Rhyncholaelia digbyana has outgrown mount
 

Greetings -
I am open to suggestions on this plant. One of the very first orchids I ever got, and this is absolutely the flower that made me want to grow an orchid.
The mount (I think it is still in there) is a slab of cork about 12" x 18"; the plant has covered the front and sides, and is growing onto the back. This makes displaying the flowers problematic. Wish I'd caught it before it turned the last few corners.
What would be some solutions to this? I really am relucant to divide it, because it is spectacular in bloom (twice yearly, once with a dozen or more flowers, the other time with half that), and because I'm afraid of effing it up trying.
Is there any way to get it to grow onto something else?
While I can still lift it?
Thanks - Nancy
p.s. yes, the dark patches are sunburn!

Wow-That is beautiful.Can you attach a larger piece of cork,tree fern,or something along that line to the back of the existing cork slab?

You should be able to piggyback onto another piece of cork if the rhizome hasn't turned too much. Attaching the new piece might be a little problematic, but it's doable. That's a stunning orchid!

Think I would just divide off the pieces that turned the corner. . .good start to try in a more shady spot?

And then piggie back the big corker to an even bigger corker.

Sure is a beauty!!! Let us know what you decide to do.

Why not just let it eat the mount and become a ball of plant? THe cork won't rot, and displaying flowers all around a sphere of plant is quite easy. Well, assuming you can hang it, to do so.

-Cj aka She of the specimen plant bias

Wow! Cj...I was scrolling through this thread with that exact suggestion going through my head :coverlaugh:

I'd just let the plant continue it's journey and figure out a way to hang it from the top of the mount.

It must be spectacular in it's full glory! :drool:

I like CJ's suggestion a lot. Far more than my own, in fact!

WOW
I have this plant on wish list and yours is INCREDIBLE.
Great growing:Tup: :Tup: :Tup: :Tup: :Tup: :Tup:

:D Great job of growing and blooming. The digbyana is one that I'm still on the lookout for. I love the frayed look on it.
I have a Walkeriana that is growing around a coconut husk and when it is consumed then I'll look for the new growth to divide. Probably another year or so maybe the husk will give up then too. I like the look of mounts growing completely covered.

Hi, Nancy
 

First of all thanks for the lovely pics.
This is a very familiar scene in our country. People are very lazy to divide them and they grow freely all over on a mount .
I had a same size of a vanda bush with me.
After I visited this forums I simply divide it into five separate plants and mounted on tree trunks and pots.
Bec I wanted more bushes . My hope became a reality . Now they are grown to fairly big and healthy bushes.
Nancy .Change your thoughts too.
:shock: