Mounting phal on hygrolon slab: a good idea?

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Magnus A

The orchid with the thickest roots (4mm) I have mounted on this setup is a Aer. decaryana. It is a very young plant that I have ha some problem with but it seem to like its new mount.

Magnus, I don't think I'd worry about that. As the roots grow, the vascular bundles will go through the tiniest openings, and the others cells will fill in around them. I have seen plants' roots grow right through cork bark, and those are minuscule openings!

[Magnus A]

Ray, the problem is not the roots, they love the combination Epiweb/Hygrolon. My problem is more that I can´t find a good combination of light, temperature and moisture for the plant. It realy does not grow wery well, except for the roots when I moved it to its current mount.

[Ray]

Well, I would argue that if you've got the roots going well, you're well along in your efforts!

If the plant was doing well under those same conditions BEFORE being mounted on the Hygrolon/Epiweb slab, then I would suspect a deficiency in something (i.e., you need to water and feed more), or some sort of toxicity from the mount (the glue, maybe?)