Thanks for all the comments. The pottery interest is about working with clay, which I really enjoy, and having a laugh with some really easy-going people. I've made about 13 pots and hope to explore some
variations in functional design this summer.
As for culture;
Feeding : I feed on alternate weeks from the time the roots start growing and gradually reduce this in late summer and stop completely by the end of September. I work on the idea that the sphag is going to hold all the salts the plant doesn't adsorb (you can't really flush sphag can you ?). I use about a 1/4 strength Dyna Grow which I supplement with a Ca/Mg nitrate mix. All my plants (including paphs) seem to like the latter.
Mounting : Before using the moss for mounting I soak it for about 1hr in london tap water (very hard and with ph approx 8) then squeeze out the water. I use gutter/drain pipe plastic mesh which I roll into a cylinder and secure at the overlap with a wooden kebab skewer used a bit like a hairpin. This I use to secure an aeration cavity in the sphag mound from the hole in the pot up to just below the base of the plant. I originally used to place a ball of sphag under the base of the plant, but now its only about one layer of sphag strands. I can almost see daylight if I look up through the hole at the base of the pot (and if it's a small plant). This change has reduced root die off to almost zero. I know two people who have found it easier to grow neos mounted on cork bark, completely bare rooted like Aerangis species, and they do very well ... they both had humidity regulated growing areas.
Cheers,
Tim
|
Linear Mode
