Rosemary wood for mounts + tips on keeping mounted orchids in a home

[Leo H.]

Hello,

First of all: Happy Easter to all of you who celebrate

This year brought unusually harsh freezes and sadly, our big old rosemary bush did not make it. It was cut down a few days ago and I reserved the trunk section because it looked so nice and has a great texture. Can anybody confirm that it is orchid-safe?
I would like to mount different small to medium-sized warm to temperate growing Angraeciinae. This brings me to my next problem: I want to keep them in (?) my southwestern exposure window where they get blasted with (filtered) sun from March to October. It has very specific humidity and temperature conditions that I tracked with a Sensorpush since 2018. They are the following:

March-May
Night: 45% Humidity, 17-20 degrees C
Day: 30% Humidity, 23-30 degrees C

June (when there are a lot of thunderstorms)
Night: 60% Humidity, 21-22 degrees C
Day: 50% Humidity, 26-30 degrees C

July to August:
Night: 65-70% Humidity, 21-25 degrees C (it is uncommon to have AC units in Germany)
Day: 40 % Humidity, 26-32 degrees C

September to November:
Night: 70% Humidity, 16-17 degrees C
Day: 45-50% Humidity, 21-23 degrees C

December to February:
Night: 55% Humidity, 15-16 degrees C
Day: 45% Humidity, 21-23 degrees C

As you can see, especially spring does not favour growing mounted orchids, while months like October or even June are more fovourable. I can confirm that. Right now, it is very hard to keep everything well-watered, even though I use rather big amounts of Sphagnum moss on my mounts. But with Angraeciinae, as far as I can tell, Sphagnum is not recommended around tge base. So, I am asking you which species are the most drought-tolerant ones. I would like to mount plants with greenish-white or white flowers that are maybe fragrant that like my temperature regime. I heard there are a lot of plants fitting those terms in the alliance .
And as a sidenote, I bought a Levoit humidifier, so all the values of humidity given should be above 50 when it arrives .

Kind regards,
Leo

[Roberta]

Temperatures look good for lots of things. The big concern is that mounted plants just do take more maintenance (watering) than potted ones. In warm weather, daily watering... maybe in winter, especially if growth slows down, every other day. Another very important factor is that it's critical that the plant that you're planning to mount is just starting to root. Only new roots will grab the mount. A lot of plants do that in the spring...

A problem with most of the Angraecinae... they tend to be high-humidity plants so you will be challenged to keep them wet enough. Consider something that is a bit more drought-tolerant, like Cattleya-tribe or Dendrobium.

[Leo H.]

Ok – you're probably right. Angraecoids are not suited, no matter how much I like them. So here are some of my thoughts:

I really like the big-flowered Sophronitis, but my temperatures seem to high for the ones I like (coccinea, brevipendunculata and mantiquairae).

Some Dendrobiums might be promising, but not the huge soft-cane ones since those would be hard to keep up with in summer plus they are simply too big. Maybe Den. aggregatum?

I like Encyclias, but they do not like me.

Zelenkoa onusta should be a good choice, but has the reputation of being fuzzy and rot-prone.

Tolumnias grow well for me potted, so I am hesitant to mount them.

Phal Section aphyllae - I think they are adorable, but there would be other problems with them in my environment like too much light.

Brassavolas will be too big for the mount.

Any other Ideas?

[fishmom]

Haraella retrocalla? Mine lives in a southwest window with a translucent curtain and has done well. Potted, not mounted, though.

[Roberta]

Haraella is a great little plant. More room on that mount though... actually Zelekoa onusta might be a good one... it really wants to be on the dry side. (grows on cactus in nature) so that one, if you skip a day or two of watering it won't care. No moss, for sure... very aggressive roots on a bare surface. Temperatures should be fine.

[Ray]

I'd question the applicability of rosemary as a mount. The herb is quite pungent, thanks to its resins, so I wonder if they'd be harmful to anything mounted on it.

[estación seca]

Without a terrarium most mounted orchids are unlikely to succeed in a home that needs to be heated in winter. Even with frequent watering the low humidity will rapidly kill the roots, and the leaves will die very quickly. I suggest you not even try this. Take the rosemary to a woodworker who can make a jewelry box out of it.

[Leafmite]

Maybe some miniatures in the Cattleya family...Soph cernua, Laelia pumilia....

Some other orchids that may fare well mounted in the home are:
Angraecum leonis, Schoenorchis scolopendria, Schoenorchis fragrans, Leptotes bicolor, Den. Lichenastrum/prenticei. I usually water these with a spray bottle.

You could also add a few air plants for fun, too.
These orchids should fare quite well in lower humidity if they are watered each time until the roots turn green. If the roots do not turn green quickly, they need to be watered more often (after soaking until the roots turn green). If you cannot water often, putting a water retentive substance under the roots might give them a little more time to absorb water.

Good luck!

[Dollythehun]

Well, I confess: I hate mounted orchids! I can't remember to water every day. I have B. Little Stars mounted and it has thrived in my erratic care. I suggest that.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

Well, I confess: I hate mounted orchids! I can't remember to water every day. I have B. Little Stars mounted and it has thrived in my erratic care. I suggest that.

But mounted orchids are the easiest for which you can automate the watering so you don’t have to remember!