the floating mount

[kninum]

SO i have been meaning to try growing Phals outside of a pot and since i couldn't find any suitable woody mount i decided to play around with something a little different....i have no idea if it will work but hey...if i don't try it I'll never know, eh!

I have had these metal stakes with rings at the top floating around since last summer ( when they held little glass cups with citronella candles), when the glass cups broke, i decided to hold onto the stake in case they might be of use in the future..........and so it seems that i have finally found a use for them...

Here's my little "floating mount" project;

Supplies:
2x weather resistant metal stake w/ring
2x 4" terra cotta pot, damp
2x 4" Phals.........mine were noids until i unpotted one and found a tag....since i got these at home depot( the home of buy 30 of the same plant) and they both have a distinctive pale leaf edge - i recoken there is a good chance that they are the same, which is Phal. Meller Gold x Taisuco Kochdian
2x large marbles (stones would work too)
the legs from a pari of nylons
some pre-soaked bark mix
some twine- i used 160lb hemp....it's thick, strong and water is not a problem
some coconut fibre matting-----like what people use to protect plants in the winter- cut (1/2 circle)to fit around each 4" pot---soaked
some sphag moss- dampen for easier use

step one:
place marble in toe of nylon and thread thru hole in top of pot

step two:
pull nylon down over pot
make a hemp/twine loop smaller the the top of the pot but larger than the loop of the stake

step three:
thread twine loop on nylon and pull nylon back to the botton of the pot, making a pocket

step four:
fill pocket with bark mix.. stretch tight and tie off. make a few runs/snags/little holes to allow moisture and air a little better flow

step five:
cut the remaining tube of nylon into a piece as tall as the pot ( maybe a bit longer). put it around the original top of the pot and sit the plant on the original bottom of the pot. work roots around pot adding sphag and bring the nylon up to create a band that holds everything into place. Wrap the coconut fiber mat around the whole thing

step six:
tie matting in place firmly but not too tightly with hemp twine

step 7:

place pot on top of stake and put stake into large pot that has firm soil ( this set-up is a bit heavy and fluffy loose soil wouldn't hold it)

step 8:

enjoy a plant you didn't have room for or in my case...two



i'll be misting this daily and keeping a close eye on it (them) to see how they do.... i can easliy pull the pot off of the stake and soak it as needed, also since it sits above another pot i can water it too....

now i guess i just have to wait and see

[Rishad Kalarikkal]

hmm....its......????...DIFFERENT..........

[fred]

interesting
thank you for sharing your project with us

[katrina]

The end display looks very nice.

Getting to the end...I'm confused...is the plant inside the old stocking w/the bark or on the outside of it? It looks like it's inside the stocking. ??

[patticake]

Very ingenious. I'll be curious to see how the plant adapts to it. Thanks for sharing your ideas!

[hera]

Ingenious use of limited space. I like your inventiveness.

[LouisW]

Thats interesting. looks like a fun project too. shouldn't phals be mounted upside down. i guess this is more like a potted plant held above the ground.

[kninum]

Originally Posted by katrina

The end display looks very nice.

Getting to the end...I'm confused...is the plant inside the old stocking w/the bark or on the outside of it? It looks like it's inside the stocking. ??

the plant is on the outside of the bark pocket, mixed with sphag and then has a tube of nylon over it to hold in place, then over that goes the coco fiber jacket.
the 'jacket' is nice because it holds a lot of moisture without being wet, and its fairly porous. hopefully the nylon will not impede the plant, air, or water (i don't think it will but who knows)

[GrowInHydro]

Very clever!

[nenella]

A very interesting idea! will be interested in seeing how it develops. Thanks for showing us.

[Bird Song Farm]

A very novel way of potting a phal. I could envision a row of them up the walk to the house.......
Thanks for sharing and keep us posted.

Al

[katrina]

Originally Posted by kninum

the plant is on the outside of the bark pocket, mixed with sphag and then has a tube of nylon over it to hold in place, then over that goes the coco fiber jacket.
the 'jacket' is nice because it holds a lot of moisture without being wet, and its fairly porous. hopefully the nylon will not impede the plant, air, or water (i don't think it will but who knows)

VERY clever and a GREAT way to recycle materials.

As for the nylons interfering w/air exchange...hmmm...I wouldn't know. I would think if water drains quickly then the air exchange would be fine. Like you said...never know unless you try. Looks really nice...sort of like the neo set up w/the sphag mounds.

Please keep us posted on how things are going...I'm really interested in watching this one's progression.

[kninum]

It has been a just over a week since i mounted the two phals like this.......unfourtunatley my camera died this weekend so i could not take pictures of theire current status.

in short ALL is well.....maybe even better than well???

as i live in a currently damp and cool region i have only been heavily misting the jackets every morning (and lightly misting the plant).

With the hollow space under the pot i am able to feel that there is still good moisture around the roots- it's kinda handy being able to get "the inside" story. When summer hits i should be able to tell exactly when it is time to soak/water heavy.

as for the plants themselves- i think they like their DO like their new homes. Both still had green (alive) flower spikes when i transplanted them. One of them had a bit of a nub at one of the nodes, and the other had a "extra green" node..........i have been watching these closely as i figure they would show the first signs of "rejection".
What made me happy(and make me thnk the plants are happy) was seeing that the nubby node has visibly grown and it starting to look like it might just possibly be a NEW spike. On top of that the one with the "green node" has also done some growin' and may be a Keiki starting or a new spike (it does look different than the nubby node).

all in all, all's good so far........

now if i can get the dreams of white picket fences lined with many many of these 'floating pots' out of my head i think I will be okay.....