Which wood?

[peeweelovesbooks]

Is white ash a good wood on which to mount? How about cherry? Thanks!

I found a person online that sells fairly large slabs of wood very inexpensively. I ordered two and they are beautiful! I wanted to make sure that they were ok before I went ahead and mounted some plants on them.

Thanks.

[james mickelso]

They will be fine for mounts although you don't need anything expensive. I use pine, fir, and spruce for my mounts. Here are some pictures. You can use most anything for a mount. An old tree branch even.

[Daethen]

I agree that about anything will work. I go to our local lumber yard and go through the cutoffs and find all kinds of neat stuff.

[plumania]

I got plenty of Guava roots. They are as thick as large branches. I know Guava bark is high tannin,do not know about it's roots though.
Would it be OK to use as a mount?
It has been sitting out in rain and hot sun for about 4 months now if 'seasoning' is required.

[BettyE]

I would bet that the guava would be just fine. I like to use irregular pieces of wood, which I find, plus four in. wide by eight inch long planks of cedar. I have found that although pretty,it's difficult to re-mount the ones which are on uneven bark or wood; sooooo I prefer the smooth cedar. BettyE.

[Mervin]

I guess any wood that not been treated is ok.

However bare in mind that that orchids have long life and you do not want to be in a situation where the lifespan of your mount is much shorter that your plants.

Therefore in the long run, it's better to get something more dense.

[BettyE]

I have only mounted orchids on oak & cedar. I have noticed something about the cedar mounted ones, however. They never seem to have pests on them, as ocassionally the other oak mounted orchids do. Something about the cedar may be repelling the bugs. I haven't done any experimenting with this, but that would be great...BettyE

[Arenalbotanicalgarden]

Originally Posted by plumania

I got plenty of Guava roots. They are as thick as large branches. I know Guava bark is high tannin,do not know about it's roots though.
Would it be OK to use as a mount?
It has been sitting out in rain and hot sun for about 4 months now if 'seasoning' is required.

Tabebuia caribe.
Google Freund flowering trees.
Put the orchids on the live tree. You can keep it in a 25 gallon container if you feel you need to move it around.

Acnistus arborescens is the #1 tree for epiphytes.No contest.T. Caribe is a distant second. I don't know if it's available in Floridastan. Maybe at Ernesto's green earth.

[santiago]

there are two very popular and available options here in colombia, crescentia cujete and coffea sp, i haven't got the opportunity to try them but everybody recommends it

[woodstock]

Originally Posted by BettyE

I have only mounted orchids on oak & cedar. I have noticed something about the cedar mounted ones, however. They never seem to have pests on them, as ocassionally the other oak mounted orchids do. Something about the cedar may be repelling the bugs. I haven't done any experimenting with this, but that would be great...BettyE

Cedar is some times as a natural repellent for some pests like flees and ticks.