What's your best orchid growing hack?

[PaphLover]

Well, it doesn't necessarily have to be your 'best' (if you don't want to give up your secrets) . How about interesting, amusing, or most ingenious. It also doesn't have to be for windowsill growing. I just couldn't find the best forum to put this under.

I recently used cheesecloth to provide some shade-like protection for seedlings under lights.

I also bought little silicone baking containers that look like plant pots and are the perfect size for covering 3" plastic pots. They're flexible, so to provide drainage, I used my single-hole paper punch and squeezed the bottom together. For airflow, more holes in the sides, of course. The fun spring-coloured silicone hides the less attractive plant pots and brightens up my windowsills.

[AnonYMouse]

I tie up sphag to mounts with netting from onion bags (or garlic, Babybels, etc.)

[Orchid Whisperer]

I'd say my favorite hack is a "try anything a once" attitude toward potting, mediums, or mounting. Years ago I found that whole wine corks worked very well as a medium for plants in the Cattleya alliance if the roots seemed unhappy in the usual coarse bark mix. I've brought more than one plant back from the brink by switching it to corks.

For Phalaenopsis, I noticed a couple years ago that the spiky, woody fruits of the sweet gum tree (Liquidambar styraciflua) might be a plentiful, easy to obtain alternative to growing in bark. As an experiment, I moved a couple NOID Phalaenopsis into net pots filled with "gum balls" and packing peanuts at the bottom. The plants are happy, with good root growth and no apparent breakdown of the medium.

I've not been very successful at growing Paphiopedilum in the past using conventional mixes based on bark, sphagnum, or other conventional materials, with the medium either being too dry or too wet. Reading old books on orchid growing, I saw references to using "leaf mold", pine needles, and coarse sand in potting media. I have only one hybrid Paphiopedilum at the moment, it has been holding its own for several years, but neither blooming nor growing much. My property has a patch of mixed pine and hardwood forest, so I can collect as much pine/leaf mold as I wan, taking the material that had partially decomposed. One of my favorite walks goes to a small stream with coarse sand, that was easy to collect too. I used both in the medium, with a bit of eggshell and fine charcoal. Within just a few months, the plant has three new leaves and seemscto be preparing to bloom.

Most of my mounting wood is home collected too. I recently mounted two Vandas on spiral sections of Wisteria vines cut from my yard. I also have plants mounted on heart-of-pine collected from my woods.

I'm not against buying materials for my orchids, but if I can collect materials that work as well or better, for free, then why not?

[PaphLover]

AnonYMouse, I used something similar recently for mounting. It's thick plastic netting used to protect glass/breakable items and I found it at Ikea. Since it's just a packing material, it came home with me for free. It's the same kind of stuff they use to wrap pear-apples in to prevent bruising.

Orchid Whisperer, I agree, free is good. And I like that you're willing to experiment.