Older plants which outgorw their mounts

[Maryanne]

Hi Folks:
Look, I'm back already.
My dilemma is what to do with older plants which have been on their mounts for years and out grow them.

Specifically, my beloved, hard working Laelia anceps is now completely (360 degrees) covering its mount (oak, about 14 inches long - OK, I'm not getting sympathy, I know : -) However, it is now growing upon itself, and the growths are becoming smaller and have smaller spikes.

I considered cutting the mount in half lengthwise (or cross wise, but that means cutting right through the plant : -( dangerous.

I've had a few other mounted plants where I could just wire the older small mount to a larger piece of wood, but in this particular case it would not work.

I'd like suggestions from you very experienced growers, (Roberta?) on how to handle this. Please please!

I appreciate your input! Thanks very much,
Maryanne in WMass

[Roberta]

Photo? That would help to identify where "surgery" might be least damaging. Also, are any parts of the mounts rotted? Any spots like that might be easiest to "disaggregate". I just dealt with an overgrown L. anceps where the mount was starting to disintegrate, and the good parts of the plant turned out to be fairly easy to part from wood that had softened. And this is probably a good time of year (maybe a little late, but still likely to be OK) because active rooting is probably happening.