Orchids mounted directly to gs foam background?

[flyingSquirrel]

Originally Posted by Tindomul

I have mounted orchids to great stuff backgrounds for years. SOmetimes the plants grow, sometimes the dry out. It all depends on how moist I manage to keep the background. I have had more success with Bulbophyllums and mini Phalaenopsis species this way than with any other types of orchids. I once had a miniature Cattleya growing on my foam background but had to get rid of it due to insect pests. But the point is it was successful up until then.
This brings me to my next point. If your plant gets diseased, you will not be able to remove it and treat it outside the paludarium/vivarium. This means you can't use harsh chemicals if you plan on having any animals in there to kill the pests or diseases. Also, its a lot harder to clean the entire plant, getting to those nooks and crannies where scale or meally bug or other insect pests like to hide.
All in all, I still do it and continue to do it because it looks awesome, and once the orchid is established, it does well.

Thank you for the helpful information. You make some good points. It's nice to know that others have done this and had success.

I think I'll do it as well despite the risks you mentioned regarding pests/diseases and the like. I do a 10% bleach dip on all plants before they go into the paludarium, so that eliminates most (but not all) problems beforehand.