Idea For Mounted Moisture Loving Orchids
 

Hi! I have an idea for placing a Haraella (or should I say Gastrochilus!) haraella in my set up http://www.orchidboard.com/community...tml#post599483. The plant is mounted on a 5" long x 3/4" diameter section of branch. Since it likes to be continuously moist, I came up with the idea of hanging it vertically so the bottom inch of the branch is submerged in water. The lowest roots are at least 2" above water, but the branch itself is now saturated. Any thoughts?

Two thoughts - I don't know how well a branch is going to wick, and if it is porous enough to wick well, it's going to decompose pretty rapidly.

It definitely wicks, because the flat top of the branch is damp to the touch. I'm not too concerned about the stick, just the orchid.

Nice idea. I did something similar as last winter, my house was dryer. I mounted my haraella, bare root, on a hunk of red lava rock with a tiny patch of moss from my yard. I set it in a clear plastic box with a clear lid in a half inch of water. Both orchid and moss are doing well and I rarely need to add water.

I would be worried about the branch rotting, but also it could get moldy, I've had a branch do that before, get moldy from being too damp (didn't have an orchid on it, tho). Leafmite's setup would work, b/c the mount is inorganic, so it couldn't decompose, or mold.

@ Leafmite, is there a pic of this? I would love to see it, I've seen something similar before, I think with live spag at the bottom, in the water dish, it was pretty. I have a lava rock I'd gotten for this same thing, just not sure which orchid I wanna put on it yet... :hmm Def moss, and def with a sundew plant on there, as well as an orchid... Can't find a sundew plant tho..

There is a picture of it in at least one other thread here (I think two). I believe One is in a recent haraella post. It isn't fancy or a large rock but it works.