Tree Mounting Project #1 - Cedrus deodara

[epiphyte]

The house that we moved into last year has a decent sized lot for our area. Unfortunately, the lot only has two trees.... one large Himalayan Cedar (project #1) and one large lemon tree (project #2). When we moved in I had no idea the tree was a Cedrus deodara but that’s what an arborist told me it was.

Wherever I go I evaluate trees by how suitable they would be for mounting orchids on…does anybody else do this? Unfortunately, my two trees rank very low on the suitability scale. But because they are currently all I have to work with, I thought I’d try mounting orchids on them. Sharing is caring so I’ll try and use this thread to document and share my experiences mounting orchids to my cedar tree. I’ve already started mounting orchids to both trees and will start another thread to document mounting orchids on the lemon tree.

Here in Southern California, surprisingly few orchid enthusiasts grow their epiphytic orchids directly on their trees. It’s surprising because epiphytic orchids can be successfully grown on trees here, and in other nearly frost free locations. Many orchid enthusiasts grow orchids mounted on slabs outdoors all year long here and have trees in their yard but haven’t made the logical small step towards orchid landscaping.

Hopefully, by documenting this project, some of you in nearly frost free climates will be encouraged to start experiments of your own.

Where to begin? Well, let’s start with suitability. As I mentioned, my cedar tree ranks very low on the suitability scale. Here’s my analysis of the various components of tree suitability with regards to orchid mounting….

1. Form: The people who pruned this tree had no intention of ever growing orchids on it. As a result, there are very few horizontal branches and all the branches are only accessible by ladder. The ideal orchid tree would have several medium to large diameter horizontal branches that are in a nicely spaced radial pattern and within easy reach and viewing level. Horizontal branches are desirable because they will retain moisture somewhat longer and collect detritus more effectively than vertical branches will. The only advantage of having inaccessible branches is that it’s more difficult for ground troublemakers such as slugs, snails, rabbits, deer, etc to have easy access to your orchids.

2. Sap: The tree bleeds copious quantities of sap that can possibly be an orchid deterrent. Even if it’s not a deterrent it’s still quite a hassle because the sap sticks to everything…my skin, clothes and camera. I’ve found my sweat to be fairly effective at removing the sap from my camera buttons. It will be interesting to see what happens to the orchid roots when they encounter sap.

3. Chemical breakdown: This is similar to the previous component in that some trees have a chemical composition which can possibly deter some epiphytes. Given that epiphytes do not harm trees like parasites do, I’m not sure how much of an advantage it would be to have a trait that deters their growth. Epiphytes are the foundation for thriving ecosystems the members of which eventually die and provide nutrients for the tree. In any case, I have no idea what the chemical composition of my cedar tree is and whether or not it will deter the establishment and growth of the selected orchids. Its distribution overlaps that of some epiphytic orchids but I wasn’t able to find any information when I googled to see if any orchids grow on it in its native habitat. Back to the benefits of having a trait that discourages epiphytes…now that I think about it, I suppose if you’re a tree you wouldn’t want a strangler fig, which often begin life as an epiphyte, growing on you.

4. Texture: The bark on the trunk and larger branches of the tree has deep furrows while the bark on the medium sized and smaller branches is smooth. The rougher and more furrowed the bark is the more moisture it will hold, which is an important consideration here in dry Southern California. Also, deeply furrowed bark can catch and hold more airborne particles and detritus which provide nourishment for orchids. A local tree with really good bark is the camphor tree.

5. Ants: This tree is home to billions of ants. As some of you already know, ants in themselves do not usually harm orchids but they often carry pests such as mealybugs and aphids to orchids in order to milk their "cows" for their sweet dew. In theory it’s pretty neat, but it’s not so neat when the ants establish a mealybug ranch on my orchids. Other than that they crawl all over me when I climb the tree, but only occasionally sting. The worst is when they crawl in my ear canal and I just have to wait for them to explore around and eventually crawl out. If I ever had to torture somebody that’s what I’d do to them.

The only possible advantage to a lot of ants is that they do poop which provides a rather unknown quantity of nourishment for a mounted orchid. Some orchids such as Schomburgkia/Myrmecophila tibicinis have a symbiotic relationship with ants in that they provide a home for the ants in their large hollow pseudobulbs and in return the ants protect the plant (their home) from attacking pests and provide poop.

6. Shade: The cedar tree is evergreen which is good but the shade it provides is rather uneven. Generally speaking, it’s easier to prune a tree to provide more light than it is to wait for branches and leaves to fill in any gaps that allow for prolonged direct sun exposure. Generalizing again, orchids can usually handle a couple hours of direct sun during the early morning and late evening hours but require filtered sun during the rest of the day. Also, the thicker the canopy of leaves the greater the protection against the occasional frost…but at the expense of light.

7. Detritus: In their native habitat many epiphytes derive nourishment and moisture from falling leaves (amongst other things). This last fall the cedar tree dropped a large quantity of needles that will help retain moisture when they congregate betwixt and between the mounted orchids but I’m not sure what the nutrient composition of the decaying needles will be and whether it will help or harm the orchids.

8. Location: Broadly speaking, the greater Los Angeles area provides a mild climate suitable for year around outdoor culture of 100s if not 1000s of species of epiphytic orchids. Narrowly speaking, the cedar tree is located next to our driveway and only a few feet away from the neighbor’s house. Our driveway is pretty much a wind tunnel and while orchids do like some air movement they do not like being blown off branches that they were attached to. Given that they are not protected from the wind the orchids will dry out faster which means more watering. And because the tree is so tall and the location so windy a sprinkler/mister system would mainly, and did, soak the neighbor’s bird. An ideal location would have a two story house blocking wind without blocking too much of the sun and be right next to a pool, pond, river, creek, or stream, etc. Evaporating water is really appreciated by orchids mounted in drier conditions. Also, in areas that experience occasional frosts, it’s preferable if trees are located on hills or slopes because cold air tends to flow down hill and settle in valleys.

9. Thorns. Nope, no thorns.

10. Existing pests: Nope, no existing pests.

11. Water tolerance: No idea how the cedar will respond in the long term to the more frequent watering it will receive as required by the orchids mounted on it. So far it’s put out a lot of new growth. Given that its distribution overlaps the distribution of some epiphytic orchids, it should be able to handle the increase in water.

Hmmm…am I missing anything? Next I suppose I’ll discuss the watering system I set up in the cedar tree. After that I’ll provide a list of the orchids I mounted, share the technique I used to mount them, upload a few photos and provide the occasional update on establishment and progress. Yup.

In the meantime I’d love to hear other people’s analysis of their trees with regards to orchid mounting suitability and whether they have considered mounting orchids on them or have already done so. Pictures of very suitable trees will be fodder for orchid mounting daydreams.

[exasperatus2002]

If I could I'd actually mount them on bark or tree fern & then hang that from the tree incase of really nasty weather or worse, if I have to move to a new home.

[karenk]

What about mouting on palm trees....my queen plams seem to rough..


Also, I have a Hawaiian coral tree...but it has thorns here and there...I am thinking the ochids could handle this.

[patlee]

Since our winters do not allow for mounting, Ill just put a few orchids in vanda baskets and hang them from the trees. It's not the same, but it will have to do until something better comes along

[patticake]

I'm where it's far too cold for tree mounts! I have to live vicariously through many of you!

[solay]

In 2006 I tied cork barks to one of the large plum tree next to my shade house and attached several orchids. Then the freeze of 2007 came along while I was on vacation and killed all the orchids except a couple. Now I only have a Grower's Ramsey directly on the tree and it's been there 2 years and is surviving. No blooms though.
I would love to grow orchids on trees but the temp. drops into the 30s sometimes in the winter here. Anyone know of any orchids that will survive in 30 degree weather? I would love to have more than one on the tree. Sigh...

[epiphyte]

karenk, all things being equal...an orchid mounted on smoother bark will require more water than the same orchid mounted on rougher bark. The Santa Barbara Orchid Estate has quite a few orchids mounted on trees with smoother bark. They don't need to use moss because they water more often, their climate is more humid and because they mounted orchids that are ok with drying out between waterings.

solay, was the plum tree deciduous? Leaves in the tree can help provide protection from the cold. Here's an interesting article to take a look at...

Orchid Societies Council of Victoria Inc

When you have a hybrid that has cold tolerance most likely you can grow the species that imparted that cold tolerant trait. Gower Ramsey has 3 grandparents... Oncidium flexuosum, Oncidium varicosum and Oncidium sphacelatum (on both sides). I'm pretty sure Oncidium flexuosum was at least one of the grandparents that imparted cold tolerance. From there you can try growing the other hybrids that had flexuosum as a parent or grandparent. You can also try Laelia anceps, Laelia albida, Dendrobium nobile, Dendrobium teretifolium and Oncidium ornithorhynchum.

[Andrew]

I don't have a lot of experience mounting on trees, however, I do have a few twig epiphytes mounted that were mounted on to Coprosma earlier this year that have attached well. I also had a Laelia anceps attached to a tree (plum from memory) at my last house that also attached and grew quite well. For me the main issues were exposure (you don't want the plant to get belted by wind) and the potential for the host to produce phytotoxins. I find orchids have problems attaching to oily and aromatic woods and a lot of conifers no doubt fall into this category (there's a reason conifer bark is heat treated or composted before growing orchids in it). Exasperatus's idea of hanging an established mount from the tree is a good one in that host rejection won't be a problem and you can move it if the conditions aren't favourable. One other consideration is to be careful with the material you use to tie the orchid on with. Make sure it's flexible enough that it doesn't cut into the tree as it grows.

[solay]

Thanks Epiphyte. I will look into those to try again on the tree one day. I know I had at least one from the list that didn't make it. It's the pururata from Brazil with the gorgeous purple lips. A division I got for $50 from SBOE.

The tree does lose it's leaves in the fall so I need to maybe protect it better from the cold. Here is a pic. of my only tree mounted orchid is surviving.

[epiphyte]

Solay, a friend of mine that lives in the high foothills of the greater Los Angeles area has grown his purpurata outdoors for several years and he said last year it got down to 28 degrees. He has it growing under shade cloth which helps provide some protection from the cold so my guess is that your tree's lack of leaves was probably a contributing factor in the demise of your purpurata. Other factors could have been duration/frequency of cold temperatures and wetness during cold temperatures. It seems the general consensus is that orchids can handle the cold better when they are dry.

[solay]

I think you might be right. The tree is not under the shade cloth while the cymbidiums are. I think I will try mounting more orchids on the tree this year. Thanks.

[epiphyte]

The other day, while perusing some of my scientific articles on epiphytes, I ran across an interesting paragraph in a 2003 article titled "Vascular epiphytes in the temperate zones – a review" written by Gerhard Zotz. The context for the paragraph is looking at various explanations why there is a greater occurrence of epiphytes in the Southern hemisphere than in the Northern hemisphere.

"Although probably of minor importance, the possible role of host plant identity should not be ignored either. It has been observed repeatedly that conifers are poor hosts for epiphytes (
Bir 1989; Garth 1964; Kolbeck 1995; Kramer 1993). Similar observations have been made in the Swiss Alps
(Zotz and List 2003): although spruce trees were much more abundant than Acer trees, epiphytic P. vulgare plants were exclusively found on the angiosperm. There are a number of possible reasons, which are, e.g., related to bark chemistry
(Bir 1989) or tree architecture
(Garth 1964). Moreover, conifers with dense foliage intercept a much higher proportion of rainfall and feature significantly reduced stem flow compared to deciduous angiosperms (Garth 1964), leading to considerably reduced water supply to epiphytes. Needleleaved conifers being poor hosts could also be part of the reason for the asymmetry in epiphytism between northern and southern hemisphere. Purely coniferous moist montane forests as well as mixed montane forests are unique to the northern hemisphere
(Box 2002). If temperate forests in the southern hemisphere under otherwise similar environmental conditions feature a ‘better’ suite of potential host trees
compare, e.g., temperate rain forests in North and South America, (Alaback 1991), development of epiphytism may be enhanced."

So far the few orchid roots that have reached the cedar bark have not shown any significant aversion. If the roots continue to grow without problem than either the bark chemistry of the cedar differs compared to other conifers or the theory that conifer foliage intercepts rainfall is the more likely explanation.

Hopefully within the next couple of days I'll be able to type up the next section on setting up the watering system.

[made4engineering]

If your cedar mount is anything like mine (with cracks, but generally smooth), you'll find that different orchids react in different ways. Some of mine, like Gongora and Coelogyne seem to have trouble sticking to a dry, flat surface and need cracks or extra moisture to help. Some are ok at it like Laelia and Cattleya. Others like Phalaenopsis, Ascocentrum, and Epidendrum absolutely love it.

[davetheorchidaddict]

I live in west central Florida and we do get some nights below freezing so I do not mount on trees. There are some native orchids that no longer live in this area because of lower temperatures coming more often.