Falling Over!

[lornaheath]

OMG I just clicked 'Like' but I really wanted a 'Love' Button there Flower.

Fantastic post. Proud of ya with your Girl Power!

Go Catherine Go!!

Lorna
x x x

[TOMMYMIAMI]

Originally Posted by lornaheath

Love the idea of placing in a basket better than trying to mount, but I love the idea of hanging it like Butterfly said. That really appeals.

Thank you Sausage for the new pikkies of your mountings. You know you said cork? Well is that instead of Bark? Is that more sterile perhaps? Just thinking could you use a chunk of polystyrene? Oh stop laffin at me. I don't know these things, that's why I have to ask silly questions Man!! Huh

Lornie
x x x

Lornie, it is actually CORK BARK, means bark from real cork tree, it is recommended for many orchids, pricier than other mounting stuff but I have my good suppliers, so piece like this comes to around 4-5 bucks:-) it looks great and work perfect, roots can really GROW into it due to its structure, love it! Search cork bark on google, you'lll see:-) G'nite honey, talk to you tomorrow, let us know what did you buy and how did you solve it at the end, wanna hear:-)

---------- Post added at 06:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:56 PM ----------

Originally Posted by TOMMYMIAMI

Lornie, it is actually CORK BARK, means bark from real cork tree, it is recommended for many orchids, pricier than other mounting stuff but I have my good suppliers, so piece like this comes to around 4-5 bucks:-) it looks great and work perfect, roots can really GROW into it due to its structure, love it! Search cork bark on google, you'lll see:-) G'nite honey, talk to you tomorrow, let us know what did you buy and how did you solve it at the end, wanna hear:-)

you need something that will LAST, I would definitely not go for polystyrene :-) However, you must have some drift woods maybe somewhere in your English countryside, or some nice branch? Something it could be attached to? Try to see if there is some local florist, or supplier for gardening, they should have at least something, I mean, maybe the tree fern, or drift wood, or cork bark or regular bark, If I had some trees around me, I would get it from the nature:-)

---------- Post added at 07:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:59 PM ----------

Or try that REPTILE store, some local seller of animals, fishies, lizards, snakes, they will have stuff for terrariums, that will definitely work just fine!

[lornaheath]

Yeah but . . . but . . . but, thingy said . . . . you can't use this and you shouldn't use that, this is too dry and that is too salty.

How the Dickens am I supposed to know if I'm about to kill me poor Orchid or not? Yikes this is hard.

I'm gonna stick with a basket methinks. It's a lot safer. Gawd

Loonie
x x x

[butterfly_muse]

Lorna, cork is a KIND of bark. It's what my big phal in my pictures is mounted on. XD The one that is hanging by the red curtains.

---------- Post added at 07:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:13 PM ----------

Originally Posted by catherinecarney

I've started growing some of my phals and small catts on mounts. Easy to do for the summer when they're outside (I just put several hooks into the post that holds the porch roof up and hung them off of that), but inside is another story....

So here's my plan for when they come in for the winter: I have an obelisk type trellis that's about 30" tall that's in a 10" pot (which held my Epiphyllum cactus until the cat decided to munch on it, but that's another story). I plan to grow a fern or begonia (cane type??) in the pot and use the obelisk as the support for my mounted orchids. The pot with the dirt and plant will be heavy enough to be stable, and any water that drips from the mounts will land in the pot rather than on the floor.....

I used cork slabs for my mounts (found them in the reptile section of the local pet store) and secured the moss and orchids to it with U-shaped pieces of galvanized wire (sort of like big staples). I figure by the time the wire rusts out the orchid will have attached to the bark. The hanger for the mounts is a cup hook screwed into the top of the cork....

I also had a pretty nice piece of grapevine (nothing like needing orchid mounts to have an excuse to prune back an overgrown arbor) that I used to mount a small catt--I used standard cotton/poly sewing thread to wrap around the grapevine to hold the orchid and moss in place. Again, I figure by the time the thread rots away the roots will have attached to the grapevine....

Hope this gives you some ideas...

Oh, and "man tools" are fun to have--I just bought myself a table saw to go with the 1/2" drill and circular saw in my tool chest. Give me power tools over jewelry any day!

Catherine

You're like Tim the Tool Man Taylor but with boobs! Right on!

---------- Post added at 07:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:14 PM ----------

Originally Posted by lornaheath

Yeah but . . . but . . . but, thingy said . . . . you can't use this and you shouldn't use that, this is too dry and that is too salty.

How the Dickens am I supposed to know if I'm about to kill me poor Orchid or not? Yikes this is hard.

I'm gonna stick with a basket methinks. It's a lot safer. Gawd

Loonie
x x x

Also it's not that hard. When you go to the pet store it literally says, "Cork bark for reptiles." That's very easy. And inexpensive. xD Just gotta read the mounting thread. Driftwood is only too salty until you soak it and leech the salts from the wood, that wouldn't take but an overnight dip in your bath tub. I am into the basket idea too but I really like the way my dudes look on their bark and it gives them a lot of space to grow their roots and wrap around. Plus it will look super awesome when I get a house and can dangle them from my porch

[catherinecarney]

Lorna--

The thing to remember with orchids (and lots of other things) is that they can't read--so do what works for YOU and your plants in your situation. Your plants will tell you when they're happy and when they're not....so give different media/mounts/pots a try, and if it doesn't work a) ask orchid board for input (the brain trust here amazes me) and b) don't be afraid to try something else.

Re the power tools: it's amazing what you can do when you set your mind to it! We are all a lot smarter and more capable than we realize. Too often we give up on things because it's "hard" or "scary." But if we step outside of our comfort zone and go for it, 9 times out of 10 we find out we can do it....Besides, it's kind of fun to go into the hardware store and see the looks on the guys' faces when they figure out I know what I'm talking about....

Catherine

[lornaheath]

Fantastico!

[butterfly_muse]

Originally Posted by catherinecarney

Re the power tools: it's amazing what you can do when you set your mind to it! We are all a lot smarter and more capable than we realize. Too often we give up on things because it's "hard" or "scary." But if we step outside of our comfort zone and go for it, 9 times out of 10 we find out we can do it....Besides, it's kind of fun to go into the hardware store and see the looks on the guys' faces when they figure out I know what I'm talking about....

Catherine

Dear lord, how true is that? My fiance wants me to cut his hair tonight. O_O I'm crapping my pants but he says he has total faith in me...I hope it's not misplaced!

And I also agree - Lorna do what works for you. For me, the hanging bark was a better option than the wooden baskets because I'd have to order the baskets or make my own, and the shipping or materials cost and time while being in college, working all day, and trying to plan a wedding just wasn't worth it, lol! I just went to Petsmart and spent like 10 minutes zip tying my dudes and was done with it. But that's me, so if you like the basket idea, definitely do that!!! Plus they look cool.

[lornaheath]

Now that's wot I'm talkin about!! YES!!!!

I loves that look. That is Ace My Friend.

You all know these Pots that I sell here in the UK only?

Well I know that at the end of this month they are bringing out a smaller version which I am dying to get my hands on for my seedlings.

But, betterer than that, they are also launching a Hanging Basket of some description. I haven't seen them and I know nothing about them yet. Not even how soon. I might try and hold out for one of my own. Might as well show them off if I'm going to be selling them mightn't I?

I'm not doing a sales pitch to you guys cos you're not in the UK. Simply just thinking out loud. I just messaged the guy to see how soon. Don't know if he'll tell me tho.

Lorna
x x x

[catherinecarney]

"Tim the Tool Man Taylor with boobs"--Hmmm, I kind of like that. Of course, I'm smarter and better looking (lol)....

Seriously, I think that most women can do all the stuff that I do if they want to do it--I just happen to have a farm and I'm the only adult in the household, so I HAVE to be able to fix fence, cut boards, clean gutters, shear sheep, and so on.

One thing that I'm finding as I get sucked into these "specialty" hobbies (I'm also a hard core aquarist specializing in killifish, goodeids, and other oddball livebearers) is how quickly we learn how to make the specialized equipment that goes with our obsession. For the fish it is everything from drilling tanks to customized tank backgrounds to filters and water change systems. For the orchids it's mounts and hangers, and ultimately a custom vivarium (built by moi with all my toys, of course). Yes, I could hire this sort of work done, or buy equipment, but that gets pricey fast and cuts into my fish/plant purchase money. And it's kind of fun to figure out how to make things....

Catherine

[butterfly_muse]

Originally Posted by catherinecarney

"Tim the Tool Man Taylor with boobs"--Hmmm, I kind of like that. Of course, I'm smarter and better looking (lol)....

Seriously, I think that most women can do all the stuff that I do if they want to do it--I just happen to have a farm and I'm the only adult in the household, so I HAVE to be able to fix fence, cut boards, clean gutters, shear sheep, and so on.

One thing that I'm finding as I get sucked into these "specialty" hobbies (I'm also a hard core aquarist specializing in killifish, goodeids, and other oddball livebearers) is how quickly we learn how to make the specialized equipment that goes with our obsession. For the fish it is everything from drilling tanks to customized tank backgrounds to filters and water change systems. For the orchids it's mounts and hangers, and ultimately a custom vivarium (built by moi with all my toys, of course). Yes, I could hire this sort of work done, or buy equipment, but that gets pricey fast and cuts into my fish/plant purchase money. And it's kind of fun to figure out how to make things....

Catherine

Ohmygosh, my fiance is an engineer - of the software variety - but he loves to tinker. Most recently he wanted to build an aeroponics set up so I could grow bell peppers and herbs inside (our new place doesn't have a patio =( Our old one had a huge one and I was super bummed by that) - and now he's interested in seeing if he can do an aeroponics setup for 'chids since I like them so much. I'm saving one of my minis for him to use as his guinea pig ($1 special on clearance at Lowes! xD)....

The point is that he has been making the setup himself with a raspberry pi computer I got him and some tupperware containers from Walmart and stuff from Ace Hardware. And he has been teaching me how to do all of the things that he has been doing, and now we brainstorm projects together.

His next one he wants to make is a CNC machine. I'm not sure how I feel about that. We don't really have anywhere to put one, but he's like "It would be so cool though!!!" Okay, babe.

My dad also taught me how to re-shingle a roof as a kid and nail up fence boards and rebuild a motor (he liked cars......a lot) and change my own oil and tires...and I also had horses so I can't shear sheep but I can clip horses damn well.

High five for awesome girls!