Subtrate size?

[Singingcrow]

Hello!

I have been looking and looking for and answer to this but haven't found what I'm looking for, so I hope you can help me, and if there is a thread on this and I was blind, please forgive me for the repeat.

What I want to do is mount my phal noid to a chunk o wood that fell out of a tree onto my balcony in the summer. However, I'm not sure if it is big enough in diameter. I know I'm supposed to think about how big the plant will grow, but that's a problem, because this is my first phal and I don't know how big they can get! Is there a special formula like there is with potting, i.e. so many inches larger than the root system???

Please help! I'm on the verge of buying another phal and I think I have to get this one in order before I do. But I don't know how long I can control myself!!!

[Bird Song Farm]

Hi,
How large is the plant you want to mount?
Measure leafs from tip to tip.........
That will help determine the size of mount you need to start with.
AL

[Erce]

Originally Posted by Singingcrow

Hello!

I have been looking and looking for and answer to this but haven't found what I'm looking for, so I hope you can help me, and if there is a thread on this and I was blind, please forgive me for the repeat.

What I want to do is mount my phal noid to a chunk o wood that fell out of a tree onto my balcony in the summer. However, I'm not sure if it is big enough in diameter. I know I'm supposed to think about how big the plant will grow, but that's a problem, because this is my first phal and I don't know how big they can get! Is there a special formula like there is with potting, i.e. so many inches larger than the root system???

Please help! I'm on the verge of buying another phal and I think I have to get this one in order before I do. But I don't know how long I can control myself!!!

There like a billion diffrent noids out there - i have a really small noid and a very big one - so it depens of your noid´s size, sorry i know i dont help - but maybee you cold use epiweb - when the vlap you have your chid on get to small you just add a other slab - so it gets bigger.

i have a medium noid phal and its slab are about 20*35cm and there are some space for more roots.

maybee a pic of your noid, or if you have - a noid name will help

take care

[Erce]

al vere faster them me

and i think you should go and by the other chid to - you know, one orchid a day, keeps the doctor away

[Singingcrow]

Well, if I understood you correctly, 8" from one leaf tip to the other. The largest leaf is 7" long from crown to tip. I don't want to use anything synthetic, for various reasons, so wood is what I'll use regardless if it's the gift from above or another one.

Thanks for your help!

And Erce, thanks for helping me with my will power!!! The one I spotted was a very young (4" across) pale apple / lime coulour, and they have others without blooms that look like they could use a home. All had tons of happy roots. At $11.00 CAD I could potentially get more than one....

[Bird Song Farm]

Originally Posted by Singingcrow

Well, if I understood you correctly, 8" from one leaf tip to the other. The largest leaf is 7" long from crown to tip. I don't want to use anything synthetic, for various reasons, so wood is what I'll use regardless if it's the gift from above or another one.

Thanks for your help!

And Erce, thanks for helping me with my will power!!! The one I spotted was a very young (4" across) pale apple / lime coulour, and they have others without blooms that look like they could use a home. All had tons of happy roots. At $11.00 CAD I could potentially get more than one....

Hi,
O.K., this is what I would do, you have to find a way to do it YOUR way.
I'd mount the plant on a piece of cork (or some other suitable material) about 12" x 12". Place the plant about 1/3 the way up from the bottom of the cork. Giving plenty of room for the roots to grow up as they naturally do. When the time comes to move it up to a larger mount, just put the plant, mount and all, on a larger piece of cork.
Or you might choose a nice piece of drift wood, make it quite large and you might not have to move the plant to something else for years.
Hope this helps, and perhaps some other members will chime in with ideas.

Al

[Undergrounder]

Are you planning on growing it in a green-house? because mounted Phals generally need lots of water and decent humidity. Just checking.

And don't forget to mount it "upside-down"! With the roots pointing towards the sky and the leaves hanging down towards the ground.

[Singingcrow]

Originally Posted by Bird Song Farm

Hi,
O.K., this is what I would do, you have to find a way to do it YOUR way.
I'd mount the plant on a piece of cork (or some other suitable material) about 12" x 12". Place the plant about 1/3 the way up from the bottom of the cork. Giving plenty of room for the roots to grow up as they naturally do. When the time comes to move it up to a larger mount, just put the plant, mount and all, on a larger piece of cork.
Or you might choose a nice piece of drift wood, make it quite large and you might not have to move the plant to something else for years.
Hope this helps, and perhaps some other members will chime in with ideas.

Al

Thank you. If I were to use drift would, what circumfrence would constitute as big enough, or "large", as you put it?

Originally Posted by Undergrounder

Are you planning on growing it in a green-house? because mounted Phals generally need lots of water and decent humidity. Just checking.

And don't forget to mount it "upside-down"! With the roots pointing towards the sky and the leaves hanging down towards the ground.

No green house, but Montreal isn't the driest city either given it's an island, but I have devised a watering system using an IV bag and multiple holes in the tubing. I think it's just a matter of figuring out the rhythm of the drip with a few dunks in between. And, yeah, the 'King of Orchids' has already told me about the more natural positioning. Thanks!!! Right now I'm hoping for a couple more roots (past root rot) before I go for it, but it shouldn't be long!