Mounting a PLEUROTHALLIS brighamii

[jonnygreenthumb]

How do i mount my PLEUROTHALLIS brighamii and do Cats do well mounted?

[justatypn]

I have mounted my pleurothallis grobyi and doing very well. A nice mossy mount will allow the plant to grow undisturbed and reach specimen size in a few years. Be sure to provide ample moisture and air movement. Personally I do not have any catt's mounted but will be doing so after blooming season.

[littlefrog]

Need to keep the humidity up for the pleuro, but otherwise it is a good candidate for a mount. Tree fern plaques seem to work best for pleuros in my opinion (especially old tree fern that is a bit mushy) but cork isn't a bad alternative. I wouldn't put _too_ much moss behind it, just a little is plenty, you will probably be watering this every day anyway.

Smaller cattleyas (and encyclias, epidendrums, etc...) are excellent plants to mount. I like cork for these... I don't recommend the big catts for mounts. Actually, they work just fine, but it is hard to find a big enough mount. I like growing the bigger ones in big clay pots or slatted baskets.

[justatypn]

Rob, my concern is your statement..."just a little is plenty"...ugh oh, I mounted mine on piece of driftwood in a pocket of sphag. I water daily sometimes 2 times a day. Would there be a concern of root rot being in this pocket or do the roots like the day of light more so than others?

[littlefrog]

Well... I don't know your environment. But I think a chunk of moss in a hole in a chunk of wood really wouldn't dry out very well. Of course it probably also wouldn't get wet very well... If you are just throwing a bit of water at it twice a day, it might work. If you are soaking the tar out of it, I'd be a bit worried.

I think for your sanity, you might want to 'unmount' the plant and see how its roots look. If you have lots of nice roots, then put it back the way it was, don't let me talk you out of that... Regardless of what you do, the plant will grow some roots where it feels comfortable. If this is outside of the moss pocket (or on the edge), fine... That is the nice part about mounting things, the plants get to choose where to grow roots.

[justatypn]

Hmmmm, looks like I will be checking out the pluero in the a.m. and see if the roots are pleased or p-ohhh'd. I normally semi soak the sphag and once a week give it a good dunking. Honestly though the plant looks happy, not signs of stress but will check it out anyway. I need the experience, will definitely take a few s to share.

[daemondamian]

Is treefern the preffered mounting material rather than say corkbark?

I have some Pleuros mounted on corkbark but with moss over the roots and I have P. grobyi and P. tribuloides that are potted that I want to mount but I'm not sure which would be best to use.

[littlefrog]

I'd have to say that a nice dense tree fern mount seems to work best for pleuros, in my experience. But, I'm sure cork will work too. It is hard to find good tree fern, so that might be your best option.

[daemondamian]

Originally Posted by littlefrog

I'd have to say that a nice dense tree fern mount seems to work best for pleuros, in my experience. But, I'm sure cork will work too. It is hard to find good tree fern, so that might be your best option.

Thanks Littlefrog,
so good treefern is the more dense thick solid stuff while the bad is the one that is more open, sort of 'strandy' and crumbles easily?

I don't suppose you have any experience knowledge of mounting Masdevllias or Draculas on treefern? I've been thinking about doing that with the bottom of the mounts sitting in a plastic raingutter with a few cm of water in.

That's how my Stelis porschiana was growing and how I'm continuing to grow it although it's just sitting in a dish of water not a rain gutter.. but I thought you could hang several above each other on a wall

[littlefrog]

I think 'good' and 'bad' depends on what you are putting on it. For fine rooted, humidity loving things, dense is good. For big rooted things, I suspect the more open tree fern is a better choice.

I've seen both masdevallia and dracula mounted. Not tried it myself. They were doing well, though. Probably a great way to grow them if you do it right.

Originally Posted by daemondamian

Thanks Littlefrog,
so good treefern is the more dense thick solid stuff while the bad is the one that is more open, sort of 'strandy' and crumbles easily?

I don't suppose you have any experience knowledge of mounting Masdevllias or Draculas on treefern? I've been thinking about doing that with the bottom of the mounts sitting in a plastic raingutter with a few cm of water in.

That's how my Stelis porschiana was growing and how I'm continuing to grow it although it's just sitting in a dish of water not a rain gutter.. but I thought you could hang several above each other on a wall