How much humidity for mounts?

[Ordphien]

I'm an at home windowsill grower.
And for aesthetics and practicality I would love to mount some orchids...
My room ranges in between the high and low ends of 40 - 60 % humidity... in summer temps range from 80 to 95 sometimes into the triple digits but not often.
Is this acceptable for mounting? And can I mount phals in this?

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[RosieC]

I probably have similar humidity, probably not as warm.

I grow various mounts although I've not tried Phals I think they would work with that humidity if you were to water them daily. I water my mounts either every day or every other day (in the summer) and currently only about once every 4 days in the winter. They seem to do fine for me, but others might have more experience with the higher temps and with Phals.

[dendro photo]

Anything will work mounted but the borer and dryer the more watering needed

[billc]

They'll survive in that humidity and they will love the temps. I will say that growing mounts as a windowsill grower is anything but practical. I've become a slave to my mounted phals. They demand water every day and when they spike it's almost impossible to get them to the sink for watering every day or so for the 6-8 weeks they are in bloom without breaking the spike or at least clipping the buds on something. It probably doesn't help that I'm a klutz to start with.
They grow a lot better mounted and look fantastic but be ready to spend some time with them.

Bill

[tucker85]

I agree with Bill, mounted orchids are very high maintenance. I didn't start mounting orchids until I retired and had the time to water every morning.

I think you'll be OK with your humidity. I don't like wood mounts like grape wood or drift wood. Orchids dry very, very quickly on those and they often need watering a couple of times a day. My best results have been with tree fern poles and cork. Tree fern holds the most water but orchids do very well on cork also. I think the water must get down in all the little crevices on cork and remain available to the plant for a while.

If I were you, I would mount one or two plants and see how they do and how it works out with your watering schedule. Good luck.

[greengarden]

I have just started mounting a lot on tree fern rafts which I buy from a seller on ebay here in Aus, wouldn't be hard to convert a regular mount into one though. They hold the water on the top surface and soak it up a lot better so they don't dry out so quick. This is an ebay listing showing what I am talking about
THG - Orchid Treefern Raft MEDIUM Dicksonia - Mount GARDEN Suit SARCOCHILUS | eBay

[Ordphien]

I think Ill give it a go...
I'm going to go to Trader Joe's and pick up some different NOIDs and try some different mounts...
See what works for me.
I'm not confined to a windowsill... my whole room gets enough light to flower oncidiums and dendrobiums. The brighter half can flowers cattleyas and my actual windowsill burns orchids lol.
My gardenia bonsai is doing well there though.
So I've got a bit of room to play around.

Would a mini catt do well mounted?
I just got a NOID one and wanna see if it will reflower in the darker half of my room with my dendrobiums and oncidiums..
Also... what plants can I mount alongside orchids? Something like a fern?

[tucker85]

Originally Posted by Ordphien

Would a mini catt do well mounted?
I just got a NOID one and wanna see if it will reflower in the darker half of my room with my dendrobiums and oncidiums..
Also... what plants can I mount alongside orchids? Something like a fern?

Minni-catts are actually my favorite orchid for mounting. Most of them can hold their flowers up without staking, which is important. I don't recommend phals for mounting. Species phals grow fairly well on mounts but they need to be watered every day without fail. A mini-catt with a good root system can be left dry for a week while you go on vacation.



---------- Post added at 03:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:56 PM ----------

This mini-catt was in a 2.5" pot, so I mounted the entire root-ball on a piece of cork. It started attaching roots very quickly.

[Ordphien]

Originally Posted by tucker85

Minni-catts are actually my favorite orchid for mounting. Most of them can hold their flowers up without staking, which is important. I don't recommend phals for mounting. Species phals grow fairly well on mounts but they need to be watered every day without fail. A mini-catt with a good root system can be left dry for a week while you go on vacation.



---------- Post added at 03:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:56 PM ----------

This mini-catt was in a 2.5" pot, so I mounted the entire root-ball on a piece of cork. It started attaching roots very quickly.

Oh good.... I'm sort of in love with mini catts. I've always liked cattleyas, but never liked how monstrous they are. The mini ones tickle my fancy in just the right way.
Mine isn't nearly as pretty as the one you posted. I just got it from someone who neglected it and its in interesting shape.
I can still tell it won't be as pretty though lol.
But it seemed like a great candidate for a first mount.