I may have mentioned I have begun growing ssome plants mounted now that
I have a greenhouse. Laelia anceps, for one, never seemed happy in a pot
no matter how loosely potted nor in any sort of mix, yet died when
mounted due to my dry conditions. Now they are mounted on cork and
misted 2-3 times a day. Similarly, I have now mounted two schomburgkias
(Laelias in all bu name to me), Onc.onustum, Laelia rubescens (also
never happy in a pot), Epi.parkinsonianum, and two Holcoglossums.

About 10-12 years ago I was trying to collect brassavola species (not
realizing it was virtually impossible to get most of them in the US) and
have stuggled with them ever since. They weren't happy in coarse bark,
fine bark, recycled rubber tire chips, aliflor, or tree fern. They only
wanted to thrive after they had crawled out of the pot and begun to glue
their roots to the outside of the their pots.

I was having a hard time deciding on the right mount for them - treefern
slabs would be too dense and too moist. Cork never seems to hold any
water at all, and sphagnum on it would not allow the open air their
roots seemed to want. I wanted something that would actually hold a
little moisture but truly dry quickly.

Here is the pic of the solution.

Tennis, you might want to consider a slab of EpiWeb. It looks similar to
tree fern, but is less dense and unlike treefern, does not absorb water at
all in the material, but does hold droplets in the web.

I have just attached some tolumnias to it, and have several
neofinetia/vandaceous crosses that seem to love it, and have some small
oncids that seem to go for it, too.
--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info!


"tenman" wrote in message
...
I may have mentioned I have begun growing ssome plants mounted now that
I have a greenhouse. Laelia anceps, for one, never seemed happy in a pot
no matter how loosely potted nor in any sort of mix, yet died when
mounted due to my dry conditions. Now they are mounted on cork and
misted 2-3 times a day. Similarly, I have now mounted two schomburgkias
(Laelias in all bu name to me), Onc.onustum, Laelia rubescens (also
never happy in a pot), Epi.parkinsonianum, and two Holcoglossums.

About 10-12 years ago I was trying to collect brassavola species (not
realizing it was virtually impossible to get most of them in the US) and
have stuggled with them ever since. They weren't happy in coarse bark,
fine bark, recycled rubber tire chips, aliflor, or tree fern. They only
wanted to thrive after they had crawled out of the pot and begun to glue
their roots to the outside of the their pots.

I was having a hard time deciding on the right mount for them - treefern
slabs would be too dense and too moist. Cork never seems to hold any
water at all, and sphagnum on it would not allow the open air their
roots seemed to want. I wanted something that would actually hold a
little moisture but truly dry quickly.

Here is the pic of the solution.

Ray B wrote:
Tennis, you might want to consider a slab of EpiWeb. It looks similar to
tree fern, but is less dense and unlike treefern, does not absorb water at
all in the material, but does hold droplets in the web.

I have just attached some tolumnias to it, and have several
neofinetia/vandaceous crosses that seem to love it, and have some small
oncids that seem to go for it, too.

I may go that route for some other things later (running out of treefern
slabs quickly!), but I really think the brassavolas want their roots
just hanging out there in the air. I'm anxious to see how the clay does.

Before you managed a greenhouse, did you just grow in a southern house
window? You seem to have great success and knowledge.

Regards, Chuck. Sorry for the poste without your name.


"tenman" wrote in message
...
I may have mentioned I have begun growing ssome plants mounted now that
I have a greenhouse. Laelia anceps, for one, never seemed happy in a pot
no matter how loosely potted nor in any sort of mix, yet died when
mounted due to my dry conditions. Now they are mounted on cork and
misted 2-3 times a day. Similarly, I have now mounted two schomburgkias
(Laelias in all bu name to me), Onc.onustum, Laelia rubescens (also
never happy in a pot), Epi.parkinsonianum, and two Holcoglossums.

About 10-12 years ago I was trying to collect brassavola species (not
realizing it was virtually impossible to get most of them in the US) and
have stuggled with them ever since. They weren't happy in coarse bark,
fine bark, recycled rubber tire chips, aliflor, or tree fern. They only
wanted to thrive after they had crawled out of the pot and begun to glue
their roots to the outside of the their pots.

I was having a hard time deciding on the right mount for them - treefern
slabs would be too dense and too moist. Cork never seems to hold any
water at all, and sphagnum on it would not allow the open air their
roots seemed to want. I wanted something that would actually hold a
little moisture but truly dry quickly.

Here is the pic of the solution.

are you misting by hand or do you have a system on timers?

--j_a

Faz wrote:
Before you managed a greenhouse, did you just grow in a southern house
window? You seem to have great success and knowledge.

Regards, Chuck. Sorry for the poste without your name.

Thanks, I've been growing in growrooms (and outside during the summer)
for about 10-12 years, before which I primarily grew in wardian cases I
built, but of course that was hundreds, thousands of plants ago!!

This month marks a year since I began work on the greenhouse. I moved
the plants in I think about the middle or end of June.

jankey wrote:
are you misting by hand or do you have a system on timers?

--j_a


At present I am misting by hand with a hose from the tap, but I am
hoping to have the time to build a misting system this summer. I hit
them at least twice a day, sometimes three times; takes about 5-10
minutes each time.

One crucial thing I did do was to move the cattleyas from beneath the
vandas and other mistees and put the bromeliads there. I though it might
just be too wet for the catts, but knew the broms would love it.