Wooden plaque medium???
 

Hi all,

this seems like the right place to post this question.

I know that orchids like cedar and (though i havent used it yet) cypress, grapewood, and salt-free drift wood.

anyone ever use oak? cypress? other exotic hardwoods: purple heart, bloodwood, bubinga?
general hardwoods: walnut, cherry, ash, maple?

I know some woods have oils or other secretions that make growing on them a bad idea?

anyones thoughts, experience, or other info regarding this matter would be greatly appreciated.

thanks
jason woodrue, the floronic man

Hi Jason,

Great question:scratchhead: I also read somewhere about some types of wood with nasty oils and secretions not to be used for orchids. :hmm Cannot for the life of me remember where I read it. I'm sure somebody here at OB can help. For now I'm sticking with the cork, driftwood, grape vine and a few others that I see locally. I have a couple pieces of swamp cypress pieces and they are the hardest to drill through for attaching a hanger. Going to experiment with cocoanut husks next. I have one ready to start sawing into thirds.
Lorraine

Hi Jason. Just from the perspective of oiliness, I would avoid the purpleheart, bubinga, bloodwood, or anything similar. I know from woodworking that they can be quite irritating when their oils are released through sawing or sanding.To be on the safe side, if they can do that to your nose, don't take a chance on your orchids.

Kim

Hi Jason, I have mounts from Apple (just avoid the bark - ie, peel the branch first) Manzanita, cedar, shingles, wood slats, cork. I think nearly any non-oily wood would work as long as it is rot-resitant. That will be the main problem, decay in the wood.

I have some equitant oncidiums doing quite well on bark-free maple. They are branches that were "self-pruned", so they were fairly "sap free" to start.

Ive been successfully mounting my orchids on a hardwood that I found on the side of the road. A buddy of mine swears that it's guava and I have no reason not to believe him. So far so good!

Oak and such are great. Cypress is among the best. Guava and cacao (don't have cacao there!) are fine. Citrus is fine. Cedar is good.
All these have orchids growing on them in the wild here. Some hardwoods have no orchids, bromeliads, anthuriums, or whatever on them. Driftwood is good if you get the salt out. A lot of varieties grow on mangrove here. In Florida I found Enc. tampensis, Epi. cochleatum etc. growing on mangrove. Vanilla is all over it here in Pamama.

Hi all,
Dont know a lot of the trees in the posts above, but I can tell you what I have used.
Normal oak works ok, but I found it very heavy.
Willow. Mounted a Cattleya on some fresh willow and other than cutting off the willows growth it was great!
In fact may be some one clever can confirm my belief that it was the medicinal properties of the willow that stopped this plant from getting any pests....even the dreaded scale. Cattleyas I find prone to this nasty horrid bug.
Buddleia....also called 'butterfly bush/tree. Have taken to using this a lot. It grows all over.People have them in gardens and are always pruning bits off, as do I. found it good for many things. Only problem is its rare to get large trunks as people dont let the get that big. So far managed a few 6''+ (150mm) diameter pieces from a grubbed up tree on a building site.
Rich

What a wonderful thread , so interesting to hear about the indigenous woods you have , at least I hope they are all indigenous, not much here is . When the settlers arrived here they also brought much of their flora and fauna with them so that they could feel more at home. I mount my plants on Australian Bottlebrush, slabs of pine bark, sneezewood, and cape ash. Out of those bottlebrush is without a doubt the best .