I Did A Thing.... Experimental Mount. Den. hekouense

[Stevie_White]

So... I want to try something with mounts, and I'm playing with my new Den. hekouense for this experiment. It has a lot of new growths pushing on, and I can see new roots starting in a few places.

I'm using a bird feeder for this experiment. Specifically a suet bird feeder. I strapped the little Dendrobium to the feeder with some fishing line, and fed the roots through into the feeder, then wrapped synthic around the feeder. Once that was done, I filled it with lava rock, closed it, and zip-tied it shut.

We're going to see what happens. I do wish I had gotten a larger grade of lava rock. I knew I would use the synthic to prevent it from falling out the sides, but it's so small that it can fall out the back as well. So, I had to cover that with synthic, too. It was a very fiddley job to do, but I think it will be interesting to see how well it works. It should dry out fairly quickly, and the roots should be able to grab onto the rock really well.

Praying for something good!

[Ray]

Suet feeders are handy for mounting.

Over the years I have stuffed them with sphagnum EcoWeb (Epiweb), or added a finer mesh and used LECA. They all worked, but the sphagnum was my least favorite, as it decomposed and compressed.

[WaterWitchin]

I've also used suet feeders for a mount. They make a quick and easy mount. It does tend to irritate the chickadees and tufted titmice.

[Roberta]

That is one gorgeous husky plant!

[Stevie_White]

Originally Posted by Ray

Over the years I have stuffed them with sphagnum EcoWeb (Epiweb), or added a finer mesh and used LECA. They all worked, but the sphagnum was my least favorite, as it decomposed and compressed.

Adding a finer mesh is a good idea. I could probably get away with the smaller lava rock, then. Thanks!

What are your thoughts on the materials I used (synthic and lava rock), do you think it may work, or should I use something else?

[Keysguy]

I have a question and please don't take it as being negative or critical. I love to experiment like this as well but that looks like a lot of work and when I do an experiment it's because other tried and true approaches haven't worked for me on any given plant.

Why are you doing it this way? I am truly intrigued and curious what you hope this invention might accomplish for you vs other growing methods.

[Stevie_White]

Originally Posted by Keysguy

Why are you doing it this way? I am truly intrigued and curious what you hope this invention might accomplish for you vs other growing methods.

I don't take offense at all; it's a valid question.

My primary reason is to get an inorganic mount. This way, in theory, I'll never have to rip the plant off the mount thereby damaging the roots and setting it back.

In addition, this type of mount can grow with the plant. As this plant, or any other, expands, I can prep a new mount and zip-tie it to the current one to expand the mount. Again, no ripping the plant off because it's too big for its mount, or because it's growing off the mount. The mount can grow where the plant needs it.

Plus, say I've got a Cattleya on a mount like this; it's grown across the mount, and I've added a second one that it's firmly attached to. What if I want to take the old part of the plant off? This type of mount makes it easy. cut the zip ties attaching the mounts, cut the rhizome, and cut any roots that have grown between the two mounts. You're done. With minimal disturbance to either part of the plant.

This is my first attempt so I'm just feeling out a method right now. If it works, I will fine-tune it over time to be more efficient (adding a mesh instead of lacing the synthic, for example). Right now, I'm just feeling it out with a plant that tends to cover a lot of area fairly quickly with its growth habit.

Does this make sense? I'm not always the best at explaining things.

[Keysguy]

Fair enough. It does make sense. Just sounds like a lot of work which is fine if you have a smaller collection.

FWIW- I haven't gone inorganic yet. I grow in a very harsh, salt rich, bright light environment that would eat that suet feeder in 2 years or less. I have settled on cedar shingles for most of my mounted plants. They last at least 10 years (so far) and it's easy to expand the mount as the plant grows.

You soak the plant good which makes the roots on the back side easy to detach and you just super glue it to a larger shingle. Within a couple days the roots that were on the backside have re-attached themselves to the front of the new, larger shingle. Has been working great for me.

Also, for cattleyas I have been making shallow cedar hanging baskets which are also working well for me. By shallow I mean maybe 1" deep. Slightly deeper (1 layer of cedar) than what would be considered a plaque I believe. Somewhere in these forums is a thread I did on that project a year or so ago.

This hobby has all kinds of fun avenues to pursue, doesn't it?