My first mounted orchid. P Bellina var Coerulea

[Manu]

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to share pics of my first mounted orchid. I had purchased a cork slab a while ago but never got to it... I used my Phal Bellina Var Coerulea which was in a small 2.5 in pot. I drilled lots of 1/8" holes under the bottom layer of sphagnum moss to allow it to breath and only used small amounts of moss all tied tightly (but not to tight to brake the roots) with 50 Pound braided dark green fishing line (I fish a lot). The plant is very stable.

Any constructive criticism is welcome and tips on how to make the pot to mount transition smooth? I don't want to kill this plant

Also regarding the watering, what's your best practice??

Thanks in advance!

[Helene]

Looks good- and so does your plants in the background aswell👍🏻

Have no experience in the mounting- so someone else hopefully answer that part

I like the leaves though

[Triffid]

Only advice I can offer, especially as this is your first, is that you will have to check it daily, for the time being. It may be that you will have to mist more or less often than other people and this will be determined by your environment. At the moment I have a couple of mounted orchids and both usually require a daily misting, more on hotter days - but that's what works for me.

How often the mount needs to be soaked will also depend on your conditions. For some people it may be as often as twice a week, and for others once every two.

It should become apparent over time what will work best for you.

Leaving it in a vase with the mount touching the water in the bottom may work for you, though when I tried it I found that the base of the mount degraded quickly (but that may have just been the type of wood that I used in that case). So just keep an eye on that, unless it's just having a soak in the pictures above.
Nothing stopping you keeping it like that, but you may want to consider adding a gravel layer to the vase so that the mount does not stand in the water and you still that humidity tray effect. It will also add some extra weight to the base vase.

I am sure there are plenty of other people that can add some helpful hints and tips. Though for a first time mount I'd say that looks very nice indeed and highly promising.

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[Manu]

Originally Posted by Triffid

Only advice I can offer, especially as this is your first, is that you will have to check it daily, for the time being. It may be that you will have to mist more or less often than other people and this will be determined by your environment. At the moment I have a couple of mounted orchids and both usually require a daily misting, more on hotter days - but that's what works for me.

How often the mount needs to be soaked will also depend on your conditions. For some people it may be as often as twice a week, and for others once every two.

It should become apparent over time what will work best for you.

Leaving it in a vase with the mount touching the water in the bottom may work for you, though when I tried it I found that the base of the mount degraded quickly (but that may have just been the type of wood that I used in that case). So just keep an eye on that, unless it's just having a soak in the pictures above.
Nothing stopping you keeping it like that, but you may want to consider adding a gravel layer to the vase so that the mount does not stand in the water and you still that humidity tray effect. It will also add some extra weight to the base vase.

I am sure there are plenty of other people that can add some helpful hints and tips. Though for a first time mount I'd say that looks very nice indeed and highly promising.

Thanks I already removed the water as I didn't feel it was providing any additional humidity and anyway I'm around all the time so I can monitor and mist... summers are humid here so I should be fine with regular misting and soaking. Does soaking the entire mount actually helps. This is true cork, the same stuff they use for wine bottles... it doesn't breath and doesn't absorb any humidity (hence why they use it to seal wine bottles)...

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[Leafmite]

That looks great!

[Triffid]

Originally Posted by Manu

Does soaking the entire mount actually helps. This is true cork, the same stuff they use for wine bottles... it doesn't breath and doesn't absorb any humidity (hence why they use it to seal wine bottles)...

If nothing else a good soak or drenching will allow a good time to feed the plant, and even flush any build ups withing the moss part. You may not need to soak it in a bucket, though when you want to give it a feed you may just want to use a watering can.

Cork is amazing stuff, so soaking it may seem pointless, but natural cork will have lenticels that allow the inner cella of the bark to breath. Cork bottles cut from whole cork (not shredded and compressed) will be cut so that these lenticels will be across the cork to prevent seepage. So I would guess that some water may soak into these structures!?

Also with the large piece you have and all those crevices it may indeed increasingly attract the roots into the crevices, where the water will take longer to evaporate away, which may provide even more grip for the plant..... Sorry, you have me thinking now

[Manu]

Originally Posted by Triffid

If nothing else a good soak or drenching will allow a good time to feed the plant, and even flush any build ups withing the moss part. You may not need to soak it in a bucket, though when you want to give it a feed you may just want to use a watering can.

Cork is amazing stuff, so soaking it may seem pointless, but natural cork will have lenticels that allow the inner cella of the bark to breath. Cork bottles cut from whole cork (not shredded and compressed) will be cut so that these lenticels will be across the cork to prevent seepage. So I would guess that some water may soak into these structures!?

Also with the large piece you have and all those crevices it may indeed increasingly attract the roots into the crevices, where the water will take longer to evaporate away, which may provide even more grip for the plant..... Sorry, you have me thinking now

Thanks for your input! You got me thinking as well now!

When you soak the plant, do you avoid getting water on the leaves and crown, or that doesn't matter?

[u bada]

A few things to add:

Phals are a good thing to start mounting with as they for some reason are adaptable to drying out, although with this species I'd probably wouldn't let it dry out for too long before watering.

Dunking a whole mount with plant is a good idea, especially on drier days/months. You can let it sit in the water for 20 minutes or hours as some do... even overnight... but with this species, as note, with big floppy leaves they can break kinda easy so be careful when you dunk... and the center can rot if water gets into it, so perhaps just dunk with mount and roots submerged.

Another note for this species, it really responds to warmth, and also considering it was just mounted, I would give it time to start growing, it may not do so for months even, maybe not til it's really warm and humid, but maybe sooner, ya never know! just forewarning you if it sits there and does nothing for a while... I personally don't repot or mount warm growers until it's consistently warm or if I see new growth or root tips.... but phals are a bit more forgiving (except certain species which can drive one crazy)

One other personal note about mounting, sphag in my experience degrades pretty quickly when exposed as it is on a mount and watered/misted frequently... sometimes degraded sphag can cause a green root tip to stop growing, so I will actually pull old moss away from roots if i see them settling into the bark and taking hold, which is what we really need to see. I prefer not to use much sphag when I mount, expecting to pull it off once it's established, but when you're not growing in greenhouse or terrarium/ orchidarium, you do what you have to do. Big fat rooted orchid roots especially i found prefer to attached to a mount directly, like phal roots, and sphag can deter this... finer rooted orchid species can grow around sphag to attach to mounts directly much better.

[Manu]

Originally Posted by u bada

A few things to add:

Phals are a good thing to start mounting with as they for some reason are adaptable to drying out, although with this species I'd probably wouldn't let it dry out for too long before watering.

Dunking a whole mount with plant is a good idea, especially on drier days/months. You can let it sit in the water for 20 minutes or hours as some do... even overnight... but with this species, as note, with big floppy leaves they can break kinda easy so be careful when you dunk... and the center can rot if water gets into it, so perhaps just dunk with mount and roots submerged.

Another note for this species, it really responds to warmth, and also considering it was just mounted, I would give it time to start growing, it may not do so for months even, maybe not til it's really warm and humid, but maybe sooner, ya never know! just forewarning you if it sits there and does nothing for a while... I personally don't repot or mount warm growers until it's consistently warm or if I see new growth or root tips.... but phals are a bit more forgiving (except certain species which can drive one crazy)

One other personal note about mounting, sphag in my experience degrades pretty quickly when exposed as it is on a mount and watered/misted frequently... sometimes degraded sphag can cause a green root tip to stop growing, so I will actually pull old moss away from roots if i see them settling into the bark and taking hold, which is what we really need to see. I prefer not to use much sphag when I mount, expecting to pull it off once it's established, but when you're not growing in greenhouse or terrarium/ orchidarium, you do what you have to do. Big fat rooted orchid roots especially i found prefer to attached to a mount directly, like phal roots, and sphag can deter this... finer rooted orchid species can grow around sphag to attach to mounts directly much better.

This is great info, thanks. Just to clarify, it has currently a new root and few active older ones growing. Temps are getting warmer, but not to warm so that I can provide direct morning sun. All my plants are in active growth right now so I figured timing was right... as for the spaghnum Moss... there is really not much, max 3 or 4 mm tick.

[Triffid]

Good advice from u bada there

Would have to concur with not getting water in the crown, I try to soak only the roots and mount.