Looking for mounting opinion for a Phal

[SharryBaby6]

I'm just looking for some opinions on mounting a phal. It is a two year old plant which I received from someone as a keiki. 90% of the roots have decided not to grow within the pot and they are growing so well! So I was considering mounting it since the rots are more "air" than "potted". Are there any personal opinions out there about mounting a phal, or any advice? I've had members of my society say do it, and others say don't, so any opinions would help!

[AndreaK]

I am not certain about all Phals. being suitable for mounting but mine seems to enjoy its new home. I recently mounted my Phal. Schillerana this spring. It had been unhappy in its pot. It flowered but was losing as many leaves or more than it was making. Since mounting, it has had tremendous root growth along with putting out 4 new leaves and only dropping one old leaf. The 4th leaf is coming at the same time the plant is beginning to spike. Mounting does require more attention such as daily watering and having good humidity for the plant.

[turock]

It really depends on your environment and what kind of effort you want to put into the plant. It sounds like your environment is at least favorable to support the aerial roots, so that's a good sign. It's good that you are starting with a plant with an abundance of aerial roots, and not one that is accustomed to being stuffed in a pot.

Be sure to attach the plant firmly to the mount, so it can't wiggle around while the root tips find their way onto the wood. Zip ties, floral wire, or any other non-bio-degradable substance can be used, then removed in about a year when the orchid's roots are firmly attached. Also consider tying individual healthy roots close to the wood to speed along the attachment process. You'll want to soak the wood thoroughly to water it, and you'll need to water more frequently than you water a potted plant. Consider packing a bit of Spanish or sphagnum moss around the roots to raise the humidity, especially if you see your once plump roots begin to wrinkle.

There are many great articles on this site that can give you direction.

If you're nervous about it, consider a hybrid approach! I put a couple of my phals on mounts and noticed they were suffering from the drier conditions. So, I incorporated their mounts into basket arrangements with other plants. I've attached some pictures of one of my arrangements to give you an idea.

I monitor the orchids' roots to make sure they grow only on the mount and not into the medium in the basket. The basket's contents provide humidity. Plus, it looks pretty.

Some orchids just didn't adapt to being mounted and had to be removed after a few months. But, it really helped some of my orchids, whose roots plumped up significantly after being placed in the basket.

[AndreaK]

Here are a couple of pictures of the Phal. Schillerana which I mentioned in last night's post. They show the progression of leaf size gradually increasing from when I first mounted it to the present. The first 2 leaves were substantially smaller in comparison to the original leaf (visible at the lower left hand side of the picture). The newest fully developed leaf is getting much closer to the original size. When you drastically change the plant's growing environment, it will take some time to fully adjust. The second image is a close-up of the new root growth and the start of a flower spike.

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by turock

...I put a couple of my phals on mounts and noticed they were suffering from the drier conditions. So, I incorporated their mounts into basket arrangements with other plants. I've attached some pictures of one of my arrangements to give you an idea....

That is really beautiful! I bet you could have a side business designing and selling baskets. You might be able to offset some orchid expenses....

Here in Phoenix there's huge demand for people who can design and install seasonal color containers. Not many people understand artful design, the plants, and how to combine plants that do well with the same exposure and watering.

[turock]

Oh wow, thank you!

I'm an artist by profession, so I have a bit of a compulsion to make things look nice. There are many nicely designed orchid arrangements, but I've seldom found any that, as you pointed out, give any thought to the needs or growth patterns of the plants.

I appreciate the compliment and suggestion. It may be a possibility I look into at our town's annual Spring craft fair.

[estación seca]

A friend does high-end landscape install and maintenance here. I mean really high-end. I am amazed at what some people will pay for an arranged container.

[RosieC]

I mounted a phal which had similar arial root problems, almost everything in the pot was rotting and it had masses of arial roots (also 5 crowns due to multiple basel keikis so it didn't have a definately up direction).

It had done really well mounted. I didn't use any moss and just tied it on, the roots are really well gripped onto the mount and watered daily it seems really happy.

Your humidity will affect how well it can do, or if you need moss. It's quite high here in the UK.

Unfortunately I've just noticed mine has what I think is Cercospora fungus, I think caught from another plant near it

[turock]

Oh that's sad, Rosie! Is that treatable?


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[Joseia]

I've got a Phal. corningiana that was not growing welll in a pot, so I mounted it to cork and it is growing better than ever. It is alot more work to keep watered, but it looks so natural on a mount.