Self-Contained Living Air Purifier / Orchid Mount

[Ray]

A friend is a breeder of parrots, and always gripes about air quality and low humidity. After a bit of reading about "biowalls" (an area into which I am selling a lot of EcoWeb), it appears that mycorrhizal fungi living in plant roots are effective at capturing and consuming volatile organic compounds.

I built a prototype that has a sump containing a pump and heater, an EcoWeb growing panel, and a fan in the top to draw air through the panel and root systems of the plants.



It seems to me that this could be a nice self-sustaining "mount" for orchids, as well, so that may be the next one, but I probably won't have the fan drawing air through the growing panel, and will run the pump periodically via a timer, rather than continuously.

If interested, you can read more about this HERE.

I have found a local company that can fabricate the "working part" (without the wooden cabinet) for me from black polyethylene (the prototype is Plexiglass and was way too expensive), but before I put that in motion, I thought I'd bounce the idea off of you folks for feedback.

[johnblagg]

That is great Ray .....I myself would like some of the EcoWeb what size do you carry it in?

Really nice work there

[Ray]

EcoWeb is available in 20" x 24" panels and 45" x 57" sheets. Either can be cut to size upon request.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

This is going to sound weird, but this looks very similar to what someone did in regards to growing a species of Disa.

Specifically Disa longicornu. This species often grows on vertical cliffs near waterfalls and can be seen hanging on rock faces in seepage areas and drip zones.

Might work with Disa uniflora, which is often found on cliff faces smack next to waterfalls.

I'm not familiar with how something like this would do with other species of orchids. Maybe it'd work for Phragmipedium spp. since some of them, like Phrag besseae, are lithophytes that grow in seepage areas.

It may work for Lepanthes spp. or Lepanthopsis spp. Don't know.

Probably Phalaenopsis spp. would work and Papilionanthe spp. too.

[slipperfreak]

This is very intriguing. Something I might like to try some day.

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

I'm not familiar with how something like this would do with other species of orchids. Maybe it'd work for Phragmipedium spp. since some of them, like Phrag besseae, are lithophytes that grow in seepage areas.

The literature states that attempts to mount slippers of any kind usually result in failure, despite the fact that many are indeed lithophytes. I have never seen or heard of a slipper successfully mounted, but if anyone here has one, share it with us!

I think this set-up would probably work best for epiphytes.

[harrywitmore]

Ray, I have seen this done many times. I even know someone that supposedly patented a design. But they are all way to expensive for the common hobbyist. So, if you can do it for a modest price then you may have something. I want to do something similar in a room I built that has a 14'x6' wall. Ecoweb is a bit expensive for something that large.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by slipperfreak

This is very intriguing. Something I might like to try some day.

The literature states that attempts to mount slippers of any kind usually result in failure, despite the fact that many are indeed lithophytes. I have never seen or heard of a slipper successfully mounted, but if anyone here has one, share it with us!

I think this set-up would probably work best for epiphytes.

This is very interesting to know!

I didn't know there was literature on slipper orchids being mounted.

What I'm referring to is not a dry mount. It is a continuously wet mount. I'm not sure what kind of mount the literature is referring to since I've not read any of it.

Is there a way to find out?

Drip zones are very, very wet. There is constant dripping of quite a bit of water. They're usually covered by a thin veneer of moss. Not to mention, they're usually around waterfalls.

This has been done for Disa longicornu and apparently Disa maculata as well. As some of us know, Disas grow very wet so Phrags can't be too far off. They can't be put on a dry mount at all.

This is what I mean:

Eric Harley | www.disas.com

[slipperfreak]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

This is very interesting to know!

I didn't know there was literature on slipper orchids being mounted.

What I'm referring to is not a dry mount. It is a continuously wet mount. I'm not sure what kind of mount the literature is referring to since I've not read any of it.

Is there a way to find out?

Drip zones are very, very wet. There is constant dripping of quite a bit of water. They're usually covered by a thin veneer of moss. Not to mention, they're usually around waterfalls.

This has been done for Disa longicornu and apparently Disa maculata as well. As some of us know, Disas grow very wet so Phrags can't be too far off. They can't be put on a dry mount at all.

This is what I mean:

Eric Harley | www.disas.com

There isn't literature on slipper orchids being mounted, but there is literature on slipper orchid culture that mentions mounting. Koopowitz (2008) states: "Irrespective of their wild nature, most slippers do well in pots but are difficult subjects to grow mounted. In fact, the latter is not recommended."

I understand the way this apparatus works; I am also fully aware of the plants' natural habitats. This particular reference never specifies whether "wet" or "dry" mounts are in question. All of the literature on slipper orchids that I have read either dismisses mounting or fails to mention it altogether. Mounting slippers is not a common practice, and I suspect there is a good reason for that.

"Continuously wet" is not necessarily a good thing. The fact that this unit uses a sort of fan to aerate the root zone is somewhat reassuring, but I am still not convinced that it would work for Phrags. It would obviously work better than a conventional dry mount. In this case, it may be less of a moisture issue (although I'm still skeptical about it even in this area) and more of a physical issue - most Phrags get quite large with age. How big of a unit would you have to have to support the plants? How well would the plants root on it, and ultimately would it be more practical to have a unit like this for Phrags, or would it be easier simply to grow them in pots in S/H? I guess only experimentation will answer these questions.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by slipperfreak

There isn't literature on slipper orchids being mounted, but there is literature on slipper orchid culture that mentions mounting. Koopowitz (2008) states: "Irrespective of their wild nature, most slippers do well in pots but are difficult subjects to grow mounted. In fact, the latter is not recommended."

I understand the way this apparatus works; I am also fully aware of the plants' natural habitats. This particular reference never specifies whether "wet" or "dry" mounts are in question. All of the literature on slipper orchids that I have read either dismisses mounting or fails to mention it altogether. Mounting slippers is not a common practice, and I suspect there is a good reason for that.

"Continuously wet" is not necessarily a good thing. The fact that this unit uses a sort of fan to aerate the root zone is somewhat reassuring, but I am still not convinced that it would work for Phrags. It would obviously work better than a conventional dry mount. In this case, it may be less of a moisture issue (although I'm still skeptical about it even in this area) and more of a physical issue - most Phrags get quite large with age. How big of a unit would you have to have to support the plants? How well would the plants root on it, and ultimately would it be more practical to have a unit like this for Phrags, or would it be easier simply to grow them in pots in S/H? I guess only experimentation will answer these questions.

Cool, cool.

I'm not 100% sure myself. I just threw Phrags out as a possibility for this kind of mount.

I follow you on the size matter, and I didn't take that into consideration.

I don't want to put words into Ray's mouth. But from what I gathered, it seemed like a two-for kinda idea.

growing orchids on a specialized mount + plant mycorrhizae as a natural air purifier = possible good business venture and fun product idea

But now that I think about it...

Unless the orchid is collected fresh from the wild and brought in in pristine condition (relatively speaking), or if they were raised via the symbiotic in-vitro method, orchids would usually not have mycorrhizae present.

In this respect, I don't know if the same air purifying principle would work.

In the case of orchids, the air purification principle may be with what cohabits the same micro-niche they come from, and with the orchids themselves.

For example, lichens, moss, or cyanobacteria. As insignificant as these organisms seem, they are actually some of the world's best bioremediators (bioremediator = biological organism that acts as clean up crew, air purifier, or recycler) - particularly cyanobacteria (the world's first oxygen producer and the most powerful).

[cb977]

This thread might be of interest here:
MOUNTED PAPH. & VENDORS"