Maxillariella tenuifolia mounted

[foxroots]

Hi everyone!

The Maxillariella tenuifolia I ordered last week arrived today! However, when I ordered it, I was fully expecting it to arrive in a basket or pot. Boy, was I surprised with pulling it out of the box to see it mounted to a wooden slab!



So my question is this... can an orchid be moved from a mount to a basket? If not, could you share some tips on caring for this mounted orchid?

My concern is that I won't be able to maintain a moist enough substrate and that I don't have an appropriate place to hang the mount.

Thanks!

[estación seca]

People do grow them in baskets. The plant sends new growths upwards so it climbs out of a container eventually.

[PaphMadMan]

It is a real climber, so mounting like that solves one problem, but it also needs a lot of moisture. If you don't have high humidity and a situation that allows heavy daily watering it could be a problem. In a few cases I've taken a mount like this and just stuck it into a pot or basket and added media around the base. You add some moisture security but still support the climbing habit.

[ThePinkCucumber]

What I usually do with mounts like that is wrap a whole bunch of sphagnum moss around the roots to keep them adequately moist and leave the plant on the mount. Though I know it can be difficult to find a proper place for mounted plants.

If you want to move it to a basket, that shouldn't be a problem - soak the mount for an hour or two so when you try to take the plant off the mount the roots won't be dry and won't break as easily.

I have two tenuifolias, one is a climber and is mounted and the other seems to grow like a little bush, so that one is happily sitting in a pot.

[gngrhill]

I had a rather large mounted plant that I just set it in a clay pot that was big enough to hold it standing up. You could add some kind of substrate to help with moisture and just water it in the pot, then you don't have to hang it.