Mounting on Pine?

[thepurpleorange]

I've recently acquired a couple slabs of pine and have been wondering if this is a suitable media to use for a mount?

I've been doing some research online but the results vary. some say use pine, and I've read one that says orchids wont mount on pine!

also, how important is it to leave the wood in the sun for a few weeks to dry out?

thanks!!

[dounoharm]

pine is a very resinous wood which would kill your orchid.....also, being a soft wood, the moisture would rot it out rather quickly....pine is attractive to insects as well, so i would not use it for a mount...gl

[Bird Song Farm]

Yep, Dounoharm is right on. The Pitch from a piece of pine would do an orchid (and probably most other plants) in.
I'm experimenting with a piece of Lilac right now and the plant seems very happy.

Al

[thepurpleorange]

oh wow, thanks for your input, both of you!!
pine is not a common tree here in the tropics, but i recently went up to a friend's house on a mountain and saw some cut slabs and got an idea to mount orchids on them!
Good thing I thought to inquire first!!

[Otis226]

I've got 2 slabs of what I assume is Southern Longleaf Pine, from here in FL. They've both been outdoors for at least 3 yrs that I know of, baking in the sun. I got them from a nursery I used to volunteer at. They used them to mount staghorn fern and the like and were successful using it for that. I also know that at least one species of FL native orchid, (Enc. tampenses), is documented to grow on pine trees here. That being said. I do agree with the previous posters that pine is a soft wood that would probably only last 3-4 yrs as a mount, and if not fully cured first the resins would most probably cause trouble. But again, if a FL native species can survive and bloom on it, I'm going to give the two slabs I have a go with something I can stand to lose.
Cheers,
Tony

[thepurpleorange]

hi Tony, those are beautiful slabs you got there!

the problem with mine too is that I don't even know what species of pine it is. Anyway, I feel like I will forego the whole mounting on pine idea! I lose enough orchids already being a newbie, that I'd prefer not to experiment! lol.

Let us know how it goes, whether your orchids survive or not on the new mounts!

[Junebug]

One of my dendrobium keikis is attaching itself to a pressure treated beam in my shadehouse. This struck me as odd, but maybe the wood is safe after weathering for 2 years. I have multiples of the same plant so I'm going to leave the keiki alone to see what will happen.

[NiNiDazzle]

I have two orchids mounted on pine planks. They have been on there for about 3 months now and I already need to remount. It's a soft wood and with daily 20 second dunkings, the wood has split. I'm waiting on some tree fern planks to come in before I remount.

I grow indoors under lights and I guess the soft wood could not hold up with being moist, then super dry, then moist, then super dry...