Best way to convert an orchid to a mount?

[HarmoniaGardens]

I recently got a R. Digbyana that's been potted in a plastic slat basket and sphagnum moss. I'd like to convert it to growing on a piece of cedar or cork bark so I'm less in danger of over watering it. Is there a best way to slowly convert it to a mount? Right now it's got a bud in sheath, so I'd like to wait until it's bloomed.

[jkofferdahl]

Don't try to mount the plant until it's beginning a growth cycle. Potting the plant in sheath or bloom is likely to set it back. My B. didbyana is mounted on a small section of a cut tree branch. There's not a trick to mounting. Put the plant on the mount with a small padding of sphagnum to protect the roots and then use dental floss or fishing line to secure it.

[Ray]

There is no "slowly" way to do it.

Moving that plant to a mount will require that it grow an entirely new root system. That's while you,should heed John's advice about timing, and wait for it to begin putting out brand new roots before changing.

[AnonYMouse]

A bit of advice from a former/lapsed OB member was to use the current sphag (instead of cleaning it all off). I kinda follow suit, depending on how much and how old the sphag is, I remove some/add new.

And the timing thing noted above.

[estación seca]

As mentioned above, wait until spring when it's growing. If you're withing driving distance of RF Orchids, go there and talk to them. They grow this really well in southern Florida. They say the chief requirement for regular blooming is very strong winter sunshine.

[orchidsamore]

I have mounted thousands of orchids and Rl. digbyana is one of the few I never mount.

All mounted orchids grow slower than pots or baskets. They do not get as much water and fertilizer.

In a pot or basket with fresh sphagnum moss watered every day and water released fertilizer I get Rl. digbyana to double in size every year and flower twice a year.

Other Cattleya on mounts flower every year but hardly seem to grow. It can take several years for a mounted orchid to become comfortable on the mount.

It is a fabulous plant and I never have less than 50 in my nursery.

[Roberta]

For larger plants (and Rl. digbyana can be) a mount can get quickly outgrown. Consider a wood basket, with large bark. Think of it as a three-dimensional mount. Constraints are the same as for mounting... don't even think about it until the new roots start to appear (whenever they decide to do it... it's not always in spring and can be before, during, or after blooming)

[SaraJean]

Originally Posted by estación seca

They say the chief requirement for regular blooming is very strong winter sunshine.

Aha. So that’s why my b. David Sanders hasn’t bloomed for me. All of my other Brassavolas bloom but this one has been stubborn as all get up. Leaf color is good, it has a nice red/purple tinge, but winter light has always been a struggle for me. It’s been hanging up high in the greenhouse this year so fingers crossed

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by orchidsamore

...In a pot or basket with fresh sphagnum moss watered every day and water released fertilizer I get Rl. digbyana to double in size every year and flower twice a year....

How tightly do you pack the moss? When you say watered every day, do you mean you saturate the sphagnum, or just run the water wand over the top briefly?