Mounting Haraella Retrocalla on Lava rock

[plantzzzzz]

My first attempt at mounting an orchid myself was Haraella Retrocalla. I tied it to a piece of lava rock and put it in a small glass orb with a bit of water at the bottom a couple months ago.

It seems to be growing nicely, it has a bit of new roots, some new leaves, and what looks like the first spike, but so far, nothing has grown onto the mount.

I have a gorgeous B. Nodosa which I bought already mounted that has grabbed hold of the mount with its roots.

Is there a way to encourage my Haraella to do the same? Is it just time?

[camille1585]

Existing roots are not the ones that will grab on to the mount. Once they've grown, that's it. Ita the green growing tips and brand new roots that will attach to the mount. Since you have a few new roots growing, it should happen with time. I also wonder if lava rock is a good medium for mounting, I don't know much about using it as a medium/mount

[plantzzzzz]

Great, thanks!

In terms of lava rock, I haven't found much on Haraella mounted to rock, but I got the idea from this blog post.

angraecums.blogspot.com/2013/08/lava-rock-as-potting-medium-pros-cons.html

[plantzzzzz]

I finally got the new roots to attach to the mount! I think the secret was to stop misting it regularly and make it get its moisture from the water wicked up by the rock.

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