Moss vs coco coir poles
 

I was wondering how many people had experience mounting and growing orchids on moss poles or coco coir poles. Specifically, I'm wondering how easy it was to keep the pole at the correct moisture level, how long the pole lasted, and what, if anything, people did if/when the moss or coir degraded too much to keep the orchids healthy.

I haven't grown them, but I've seen a vendor mount wet-growing Bulbophyllums on a moss-filled tube of plastic fencing material.

I have found that moisture-loving plants do OK on those tree-fern poles and slabs (Bulbophyllum as mentioned by ES, also Pleurothallids) I have found that it stays too wet for most other things. I have better success with less-water-retentive mounts. I can boost the moisture holding with a bit of sphag over the roots if I need it (and can remove it if I don't). If the mount holds water, all you can do to "fine tune" it is to reduce watering frequency. (On the other hand, that may work well for you... for me, as a heavy waterer, not so much.)

i have a few thoughts -
i have tried 10 variations or so of this concept and i am really pleased with the most recent iteration but i need to know what you are growing and how?

i have wrapped sticks with both coir and moss, i have used gutter guard to make a tube that i filled with shredded mulch and then one filled with leca, then a mix of leca and grow cubes.

i tried using areca palm trunks as the main body ( they are a lot like tree fern in their structure) with a basket of mix at the bottom

most recently i am using galvanized hardware cloth and filling it with my normal inorganic mix and then i either wrap it in hygrolon or not depending on the plant i am intending to use.


as far as your questions- coir lasts longer than moss but hold a lot less water- they both will get completely taken over by roots and once they are out grown or fall apart- they will need to be attached to another mount and secured to that-
the question of the longevity as a lot more to do with the structural parts- if you use bamboo it will be 2 years, plastic, 3-4 years, i an not sure about the galvanized tubes but i think they should last 10+ years

I impulse bought a vanilla orchid because of a sale. What I really wanted was a giant porous ceramic tube, like a six foot Kool-log, so I'm looking for mounts that'll keep the aerial roots happy, which led me to believe that moss poles and the like might be the my best bet.

DirtyCoconuts, do you have pictures of your inorganic mounts?

Are you growing in a house, or a greenhouse? What are your ambient temperatures and humidty?

Vanilla grows fine bare-root in high humidity if you water regularly. This would include most greenhouses.

At home. It's in an indoor "greenhouse" (really a growing tent sleeve on cheap plastic frame) while it still fits. The ambient humidity in my apartment is 58-62% now that the AC isn't running as much, so I do want to give it more humidity than it's getting, especially once it outgrows its current home.

Pics tomorrow as Flickr does not allow irl links on the app. Why, I could never imagine.

---------- Post added at 01:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:35 AM ----------

URL not irl. Phone is really “winning” tonight hahahaha