How to mount orchids? - Page 2 - Orchid Board

flhiker · #11 07-07-2008, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by irrka

And you definitely have to do the daily spraying thing, huh? I just keep wanting to hear the "no" so baaaadly!!

Catts, Onc. and Dens don't need to be watered daily. They can stand to skip a day or so, specially if it has rained recently. I grow mine outside. How I mount mine is I have the wood, String, Wet sphagnum ready to go, First I take a small amount of Moss in the palm of my hand then I take the plant and lay the roots on top of the moss in my hand, then I take more moss and cover the roots (not to much), then I wrap a little string around the moss/roots loosely and tie, then place the the plant where I want it on the wood, then take the rest of the string and wrap around the wood and tie it off.

Ross · #12 07-07-2008, 05:38 PM

I would add to Dave's post that you don't really need to mist any orchids outside a Wardian case. It does little for the plant. Most orchids don't even absorb moisture through the leaves (there are very few stomata to do this). I don't mist any of my orchids that are outside my "tank". I do water certain plants daily, others every-other-day, and a few on a 3-4 day cycle depending on type and my observations.

katfemme89 · #13 07-08-2008, 03:54 AM

Sweet. Thank you for the responses all. And when i speak of misting, I am talking about misting the roots. I never mist the leaves because i don't want to risk crown rot.

P.S. It's great to have you on the board, kuldking!!!!!!

cb977 · #14 07-08-2008, 09:09 AM

I love mounted chids and have a lot of them. I now have to go through what's mounted and not doing well because I didn't take into consideration something which turns out to be quite important...make sure you know whether the chid you're mounting likes it's roots moist or more on the dry side. Moisture lovers should get a bit of sphag...the ones that would rather have their roots dry out can and should be mounted bare root or with just the smallest amount of sphag to protect the roots from being damaged by whatever is being used to tie it down.

You never stop learning something with these plants!

By the way, John...your photo "lesson" was just perfect! Well done...and thank you

wetfeet101b · #15 07-08-2008, 05:24 PM

For irrigation purposes, I do not mist the leaves. (I do implement foliar feeding with fertilizers, but thats another matter

)
I water the root zone once there are visible roots.
And I *think* that watering at the root zone encourages the plant to produce a more robust root system. I think that misting the leaves for irrigation purposes might be counter productive. The plant might take a shortcut and skimp on developing the roots because the water is already available at the leaves - even though it is at such a slower rate.

At first, this orchid did not have any roots so I did not water it at all. I just kept the humidity around 50%.

Once some roots emerged, I just take a cup of water and pour it onto the roots and get the driftwood wet. This is usually done once a day, in the morning.

Once the roots have grown and developed a good network around the base of the mount, I just switched to the regular watering routine. My mature mounts are drenched every 3-4 days. If it is very hot and dry, I do make exceptions.

The greenhouse has a misting system that is hooked up to a timer, but that is to maintain the humidity and keep the summer temperatures down. The water droplets rarely make it to the plants as they evaporate in transit.

BTW, I added more pictures taken today.

bodaciousbonsai · #16 07-09-2008, 03:52 AM

Awesome mounting my friend! what kind of wood is that? that is deffiantly a daily watering or two a day also. 1/2 my collection is mounted so I know what its like. I use drift wood that washes up from the lower niagara river from where im at. Western ny by buffalo NY. Is That a six month time span for the pictures you used.

wetfeet101b · #17 07-09-2008, 03:55 PM

The mount is a "river driftwood" that I bought from an online pet store. It is the same one used for lizard and snake tanks.
I am not sure what tree it originally came from, as it is not specified in the label.

From the very first picture up to the July 2008 picture, it is a span of about 12 months.

Vanessa · #18 07-26-2008, 11:55 AM

Thank you! This info is just what i was looking for today....and the photos really help the intructions.

cirillonb · #19 07-26-2008, 12:53 PM

I think John's photo series is excellent. I can even see what he is doing. It might be worthwhile being kept readily available somewhere in the site (?sticky?) Although others do it differently, his demonstration is a good way to start.