Question about maintaining mounted orchid

[gngrhill]

I recently received my first mounted orchid, (thank you, Judith) . The roots have Old SM under them and new SM over the top of them. Plant is doing very well, but I wonder if the old moss underneath will need to be changed and if so, how does one accomplish that feat ? I know in potting, media has to be renewed every year or two. I don't know how you would do that with a mounted one. It is on a cedar slab. All advice on the matter will be welcome. thanks

[theloyalplum]

Disclaimer: I'm no expert. It may not be the best way of doing it, but I wet my old SM on my mount and then removed it as it was decaying rapidly. I then let it dry a bit and wrapped a new layer of SM on top and tied it with dental floss. The wood mount itself was doing fine, but the SM was holding too much water for too long, so I thought it would be best just to replace it. No roots were harmed in the process and now my plant's nice and happy!

[judith_arquette]

Hi The "old" sphag under the "new" is only a couple months older.. it just looks so different because I water with a kelp additive which has turned all my sphag a darker, greenish/grey color (The poor thing had zero roots before I mounted it and started using kelp, because I murdered them thoroughly-I can't say enough about kelp... it has regrown marvelous root systems on all my chids). Because I added the "new" right before boxing it up it didn't get a chance to get discolored but I promise, even though it looks much different, the sphag underneath isn't much older than the stuff added on top

[gngrhill]

Originally Posted by judith_arquette

Hi The "old" sphag under the "new" is only a couple months older.. it just looks so different because I water with a kelp additive which has turned all my sphag a darker, greenish/grey color (The poor thing had zero roots before I mounted it and started using kelp, because I murdered them thoroughly-I can't say enough about kelp... it has regrown marvelous root systems on all my chids). Because I added the "new" right before boxing it up it didn't get a chance to get discolored but I promise, even though it looks much different, the sphag underneath isn't much older than the stuff added on top

Thanks, Judith. I will let it go then. I should have just PMed you first

[judith_arquette]

Np, I'll need to know about changing the sphag too...this is all new to me as well It's my understanding that it lasts about a year... but I'm wrong about a whole lotta things that I "think" I understand I'll be looking forward to what people with some experience have to say

[cbuchman]

I have found it necessary to remove old SM from mounts. Some orchids, want it all removed, once they are established, but others need the extra moisture that SM provides - it will depend on your conditions.

When I remove, i met it thoroughly to soften the moss and then remove it with tweezers. This also give me an opportunity to see if the roots have attached to the mount which is the objective .

If I replace, I just wand some some SM around the roots and keep it there with fishing line, just like Theloyalplum does.

My environment is quite dry in the winter, So for some of my mounts I will add SM just for the winter months. I have heard of growing V. falcata in the summer with no media and then using SM for the winter when the humidity is so low!

[gngrhill]

Thanks Carrie and Loyalplum. Useful info

[judith_arquette]

I must make a correction to my post above as I realize now that it was not entirely correct...the "old" sphag is NOT the same as the new, top layer. The more I thought about it and looked at mine here I remembered that before I ordered the good stuff from Ray, I had sent my husband to Home Depot and he bought a bag of sphag from there. It was poor quality and full of grass and chaff that I sorted through as best as I could. I had forgotten that I used that to mount those Catts before becoming thoroughly disgusted with the poor quality of it and placing an order for the good stuff to finish mounting the rest. I'm sorry for the misinformation and it might not be a bad idea to get rid of as much of it as you can because it was pretty nasty...

[gngrhill]

Originally Posted by judith_arquette

I must make a correction to my post above as I realize now that it was not entirely correct...the "old" sphag is NOT the same as the new, top layer. The more I thought about it and looked at mine here I remembered that before I ordered the good stuff from Ray, I had sent my husband to Home Depot and he bought a bag of sphag from there. It was poor quality and full of grass and chaff that I sorted through as best as I could. I had forgotten that I used that to mount those Catts before becoming thoroughly disgusted with the poor quality of it and placing an order for the good stuff to finish mounting the rest. I'm sorry for the misinformation and it might not be a bad idea to get rid of as much of it as you can because it was pretty nasty...

I'll check it out and make adjustments as needed, thanks

[judith_arquette]

Yup. Again, sorry, the old brain doesn't work as well as it used to