How to repot large overgrown climbing Oncidium type

[bil]

I have had to do some pruning this year, and so I use that to harvest orchid mounts so that I have a decent supply to choose from.

Here's what I have stored. There's also a couple of home made Stanhopea baskets under construction. The large branch one by the step ladder is something like what I would use for your orchid with the aim of holding a good wad of moss in there.

[bil]

Looking back at the image, I see the bottom of your plant which was presumably in the pot, is brown and unhappy looking (to me) in contrast with the superb roots outside of the pot. This just screams to me

"I want to be on a mount"

[Dezzie]

Hi Bil, thanks so much for your great ideas and photos.

Im a big fan of creative ideas and also ones that dont cost much...my three daughters dont leave much left over for orchids or supplies, but they have inspired me to become rather crafty 😂
I have looked into mounting in the past, and was a little scared off by all the talk about having to bleach/heat/treat the wood, if not a purchased/sterile? type mount. Mounting the divisions like that is probably going to be the best solution, thanks, hopefully I will be able to keep it moist enough.

I had made baskets for my seedling sized vandas with guttergaurd mesh, filled with lava rock, as they where drying out to much. And now, with your photos and mention of making Stanhopea baskets...along with Optimist mentioning "train" it, like the espalier of the rose bush"....maybe I could make some kind or rock wall for the large undivided plant, with lava rock and gutter mesh..hmmmm

Thanks alot for the inspiration and thoughtful replies!
Also yes the plants look to have been left unattended at the back of someones garden for at least 5 years..the mix was completely broken down, they were desperate to be saved...especially for $6. The challenge and fun for me is to bring them back to health, not just blooms, they are a bonus
Perhaps in a decent mix they wouldnt have been so desperate to climb out of the pot?!

[No-Pro-mwa]

Hi Dezzie, I did post in your intro. I have 2 Onc. that are climbers that I got just about a year ago. I to am having a problem figuring out what I am going to do next with them. I do think if you can pull it off that mounting would be the best option. My climate is so dry I just don't want to try a mount.

Any way when I first got them home last year I cut off the old psb's and half covered the remaining back bulbs. The new growth is still climbing but for now it worked as they are both going to bloom soon. One is opening now.

It looks to me like bil said that the oldest stuff doesn't look so good so could you cut it off then perhaps the newer roots would be closer to the medium. I can't quiet tell in the pictures.

[estación seca]

You don't have to bleach/treat the wood. Just pick a harder wood that doesn't break down rapidly, and select something that's been dead outside for over a year. Leave the bark on.

Here, I've been using pieces of mesquite, which I cut several years ago. It has a rough bark and is a hard wood. It makes good furniture. The wood has been sitting outside waiting to be burned in the fireplace. I also have some large sections of Eucalyptus a friend cut down almost 20 years ago. They look like they were cut only last year.

I just got an O. sphacelatum from Ray. I may mount it and several other plants soon. I'll post photos. I may have taken a series of photos when I mounted a little piece of Tolumnia recently.

[bil]

Originally Posted by Dezzie

Hi Bil, thanks so much for your great ideas and photos.

Im a big fan of creative ideas and also ones that dont cost much...my three daughters dont leave much left over for orchids or supplies, but they have inspired me to become rather crafty 😂
I have looked into mounting in the past, and was a little scared off by all the talk about having to bleach/heat/treat the wood, if not a purchased/sterile? type mount. Mounting the divisions like that is probably going to be the best solution, thanks, hopefully I will be able to keep it moist enough.

I had made baskets for my seedling sized vandas with guttergaurd mesh, filled with lava rock, as they where drying out to much. And now, with your photos and mention of making Stanhopea baskets...along with Optimist mentioning "train" it, like the espalier of the rose bush"....maybe I could make some kind or rock wall for the large undivided plant, with lava rock and gutter mesh..hmmmm

Thanks alot for the inspiration and thoughtful replies!
Also yes the plants look to have been left unattended at the back of someones garden for at least 5 years..the mix was completely broken down, they were desperate to be saved...especially for $6. The challenge and fun for me is to bring them back to health, not just blooms, they are a bonus
Perhaps in a decent mix they wouldnt have been so desperate to climb out of the pot?!

I reckon it's a climber. As for treating the wood, why? Unless there was something wrong with it and then it would be better not to use it at all.
Here's what I do. There's a few orange trees that need pruning back, so I took this branch off. Then cut it into sections, with an eye to the base one being for this particular orchid. In the last pic it is ready to go.

[bil]

Here is the squalor I work in. Terrible isn't it.

Here I take some 4mm wire and bend it into shape round the grips. I drill a 4mm hole in the top branch and thread the wire thu, using the short arm to make a mark. Then I drill at that point, so that the second hole is parallel to the first, and push the short arm into the hole.

The grips (known as Grips of Destiny, because they hold well) are used to force it in for a snug fit. Put cloth on the other side or you will rip the bark off. Then bend the wire up and crimp it tight to the wood using the cloth and grips again.
Finally the wire is cut to a good length, and a hook made in the end by hammering it round a bar held in the vice.

[bil]

This is the gibbet that I hang the mounts from when working on them. You can easily make up something to do that hanging off a door or wall. The reel of braided fishing line hangs on the bottom.

The orchid is showing the first two sets of climbing roots. When it is in place on the mount the leaves are a bit close to the top, and what I do for that is the double ended wire rods. They can be made as long as you like, he ones holding the Stanhopeas are 80cm long. and make it very easy to hook onto the wire that is too high to reach. If I used chain, I would need a ladder every time I moved one.

[bil]

Here is a very good trick. Winding the thread round and holding the moss on is a pain. To start with, it is very easy to lose the short end, which you need to tie to the long end at the end. So, tie a little way in, where the finger is pointing, then wind the short end onto the twig, and hold it there with tape, or in this case a bit of wire twist.
If you don't, the danger is that as you sweep the line round the mount each time, you will pick up that short end and lose it. This results in a savage rise in blood pressure.

If you have a small clamp, yu can clip it to the thread to hold it from slipping back if you need to leave it for a minute. As the thread will cut the roots, I just put moss on top of them so that the thread doesn't cut it.

Altho the braid is strong, don't wrench the knot tight. Knots are always the weakest point, and while if you tried to snap the braid with your bare hards, it would cut you to the bone, jerking on the knot will snap it.

Braid has a supreme advantage. Normal knots slip. Tying to the branch is difficult to do with normal line, but if you do one granny on top of another, instead of locking, it will tighten up like a slip knot. You then do a granny with three turns instead of the normal one, and that locks it solid.

[bil]

Here is the final product hung in the shade house. The yellow label is tied to the metal hook, and it is hung on a short extension to keep the leaves away from the roof.

The third pic is of another orchid, a Cattleya, that has been on the mount two months max, and if you look, you can see vigorous root growth running up the wood.

Anyway, hope this helps. From tree to shade house was about an hour, and I got another 4 smaller mounts, half a bucket of kindling and a small log out of it.

When the mount is hanging on the gibbet, I like the moss sitting underneath it to catch any bits that drop. Also if you do use braid, you can only cut it with specialist scissors or a sharp knife.