Hi everyone! I've been reading the forums for a while now, so I thought it was time I introduced myself.
Back in July I got my first orchid ever, a division of an Oncidium flexuosum from a friend. I was going to try to grow it in my apartment, but there were 3 rather sad phoenix palm trees in my condo yard, so I decided I'd try to mount it on one of them.
The oncidium did really well and ended up flowering, which got me interested in getting more and more orchids. Six months later and now I have over 60, all mounted on the palm trees.
It took me some time to make things work and some of the orchids suffered a little while I moved them around, but after a lot of trial and error I figured things out. My favorites are in the oncidium alliance but I also have a few other things!
Tree #1 - Dendrobium lindleyi, a couple of no id dendrobium phalaenopsis, Miltonia moreliana, Miltonia lamarckiana, a zygonisia Murasaki Momachi, vanda Pachara Delight, a yellow gomesa (Aloha Iwanaga), oncidium Red Mac, beallara Howard's Dream and Peggy Ruth Carpenter, Oncidium flexuosum, a red cattleya and a yellow one, Vuylstekeara Enzan Fantasy, miltonidium Bartley Schwarz, bapticidium Hwuluduen Chameleon and 2 phalaenopsis. Some of the plants are on the other side of the tree, and you can't see them in this picture.
Tree #2 Front - Some mini phals, Cattleya intermedia, Wilsonara Red Heaven, Wilsonara Tiger Brew, Oncidium Sharry Baby (red one), Oncidium Twinkle Fragrance (white one), the cream colored phal and a couple of tolumnias. On the left (not seen):
Oncidium Sharry Baby (regular one), vuylstekeara Plush.
Tree #2 Back - More tolumnias, Odontocidium Red Wasp, a no id miltoniopsis, another oncidium flexuosum, Miltonia Regnelli x Brassia Eternal Wind.
Tree #3 - This one is a work in progress. Initially I only had a cattleya and an oncidium mounted on it, but then I decided to cover the entire trunk with phalaenopsis. I'm not a huge fan of phals, but they grow like weed here and they all bloom in sync around october so I'm hoping to get a really nice display next year. I've been buying them whenever they are discounted, but I also got a few from people that wanted to help. Right now I have 16 phals mounted on it, but there's room for more.
These are a nightmare to mount when they have spikes, because the plant gets really top heavy, that's why I tied some of the spikes to the palm tree leaves.
Here's a picture, I'll try to take a better one later:
And these are all the blooms:
Regarding my maintenance routine, I fertilize them every week with Peter's 20-20-20 and also use kelp once a month. It rains a lot here, so I don't have to water them that much, but when I do I use rain water only.
Here's a video from today, and what most late afternoons look like during summer
Thank you everyone! This forum helped me a lot when I started, and I keep learning new stuff every time I visit.
Today I finally finished working on the third tree. There was room for more phalaenopsis, but I'd have to mount them so low in the trunk that the spikes would pretty much be at ground level.
I was able to buy 3 really cheap (less than $5) denphals today, so I placed them right below the phals and now my "project" is almost done. Unfortunately it still looks messy and "unnatural", because when I mount the phals the blooms are always facing the wrong direction. I think it will look fantastic next year, though!
I don't have room for big orchids anymore, but I can make room for small ones. I want to add a Sophronitis coccinea, but I will probably wait until the end of the summer.
Here's a view of the other side of tree #2, here you can see the zygonisia and the cattleyas:
---------- Post added at 10:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:04 PM ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by rbarata
Olá mascia
Uma maravilha o teu jardim.
It's an orchid paradise...I'm sure your neighbours love your garden too.
Obrigado!
I think most people really enjoy orchids, even if they don't grow them. I have lost count of how many times people walking by stop just to stare at them. The building right next to mine also started mounting phalaenopsis on their trees
I think it would be pretty amazing if you could establish a population of orchids on trees that naturally colonized surrounding trees. Cattleya walkeriana would be an excellent candidate. Well... maybe it depends on which part of Brazil you live?
Hello from Brazil, meet my mounted orchids!
Your plants are healthy and beautiful!
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