is it faithfully reproducing how they would be in the wild ???

I am not saying that it is not right to use sphag, but try some research and see how a particular species does survive in it's natural state, I think a lot of people would be surprised.

This was only pointed out to me recently by a long time breeder of orchids, and he has changed my way of thinking with mounting orchids. Sometimes the moss provides too much moisture and they in fact, only need a spraying twice a day, such as my Tolumnia.

[solay]

Anton, that is interesting. I never thought of it that way. Without the moss would you just have to mist more? I just plopped on more moss yesterday on the mounted Neo. maybe I better take some off. Wouldn't want to suffocate it. Thanks.

[PhalPal]

Thanks for the insight anton. I do research my orchids before buying a different type and like to know where it would grow naturally and how. First and foremost, it's interesting! There are some I just can't accommodate easily with our dryness. Many times it's not possible to duplicate an exact natural state inside a home, so I try my best to make it liveable for all of us. (the plants, me, cats, dogs and oh yeah, my hubby )

I have a Tolumnia mounted on cork with a little spraghum under and over the roots, just enough for a little cushion against the cork and fishing line. Under lights it does dry completely and I need to drench with a pressure sprayer each morning. It is blooming it's heart out right now, so far so good.

It always amazes me how adaptable orchids are!

[Anton]

ALL my orchids in the GH are misted in the morning around 7am before I go to work and in the afternoon when I get home, in fact, I do it before I even get out of the work clothes so that they have a chance to evaporate the excess water of before they go bye byes.

If you look at the Tolumnias they are extremely healthy, as is the Doc.

We are mostly in single digit humidity here in South Australia, which is why I mist the orchids twice in the GH and that helps boost humidity up to around 50% to 60% at night, which is what most epiphytes need in the wild as a minimum to survive.

They depend on humidity or fine mists blown across the mountains at night for their moisture needs and absorb them through the roots, hence the size and quantity of roots that plants like the Vanda Alliance grow.

I have a 2 litre hand pumped garden sprayer that I fill with rain water and that does all 300 plants in the GH. I have a 12 volt car fan going 24/7 for the air movement and to simulate the breeze that the plants would likely experience in the wild.

I spray a fine mist just in front of the fan aimed it the same direction, and the plants get misted by the breeze created by the fan similar to what they would get in the wild.

Haven't lost one yet and they seem healthy and happy.

Maybe it is worth an experiment on one plant that you could afford to use as a guinea pig and see how it goes.

The Tolumnias and Docs do get a good spraying morning and night due to being mounted on cork and the drying effect of the fan and relative temps in the GH. But the potted plants just get the spray effect I spoke about above.

[PhalPal]

Many of us are limited in what we can provide our orchids if we don't have, don't want, have space for, or can't afford a greenhouse. I do like cork bark because I tend to mount orchids that like to stay on the dry side, i.e. Catts and Tolumnia. For species Phals I add a little bit more moss to the bark and they are happy.