Mounting = dry orchids

[WhiteRabbit]

Mounted orchids are higher maintenance than potted, as far as watering goes.
Even my "drier" growing ones take water daily (soaked in summer) except maybe in winter (cool, damp weather here, and I try to keep furnace off during the day).

My moisture loving aerangis has a fair amount if sphag on the mount to keep it happy during the hot, dry summer days here, and actually needs to be watered a bit less than my other mounted orchids.

[cbuchman]

Mounts do take more care. I mist/water daily.

[Ferns Daddy]

I have over 30 mounts and I water 3x a week and mist at least twice a day its hard to keep the humidity at 45% in the house, if I'm luck it gets up to 50% some days

[Priya_H]

I watered them everyday really well, multiple times. Soaking the corks etc. But after a few hours, they would dry out. I think Toronto is a low humid place and specially my home. It's also well insulated so I hardly have to turn on the heat. It's airy and very bright though. The orchids in the pots are doing good. It was just these 2 (they were great before as well)

And guess what? I repotted them after taking them off the mounts right? A couple of hrs later I noticed the roots on both plants have REALLY plumped up!! All nice and bright green! I think mounting, in my environment, is not possible. They'll be more happy in pots. Immediately started showing signs of improvement so I'm kinda glad I repotted them!

[epiphyte78]

There's a reason that they use cork for wine bottles. It's the same reason that you shouldn't use cork as a mount in less humid environments.

[peeweelovesbooks]

I live it humid miami and I water EVERYTHING daily in the summer and my mounts daily in the winter.

Even in Miami, I rarely had success with cork. I switched to cedar planks and the orchids love it.

[Vanda lover]

Originally Posted by Priya_H

I watered them everyday really well, multiple times. Soaking the corks etc. But after a few hours, they would dry out. I think Toronto is a low humid place and specially my home. It's also well insulated so I hardly have to turn on the heat. It's airy and very bright though. The orchids in the pots are doing good. It was just these 2 (they were great before as well)

And guess what? I repotted them after taking them off the mounts right? A couple of hrs later I noticed the roots on both plants have REALLY plumped up!! All nice and bright green! I think mounting, in my environment, is not possible. They'll be more happy in pots. Immediately started showing signs of improvement so I'm kinda glad I repotted them!

Toronto has high humidity. I grew up there. During the winter when it is bitterly cold the humidity drops dramatically. That is when you need a humidifier. The dryness isn't necessary from your heating system.

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by Vanda lover

Toronto has high humidity. I grew up there. During the winter when it is bitterly cold the humidity drops dramatically. That is when you need a humidifier. The dryness isn't necessary from your heating system.

Interesting, because when I heard it was low humidity it WAS a conversation about winter, so that explains what I heard, I hadn't realised it was just in the winter. Good to know.

[RandomGemini]

Toronto is VERY temperate. The temperature range there is from 20 degrees F to 75 degrees F. That means the humidity stays pretty consistently above 55% outdoors, year round. The humidity does not drop in the winter in Toronto, it goes up. Average humidity in December in Toronto is 70%. I know it seems like it would be the other way around, but it's not.

The lack of humidity indoors in the winter, is caused by forced air heating of any kind. It saps the moisture right out of the air as its heated before pushing that hot dry air back into your house. This is why most people with breathing problems run humidifiers in their bedrooms in the winter.

The climate I live in is classified as "subarctic." Bitterly cold here, is when you step outside to grab the newspaper and your nose sticks together when you inhale. That might explain why we only have one local newspaper left and even they only deliver once a week in the winter. LOL!

Toronto is not in a subarctic zone. It's in what is called a continental humid zone, which has much less violent temperature swings, but Toronto DOES suffer from lake effect snow due to being so close to the Great Lakes, which is completely NOT fun because it's so sudden.

[bethmarie]

All great for me to hear and just in time to save my mounted orchids from suffering this winter. I'm going to bump up the watering frequency on the ones I have left. Maybe sell a couple more. I've been reducing the # of mounts I'm growing (indoors under lights) I had accumulated too many, and carrying them all to the next room to water once or twice a day became a chore.