Home Made Mounts

[Brenda Aarts]

Recently saw a great write up in the Orchid magazine which gave instructions on how to make mounts out of plastic mesh material. Have since been on a roll and made probably 30 or so. Many of my plants seem to want to grow out of their pots, coelogynes, dendrobiums therefore have been good candidates for this experiment. I have also mounted some of my plants which appear to be stuggling a bit to see if they do better. The attached pictures show my first one, an lc that was not really healthy...and it has new growth already. I soak once every 2 days or so and mist every other. The mesh is filled with media, bark mix, spag, whatever I fell appropriate, plant is tied on with spag covering the roots on the outside of the form. They are easy to hang with s hooks. I have made a small wall out of the same plastic mesh on a shelving unit which houses 6 or 7 of the bigger mounts. Neat alternative to wood or cork, thought I would share for those who haven't seen it.

[Daethen]

Looking good!!

[FairyInTheFlowers]

Very cool!

[Otis226]

Yep, a great idea. I bought a roll of this mesh at HD about 6 months ago, and being the procrastinator that I am, have only made one modified 'vanda basket' with it so far, but I'm working on it
Yours is looking good.
Cheers,
Tony

[Wjs2nd]

Very cool, my only question is what happens when/if the medium breaks down? It looks great for keeping orchids moist and humid without being wet.

[Brenda Aarts]

Yes, good question WJ. My thinking is that some of the roots will likely spread along the mesh on the outside, and some will sneak in depending on the type of plant. The whole top of the mount is open though and it should be easy enough to dump/pull out most of the old media and replace as required...guess I'll know for sure in a year or 2.

[Wjs2nd]

Yeah, I was also thinking about it and figure it makes sense that some of the broken down medium will just fall threw the mesh.

[tucker85]

I read that article in Orchid magazine also. I thought it was a great idea. I'm glad to see someone is giving it a try. I grow many orchids in net pots and I can tell you that if you need to remove the orchid from the mount you can cut the plastic mesh with a scissors and leave the roots intact. Any mesh I can't remove, I just leave it in place and repot or remount the orchid.

[Brenda Aarts]

Plants seem to be really liking these mounts. The first one I did has several new roots and it was one of those plants that never really did much. Good suggestion about cutting the mesh if so required Tucker. It will also be easy to add on a piece of mesh at the top or bottom should it be necessary.

[Bud]

This is a fantastic idea. I am taking notes when I will need to repot my vandas in a couple of years