Thanks Kilmiquix!!! And That was totally my point!! Just so others knew these things existed and knew it was totally doable on their own! You so should! The one nice thing about getting a roll of wire too is that your circle is already made you may adjust the size a bit but it's bent for the right shape at least! And straightening nicely really isn't hard once you do it a few times!
Berthabloom! Thank you so much for sharing the video! So helpful! Especially for anyone wanting to give it a try! I had known that some were done with a triangle clip and I almost did it that way but decided not to!
I hadn't seen a triangle clip made the way he does it! I will just say, with 12 gauge wire at least, my clip is plenty strong....maybe the s shape also kinda helps with that I don't know but I don't see why it would need to be more stable. At least, for a ring type support....I could it see it necessary for a straight stake type support though so it is Really helpful to know that if the clip goes down farther it is much stronger! I do feel like unless your putting it in while repotting, it would be really hard to get that big triangle clip in the pot so far without damaging some roots...I wonder how that works! I also wonder if he is using a lighter wire then mine....he just bends it SO easily! Then again, Maybe he is just stronger then me!
Also. Really great to know about the safety tip! That's a great idea! Once again, I really don't know how in the world he bent such a small piece like that! I tried to do that and SO couldn't! That's why I just bent mine up and away from my plants foliage.
Now for anyone wanting to make their own....I wanted my circle width to be adjustable, that's why I left overlap in my circle so could make my circle larger as needed. But if you don't leave any overlap and just have an exact circle, you can make a U shape on the end of your wire circle and then hook that to the start of the circle right where the straight (or S shape in mine) ends and the circle begins. Just make sure your U hooks outward, away from the plant instead of inward towards the plant so it doesn't harm the plant at all!
In the way of safety ends and things like that...I also know that Chula Orchid Supply sells straight, 12 gauge plant stakes that have these little rubber caps on the tips of them so you don't have to worry about the end of the wire, they also sell just a bag of the caps alone to act as replacements. When I wasn't able to bend mine fully back like he did, I decided I would just buy a bag of these little rubber caps to cap my pointy end of wire! I would think you could buy them other places too but I know that they sell them for sure!
I will say, the only slightly weaker part on my support is the ring itself. That's why I kind of wrapped the end of my wire around the circle and hooked it there because t gave the circle some extra support. I just did see however where some sell these Wire Ring supports where instead of having the circle being just one round of wire with some extra overlap, they have wrapped the wire around multiple times so you have three or more circles of wire all making your Ring. This would be an idea if your circle isn't strong enough too for an especially unruly plant! They just might not look quite as neat. I think my single circle of wire would hold most plants fine though. I think mine is just much taller then most and a much wider circle along with a Cymbidium who likes all its leaves to sit ON (instead of against) half of the circle instead of being equally distributed around the entire ring! So it took some finagling to not have the circle sag a bit on the one weighted side versus the unweighted side.
Thank you everyone for just letting my share and show off my wire bending skills! And for the video! I really hope that I inspired some of you to try save yourself some money and making them on your own! I would say even at the cheapest rate, if you need 20 or so you would probably save enough to buy fertilizer or a nice supplement for your orchids instead! Even enough to almost cover a 40L bag of Orchiata! Point, anyone wanting to give your orchids the best care while pinching pennies, this is a great way to do just that! Plus these never rot like wooden stakes and can be easily sanitized and reused!
Just like the man in Berthablooms video share, sit down with some wire, pliers and your favorite show or movie playing and settle in! These have been especially great for my growing Catt seedlings who have those big new growths that have substantially larger and heavier leaves then the rest of the plant so they can barely keep themselves upright!
And let me just say....If I can do it, you most DEFINITELY can do it too!!!
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