MOUNTED OR POTTED?

[Ej Isnani]

This is a general question for everybody. Anyone can express their personal opinions or suggestions or anything you want to add.

So which do you prefer or like, mounted or potted orchids? What are their pros and cons?

[Paul]

Like the look of or like to have my plants that way? .... It really is two very different questions. Makes voting on that poll rather impossible to do accurately.

I love the look of mounted plants. However, in my growing conditions, I really can't do any mounted plants except for the micro-minis in my terrariums. I am an apt dweller in a temperate climate. This means that unlike someone such as yourself who lives in a tropical climate, I cannot grow my plants outdoors year-round. There is only so much room for hanging plants indoors whereas potted plants can be put on shelves. Additionally, there is the issue of humidity. In a tropical climate, one can generally count on having mid to high humidity year-round. However, in my apt, my winter RH is generally around 10-15% ... and that is for 5months or so out of the year. Under such conditions, mounted plants dry out far too fast necessitating watering multiple times per day and watering is difficult to do without getting the floor/carpet all wet.

[estación seca]

Plants on mounts, or growing bare-root such as Vanda relatives, need watering much more frequently. For many people it comes down to a question of time. School, family or work create time pressure for many orchid growers.

[Dollythehun]

I regret every plant I mounted for all the above reasons.

[Mountaineer370]

I have a tremendous appreciation for the work that goes into keeping mounted orchids, but it would be absolutely impossible for me to do in my home, in my growing conditions, so any orchid I ever own will be potted.

[Roberta]

This isn't an "either-or" question... it depends. Some orchids really need to be mounted or in open baskets with minimal media to be happy. Those, if a person can't maintain the watering/humidity required, then they are advised to pick other types of the thousands of possibilities. Other orchids can be happy either way, with adjustments to media, watering, etc. Then the preference would have to be "whatever works best" There are so many variables, it's a question that doesn't have a binary answer. Needs to have the additional qualifiers "which orchids?" and "under what conditions?"

[bil]

Mounted, because they look good, and free up lots of bench space.

I don't dispute there are problems, but I like problem solving.

[malteseproverb]

to be honest, if i could i would probably mount them all! i live in a temperate climate, but i find that overwatering occurs more often for me in the winter than the summer, not the other way around. i humidify my grow space to 50-70% RH (this is partially for myself, as i hate dry air too), but it is so dark and chilly (gets down to 59F in that room) that i really have to watch my watering. even when i don't have the humidifier going and the RH is around 30%, i find that cattleyas in large bark and terra cotta planters can remain a bit moist in the center after a week. this hasn't been a problem in that none of my plants have died or seemingly suffered, but i like the security of a mounted plant: you always know when it's dry or not.

however, i do have to water the mounted ones mostly every day, and that means picking them up from where they're hanging (i use a clothes rack), bringing them to the shower, watering them with the shower head (inevitably i get wet), and walk the (dripping) plants back to their rack. i do this every morning when i wake up. i only have 10 mounted plants at this time so it's feasible. in the summer it's so much easier; i just go out to the garden and hose them down before i leave to work and when i come back. if only i could have a sunroom with a tiled draining floor! if i did i would have most of my collection mounted.

but going on vacation, or running late for work, this duty becomes very annoying.

and there are some, like, oncidium types, that i would never mount as they seem to enjoy being wet (though i do have a mounted bulbo, which is very happy mounted).

this winter i experimented with a cattleya. i left it in a pot with several holes and no media. it's been doing very well this year. in the summer i have a problem not watering enough though, even the cattleyas, so i might drop some bark in there. not sure yet. but i think that this is an option that some people should look into: empty or mostly planters.

[WaterWitchin]

I'm also in a zone with fairly big climate swings. I have had about a third of my orchids mounted for several years, and am slowly moving almost all back to non-mounted.

I love the look, but not the labor it involves because of low humidity, etc. My orchids are kept in the basement for a good five months each year under lights. I have an automatic mister on them, with R/O water, and water drains to a floor drain.

I used to have them all in my sun room in the winter, but found I couldn't provide enough humidity and water for them without damaging the floors, walls, etc, in the room. When they were potted, it was easy and they received natural light, no extra heat.

The other issue I recently discovered... I had a fairly large specimen orchid mounted. By the time I realized it was completely infested with scale, it was impossible to treat without ripping it from the mount. It was a sad moment, but also a learning lesson. I will try to find a picture and post it.

The scale started in a deep crevasse or pocket of the wood, and by the time it had gotten up onto plant itself, the whole bottom and roots that were in the crevasse were totally infected.

[estación seca]

You can submerge a plant infested with scale in water with a tiny amount of detergent added. It drowns the scale and their eggs. An entomologist friend told me ten minutes should suffice, but I have done it for 6-12 hours. I routinely do this with cactus and other succulents that arrive with scale and mealybugs.