This is how I mount plants that require a little extra moisture to get started on a mount , it also helps for the times I can't get to water them , which seems to happen more often these days. The wood I have used is a well aged piece of Guava.

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SORRY SOMETHING WENT WRONG INSERTING THE PICS!!

Wow,something went horribly wrong with that post . Anyway. I drill a 38 mm hole at about 45 degrees into the wood and plug it with coco chips The plant , in this case a piece of Miltonia, is held in place with some fishing line

Looks like that would work just fine. Only complaint (minor at that) is that the hole lets a lot of moisture to the center of the wood accelerating it's rotting.

Royal,

Help me! my plants are out of control they arent listening to my thoughts.
Nonetheless, I am pretty sure Cedar is a Fine mounting material. I have seen plenty of orchids mounted to Cedar shingles. the reason for using cedar is that it doesnt rot. I dont know if it has oils in it that are really bad for the orchid but it is supposed to be a tried and true mounting medium.
Anyway, I am planning to make a mount in the near future in which i carve words into a panel of cedar wood. I want to see if i can coax the orchid roots to spell words. you know - kind of like charlottes web except with orchids and it will take a lot longer than over night. possibly use some quote from darwin about evolution or natural selection (and use a hybrid orchid to be ironic - possibly a cattleya hybrid)

jason

Thats very clever , hope it works Good luck

I, personally, have several orchids (minis) mounted on cedar slabs (rough western cedar) or cedar shingles. I doubt cedar has any resins that interfere with orchid growth. I know some resinous woods would interfere, but, for me, cedar seems fine. I also have one on a cedar branch with its bark attached. I wouldn't recommend that scenario as I fight mold daily. I think the bark is the culprit. If it were me, I would buy some rough-sawn cedar lumber, cut some slabs, and mount the orchids. That's what I plan next session of mounting.

What a neat idea, Jason. Kind of orchid root graffiti. The possibilities boggle the mind. Also cedar shakes or planks should be fine, since they are kiln dried, and most of the moisture and oils are removed.

Kim

Hurricane Lili took down one of my friend's catalpa trees - he sliced it up for mounts, and orchids just love that wood. Bonus: it has a scent similar to cypress, slightly menthol-ish.
If you are looking for a source for cork and/or TX grapevine, most of the pet stores in my area carry pretty large pieces for about $10 - usually big enough to use for a number of plants.
My poor iguana, meanwhile, climbs on an old hunk of wood from the yard...sigh!
Regards - Nancy

I use crape myrtle for equitant oncidiums and thin root/smaller dendrobiums, like unicum. Works really well for me and its a hard wood.

I recently got some big pieces of hickory and mesquite I was thinking of trying too. Anybody had an experiences with these? TIA:)