C. aclandiae and wine corks experiment

[hiimisis]

Hi OB!

I recently bought a pair of little Cattleya aclandiae plants, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to experiment. I've read that these plants can be finicky because they need to dry out really quickly and have high humidity and they do best when mounted. I just recently saw an orchid growing in wine corks and thought it was super neat, and as I've read up on it, it seems like people have pretty good success. I even read somewhere that it's the next best thing to mounting!

So I thought, what the heck, I'll give this a try - I have wine corks and a plant that's growing, and it might like it!

This is what I came up with - I made a pot out of a plastic cup (approx 3in) with tons of ventilation holes, and I cut my corks in half so they fit better. The plant is nice and snug with lots of air around the roots. Definitely drains quickly, not sure about helping humidity though.

I think it looks cute, but I'm really not sure how this will turn out! If it starts to crash, I'll take it out and mount it The other plant will stay in the little basket it came in for now.

I'll keep you posted!

[sbrofio]

I'll follow this thread very closely: have had the same idea when C. aclandiae will come home next months.

[wintergirl]

Your plant looks great. It should work. Keep us posted.

[silken]

I can't see why that wouldn't work. It looks good. My aclandiae doesn't get really high humidity and it seems fine and has recently bloomed for the first time. Yours looks nice and healthy.

[Leafmite]

I love it! It looks really cute! The set up should work very well.
I tried growing mine mounted and I much prefer having it potted (it does, too) as it is so much easier to water.

[Picotee]

Very innovative. I grow mine mounted and am interested in the outcome of your experiment. Please keep us updated.

[hiimisis]

Thanks everyone! I'll definitely post updates as things progress. This is the first time I've done something really different from my normal potting routine, so I'm a bit nervous. But hearing that you think it should work gives me confidence!

After 1 day, I'd say everything is good so far, haha The roots dry out fully after a few hours, and they are very responsive to moisture - really green when they are most and bright white when they are dry - which makes it easy to know when to water.

I went ahead and repotted the second plant in corks as well. Attached are a few pictures of it. I just noticed a new lead is forming (last picture)!

[DeaC]

Think you've done really well with your plan and can't wait to see blooms.Mine has been mounted for sev. yrs.,bloomless but progressing. May be time to put my drawer full of corks to good use...and yes I like my wine!

[silken]

Originally Posted by DeaC

Think you've done really well with your plan and can't wait to see blooms.Mine has been mounted for sev. yrs.,bloomless but progressing. May be time to put my drawer full of corks to good use...and yes I like my wine!

Not sure if you bought a seedling or bloom size. But when I bought mine it was classed as a small seedling from Cloud's, who are very reliable. It had quite a few growths and I figured it would bloom sooner than 'small seedling' would suggest. But the guy at Cloud's told me it had several years to go and it did. But it did bloom this spring finally! So it might be just a youngster, even with quite a few growths

[bil]

Is there much difference between large bark chunks and corks?