Best easy-care orchids for mounting?

[modern_fumie]

I received a gift Barkeria this weekend and it is so cute! I mounted it on cork. It is my first mounted orchid, and I really like the look. I can see this method saving some space too.

Are there other commonly available orchids that prefer life on a mount?

[Ray]

I think you need to broaden your "prefers mounting" premise a bit.

In nature, most of the orchids we grow are found "mounted" on host trees and shrubs, so that would seem to be a natural choice, except...

The real question is "How well can you provide adequately for the needs of the plant" if it is mounted? Mounting obviously does away with concerns about repotting, suffocating the roots, etc., but those "pluses" may be offset by the fact that mounted plants need to be watered very frequently - some will need several waterings a day - and may do better in very high humidity.

This is a basic tenet of orchid cultivation: it's not what the plant needs that's so critical, but how can you provide what it needs in your conditions.


Ray Barkalow
firstrays.com

[modern_fumie]

Originally Posted by Ray

This is a basic tenet of orchid cultivation: it's not what the plant needs that's so critical, but how can you provide what it needs in your conditions.


Ray Barkalow
firstrays.com

Interesting thought experiment! I'm an orchid grower who sometimes "loves too much", so a plant that requires multiple waterings a day might actually thrive in my care :P

That said, I do travel frequently. A plant is more likely to survive these periodic dry spells if it can tolerate watering 2x/week or less.

Suggestions?

[WhiteRabbit]

Depends on your climate if any might be able to get by with twice weekly watering. More sphag could be used on the mount to decrease the frequency of watering.

[Leafmite]

Brassavola nodosa does great on a mount. Just soak it really well if it goes for a week or two without being watered.

I keep my Haraella rectrocalla in a glass jar (with a lid), mounted, and just keep a thin reservoir of water on the bottom of the jar. The mount wicks the water up to the roots and I only need to add water every other month or so (depends on how often I take off the lid to look at the orchid).

Angraecum leonis. Again, just soak the roots well whenever you can. It can go a few weeks without water if it must. Even if the leaves shrivel, they usually plump up again.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Try some of the "Mule ear Oncidiums", now known as Trichocentrum species. The plants are adapted to tolerate some drying out. There are several species in the genus, a few are readily available. They do well on mounts, but don't need water 3x per day.

[MattWoelfsen]

Trichocentrum "Mule ear Oncidium" are very easy to grow. But be sure you get the smaller version of this genus. I have several divisions of the very large Tricocentrum splendidum. Leaves of this plant can get as long as 2 feet. A mature bloom size plant can have four foot flower spikes with over a hundred blooms.