Orchids mounted directly to gs foam background?

[flyingSquirrel]

My paludarium background is made of Great Stuff foam coated with peat moss. Have any of you ever mounted an orchid directly onto a great stuff & peat moss covered foam background?

There are some open areas on my paludarium background and side walls where I'd like to grow some miniature orchids. I am tired of trying to attach tree fern panels to the foam. Additionally there are some areas where I can't really have any 'growing media' attached to the foam bg because the thickness of the added media would look awkward protruding out from the wall (and also would cast too much shade on other plants)

BTW my paludarium is partially open-top and the foam bg regularly dries out, and does not grow moss or anything cool like that.

I figure the answers to my questions will depend on a variety of factors such as what species of orchid, how much humidity, etc, but I'm interested in your general thoughts or experiences.

1. First I thought the peat moss covering on the foam might be bad for the orchid's roots because of the acidity, but then I realized people use sphagnum moss all the time for growing orchids, so I guess it would be fine...?

2. If the orchid is secured to the foam for long enough to grow some new roots, do you think the orchid's roots would be able to actually attach to the foam and support the weight of the plant? The bg is pretty smooth, but I know plant roots are pretty amazing too.

3. I figure the foam doesn't breathe well so I should eliminate all moss and go completely bare-root to avoid rot...?

Any tips, advice, thoughts, experiences and the like would be much appreciated

[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.

[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.