best type of wood for a mount in a terrarium

[imgliniel]

Hi all!

I am looking for some input on the various types of wood used to mount orchids and what might be best for my idea/situation. I'll try to give some info about whats available and what I m planning to experiment with.

For now I'll just be mounting a couple Phals. I want to experiment with some small individual terrariums (semi open types). I live in southern Ca, so pretty warm and temperate, but also fairly dry.

What I have seen locally includes Mopani Wood for aquariums (leaches tannins, not sure if this is an issue for Phals) Obviously driftwood I can easily collect all up and down the beaches in the right parts of Malibu (salt content may be an issue?) Grapevine and manzanita in craft/florist/hobbyist stores, and any of the branches available for reptiles (not actually sure what kind of wood these are). Obviously anything typically available at a home depot or lowes I can get as well, but I want a more natural look so I am not all that interested in things like fence posts.

What I like about the Mopani is it's not supposed to rot. driftwood apparently rots.

anyone have experience with any of these? Or suggestions?

thanks!

[Paul]

Mopani does rot (anything originally alive eventually does) but far more slowly than most other woods. (Oh and the tannins should not be an issue.) Cork bark is another rot resistant natural material that lends itself well to orchid mounts.

[Ray]

Cedar and redwood are also good.

[ponderingjunkman]

I have a few phals in sugar maple, hop hornbeam, and shagbark hickory. The maple seems to be rotting very quickly. There's lots of aromatic cedar in the woods, I may try that next.

[estación seca]

You can buy a cedar fence board at a hardware store for far less than any piece of wood from an aquarium store. It is soft, and easy to cut with a hacksaw.