Crepe Myrtle

[chameleon]

I recently cut down a few branches off of a crepe myrtle in hopes to do a few mounts...does anyone know how long it takes before its seasoned? Or until it is usable? Thanks in advance

[Baz in Oz]

I assume you are talking about the branch with the bark still on?
I have not tried growing anything on crepe myrtle but to my understanding anything is OK as is with no ageing necessary.
If my memory served me right, crepe myrtle has a very smooth bark which isn't the best option for orchids. My preference is 'rougher is better'.

Baz

[CTB]

Welcome to the Orchid Board, my local nursery had a mounting class and said to choose to roughest surface, to give roots something to grab on to quick.
I've seen roots attached to smooth but it seems to take so long. Maybe you could rough it up some.

[chameleon]

Thanks...I really appreciate all the imput, its helped me out alot in deciding if i want to use it or not.

[gnathaniel]

Actually, crape myrtle, smooth or no, works very well as a mount. A great Cattleya breeder near my neck of the woods puts all of their mounted plants on this or red cedar and I haven't seen any problems with it. I wouldn't use it for moisture-lovers without a generous sphag pad, but then I don't often use wood or cork at all for moisture-lovers because I don't want to water multiple times a day. Roots of xeric-leaning epiphytes attach to crape myrtle very readily in my experience. YMMV, of course...

For new mounts, I've used crape myrtle freshly-cut with no problems. Usually I end up using it weathered because I have a big pile of it in my yard (I scavenge it when my unwise neighbors butcher, er, 'prune' their trees each year), and it works fine that way, too. The bark is bound very firmly to the wood and doesn't rot or separate without seemingly years of heavy weathering. It's also a very pretty wood, IMHO; large crotch pieces with specimen orchids on them look spectacular! What are you planning to mount on it?

--Nat