I hope this is the right forum (Potting & Repotting) for this post - it is about mounts, rather than potting and re-potting, but I did see some posts about mounts here. Moderators, please move if this is in the wrong place.
I currently grow just a few plants on mounts. I have a small Dendrobium crumenatum (From Kevin_PR), a Dinema polybulbon, and a Tolumnia hybrid. [edited later: forgot a Scaphyglottis graminifola that's also on a mount]
I frequently take the dogs hiking in some local woods, and occasionally come across some interesting pieces of wood that I think would make interesting mounts. I also find some interesting wood while fishing (fresh water drift wood), or even in my own back yard. I like the mounts that I see that others have made and that have live moss established on them, and hope to establish moss on many of my mounts.
I thought I would post some pictures of some of the mounts that I've found, attached mounting hardware to, and am in the process of establishing moss on. Doing some reading online, one option for attaching moss is sticking it on with a little diluted white glue (such as Elmer's), so that is what I have done.
Below are photos of mount number 1. I retrieved it from a cut tree stump; type of wood unknown, but I think possibly oak. It is big (nearly 2 feet long), very heavily ridged, but very thin:
The photo on the left is the front view. The one on the right shows the back, "hardware" is just electrical wire (also comparison to another smaller mount that weighs pretty much the same). I have reinforced the back with some glue stick, because it is so thin (I later added even more glue stick reinforcement to the back).
Here is the mount after some moss (taken from fallen logs) was attached to the mount:
I plan to keep this mount outdoors until the moss grows and becomes well-established (that could require many months, possibly a year(?)). During the winter, I plan to spray a few times per week with rain water, increasing to daily spraying when the weather is warm.
So, I am looking for some suggestions here:
1. I am thinking of this mount for a small but rapidly-spreading (keiki-producing) Phalaenopsis. Possibly P. pulchra, but are there other Phal species that also freely form stem keikis that I should consider? If not a Phalaenopsis, what would you grow on it if it was yours?
2. Does the method for establishing the moss sound OK to those of you that have done something similar? What might you suggest to do this differently, or improve moss growth?
3. Planning for a year from now: I grow indoors during the winter. To keep mossy mounts growing well, I was thinking of adding another shelf to my grow light stand & keeping the mounts with moss inside some empty aquariums to keep the humidity up. Any comments or alternative suggestions?
I am creating more mounts, will post those in separate threads later on. I look forward to any comments or suggestions you may have.
Found mount No. 1: What would you do?
Linear Mode
