finally got my dendrobium (hollywood) mounted

[beelady]

my first mount was a phal. on a piece of hedge. said phal.. wich was a bloomless poor looking specimin is soo happy that its bigger.. has a bloom spike and growing roots all over the place..
now the dendro. had been blown out of its pot by a storm. so i thought why not try to mount it.. i found a piece of wood in my bedroom . its manzanita from california and proceded to look and think.. then mount the dendro.. and i think it came out great if i do say so myself lol. it has plenty of growing rootlets so should do fine. few picts added phal.. then dendro.

[camille1585]

I love the shape of the wood you used for the dendro, it looks great! Nice mounting job for both plants.

[Ranchnanny]

I agree the shape of the wood used for the Den is great.

Sheridan

[beelady]

ty much.. its a fairly safe wood.. used alot for cage birdsas perchesas its not poisonous and is verry hard to destroy. i think ihave another piece but need to look for it.. its not shaped like that one tho.. heh..

[learning2letgo]

Great mounts! I have a dendro (or maybe two) that I recently added to my collection that I want to mount - would be my first time trying this - and I'm still toying with ideas in my head.

This post gives me a little to think about Thanks!

[peeweelovesbooks]

Fantastic manzanita and good looking mounts! How big are the pieces of wood? and, of course, where'd you get them? Thus far I've only been able to find teak.

[Junebug]

BeeLady,

I love your mounts. They're great looking pieces of wood and you did a terrific job.

I've used Manzanita too and I have a word of caution. Keep on the lookout for tiny, tiny bug infestations. Two of my mounts have shown evidence of little critters that are tinier than ants and whitish in appearance. I tried soaking the entire mounts (plants and all) multiple times in a solution of systemic bug killer. It seemed to work temporarily but they reappear a few weeks later. The critters don't seem to be eating the plant vegetation but they swarm the outside of the wood when watered and they do leave sizeable piles of sawdust beneath the mounts. I've never had this happen on grapewood, cork, cactus skeleton, or coconut, so I suspect the wood was already infested at the time of purchase. One specimen was the home of a cute little bulbo that was eventually devoured by a squirrel. It is no longer planted but it's still a great looking piece of wood. My next step will be to try multiple soaks in a solution of termite killer.

[stefpix]

probably termites?
try to google or wikipedia termite...

[Bird Song Farm]

Sure do like that mount the den. is on. You placed it just right!
Al

[V_coerulea]

There's no denying the the wood is fantastic. I wish I had a better source near where I live. I do think you may have a little too much sphagnum. I grow a lot of dendrobs and find that the species and primary hybrids like a very open environment. I have a bunch of smaller mounts and 4-10" vanda baskets with bark and peanuts or no mix at all. The hybrid phalaenopsis types, the kind mostly in stores do better in pots with an open mix. With as much sphagnum as you have there, overwatering is a real risk. You can remove a lot as the roots take hold.
It does look very pretty.