Question about plants to mount
 

I have an idea for mounting a couple of orchids and I need some advice as to what to get. I want something that doesn't get too big, that blooms for a long period, will take intermediate light and temps, and the blooms will cascade down. If anyone has pictures to put with a name, that would be great. :biggrin:
Not asking too much, right ? :rofl:

Species phals do very well mounted and most of them tend to stay small or at least manageable. Stuartiana, equestris, bastainii and schilleriana are good choices. Schilleriana tends to get a rather long (2 foot) spike but looks fantastic when in bloom. I don't have any picks on my tablet but if you search the forum there are plenty of pics.

Bill

Off the top of my head...

There are some really cute phal species that stay very compact and some will make keikis so the plant becomes a nice clump in time. [deliciosa, parishii, lindenii, lobbii, chibae, finleyi, javanica, lowii, modesta, wilsonii - to name a few] The lindenii has beautiful mottled foliage so it's very pretty even when it's not in bloom. There are other but I can't think of them right now.

Also, many of the aerangis species/hybrids stay small and would appreciate your listed conditions. I don't think any of the aerangis get very large as individual plants but some keiki freely so you could end up w/a nice little clump in time. I have biloba, fastuosa (tiny plant!), mystacidii, mystacidii x somalensis, and kotschyana. I've had the fastuosa for 4 or 5 years and it's still in a 2" pot -very small w/a flower that's bigger than the plant itself.

I'm sure there are lots of others that fit your criteria but those are what comes to mind right now.

No pictures readily available but a quick google search will give you tons.

I've had both schilleriana and the bastanii mounted. The bastanii foliage and roots don't get overly big but the spikes when mounted grow sideways so the width can be an issue.

The schilleriana I mounted on a 6" wide by 12" long mount. The roots grew several feet below the bottom of the mount. The spikes grow up, then start arching down. Eventually the spike will be 4' long. I came into the g/h one morning and there, laying on my table was the spike. The weight snapped it off. The next year I had to support the spike by pushing a wire through the mount. IMHO this is a hard Phal to mount.

Katrina gave you a great list of species/small growing Phals. Her suggestion of some of the Angraecum family is good but most of them have short lived blooms.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5092/...962c3754_z.jpgPhal schilleriana 'Highjack' AM-AOS LUR_5704 by Jim Lurton, on Flickr

Brooke

Thank you all for your thoughts, and Brooke, thank you for the beautiful picture. I will take your ideas into account. The species Phals sound interesting. I have not had terrific luck with Phals, but my minis are finally about 50% in spike, so maybe my luck is changing .

Katrina mentioned the lindenii and I highly recommend it. The foliage stays small, is famous for adding basal growths to the plant.

This year my lindenii has three spikes, one on the mother plant and one each of the two side keikis. They have been blooming for six months and will continue for another couple of months because it is a bud builder.

The only down side is because of the bud building you eventually have to hang the mount higher and higher.

Brooke

Thank you, Brooke, I put that on my list of ones to try