Wooden plaque medium???

[Des]

I thought I might mention a talk given to our Orchid Society a few years ago by a couple growing orchids in Kenya . these guys do a lot of traveling It can take 3 days to get to the shops and back there !! So they had to "make a plan " to water their Orchids . What they did was to make a porous clay tube about 75 mm id The outside of the tube had a racked finish so that the plant had a rough surface to cling to . One end of the tube was pinched off so that it now was a reservoir a hole was made just under the lip of the other end for a hanging wire. The whole thing was then fired at about 1200 Centigrade . The tube was topped up with water every now and then. The plants grew very well indeed .

[jason woodrue]

Hi,

You all have been so helpful in posting replies to this. one sense i have been getting is that plants with tasty fruits might be good for orchids. i might try cherry wood in the near future. there are alot of wood types here for me to look up. Has anyone used bald cypress "knees"? has anyone ever mounted more than one type of orchid to the same mount?

thanks,
Jason

[orchids3]

In Florida "Cyprus is the mount of choice' . Most any wood is ok but cedar and oak have an oil that tends to retard root growth. There is a nursery in the state that specializes in mounted orchids and they use cyprus. Drift wood is good but needs to be soaked in fresh water to get out the salt if it somes from the ocean. I look for places that tear down old wooden fences for replacement. Wood that has aged a long time has done well for me and it doesnt seem to matter what it is.

[Weebl]

Living on the California coast I have access to and have used Redwood (wood and bark), Manzanita, Monterey Cypress, Monterey Pine bark slabs with no negative effects noticed. I also have a few baskets made of Ipe and Jatoba that haven't harmed orchids yet.

[phearamedusa]

Originally Posted by nurseryman

Hi all,

Willow. Mounted a Cattleya on some fresh willow and other than cutting off the willows growth it was great!
In fact may be some one clever can confirm my belief that it was the medicinal properties of the willow that stopped this plant from getting any pests....even the dreaded scale. Cattleyas I find prone to this nasty horrid bug.

Rich

I don't know about stopping scale, but it does have medicinal properties, not sure but I think it was something to do with stomach problems. If you want to make your own rooting compound boil willow (green) branches, full instructions were in either maximum yield magazine or growing edge both are online. max. yield has written few articles about orchids recently too.

[nurseryman]

Originally Posted by phearamedusa

I don't know about stopping scale, but it does have medicinal properties, not sure but I think it was something to do with stomach problems. If you want to make your own rooting compound boil willow (green) branches, full instructions were in either maximum yield magazine or growing edge both are online. max. yield has written few articles about orchids recently too.

Hi Will look into this if I can get a long enough break in work!
From memory, I believe Willow contains a natural 'Asprin' as well as quite a few other things.
Rich

[orchids3]

Have read that willow was boiled and used as tea to relieve pain - by the indians - and asperin is a synthetic form of the same compound. Asperin is supposed to help stop rot and fungus. Have tried it but cant say there is any differance. 2 asperins to three gallons of water was what someone recomended to me. It didnt hurt anything but if it helped or not I cant say.

[jason woodrue]

This whole aspirin from willow thing is crazy!

anyway,

Has anyone ever mounted more than 1 different orchid to the same mount substrate??? i would love to see pictures of such a thing.

Also, i read somewhere that some orchids grow on other orchids in nature? anyone know anything about that??

[tim abbott]

I have some long roots that I think are cypress.

How do you attach the plant. Would I wrap it with string? Maybe put a mesh over some growing medium till it got established?

Thanks.

I have attached a picture of what it looks like now.



Tim Abbott

[orchids3]

I use a small strip of Plastic hardware cloth and put a little moss under it. Just staple it to the mount. After the plants establish you can take it off if you like.