So what do you do when. . .
 

So what do you do....

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when your orchid outgrows the mount?

I'm turning more and more to mounting orchids and, in the ones that are potted, using less and less potting medium. So, essentially, while not technically in a mount, they are essentially mounted in a basket.


The thing that concerns me is the age old question--what do you do when the orchid outgrows the mount? At some point, (depending on the size of the wood) the orchid is going to bloom out of every possible pseudobulb it can, so while the plant may be beautiful, there would be no more rooms for blooms.

Do any of you use LARGE pieces of driftwood to not necessary "mount" but place them sort of "live sculptures?" I'm seeing some gorgeous pieces on ebay and I'm tempted to start "training" some of my Laelias and large-ish cattleyas to grow on those.

The reason I ask is that I have several large-ish cattleyas and Laelias. I want to mount them but I am hard-pressed to find something large enough so that they can bloom and display beautifully for several years. I put a myrmecophila on an 8 x 12 cedar slab, and the thing is growing sideways out of it already.

Do you mount large orchids? how do you handle them?

I've only ever had small orchids mounted (@ least compared to what u r talking about! Lol). I know most ppl just take the mount the plant is on, that has been outgrown, and just attach to (on top of, to the side of) another, larger mount. If you need to divide a plant that's on say, like a flat piece of cork/tree fern, you could just saw the whole thing in half to divide, if need be.

Talking about mounting them to large pieces to begin with... As long as you have space, I'd say go for it!! (*oh my gosh, you have to post pics! Lol, I have to see that! ;)) That would be really cool looking with some of those large driftwood pieces! I've seen the ones you are (or I think you are) referring to, and that would seriously be really cool looking! Ooooh, u are in Florida :evil:... You could do yard art with these, & have large driftwood all throughout the yard, with orchids attached... Damn... I'm kinda jealous of where u live right now! Lol (although, tomorrow afternoon, I might feel differently... Assuming y'all r hotter than we are here! :shock: Lol)

Good Luck! I can't wait to see what you end up doing! :biggrin:

I've used a couple of approaches to orchids outgrowing the mounts, but none of them are massive so I've not had to look for really big mounts yet.

Some I've fixed the old mount to the new one. They can seem a bit shaky to being with, but if not moved for a few months the plant attaches to the new mount, and now I can't even see the old mount hidden in the middle of the plant. On some others the old mount was falling to pieces so I removed the pieces carefully and laid the root mass (on a new mount).

I would love to find a good piece of wood for a really large mount, but personally I would probably use it for already large plants, not small plants I was wanting to grow bigger.

I have a little C. aclandiae seedling on a big piece of cork. I think it is good for the next ten years. :)

I found a nice large piece of driftwood that I've attached to a wall in my orchid house. Getting ready to plant it now but haven't completely decided what to put on it yet. I think I'll be taking my time with this one because I want it to look natural but I'd also like the orchids to bloom at the same time. I'll probably get impatient with the ongoing thought process and plant it anyway! :rofl: