Almost all of my plants are mounted on cork bark, tree fern or well aged
driftwood. With the recent hurricanes there are plenty of nice freshly
fallen pieces of oak around. Is that safe to mount plants on? I
thought that cork came from oak trees. . .

Dustin

Hi Dustin, There are cork trees which are grown for the harvesting of
the bark to make wine bottle corks.
I use a lot of driftwood as I also grow Tillandsias (air plants)
so collected pieces everytime we went on vacation.
One piece had Termites & I didn't know it at the time! So I
soak everything using Malathion & then with clear water. This is
difficult to do as wood floats. I used a nylon mesh turkey bag with
a rock & some driftwood, tied it up & the weight of the rock kept
the wood under water. I have use bleach too.
I like to use grape wood sticks but they are hard to find?

--
Cheers Wendy

Remove PETERPAN for email reply

Dustin wrote:
Almost all of my plants are mounted on cork bark, tree fern or well
aged driftwood. With the recent hurricanes there are plenty of nice
freshly fallen pieces of oak around. Is that safe to mount plants
on? I thought that cork came from oak trees. . .

Dustin

ANd would't the salt from sea water be a problem if you did not treat the
driftwood first?


"wendy7" wrote in message
news:Qkvbd.26068$kz3.5603@fed1read02...
Hi Dustin, There are cork trees which are grown for the harvesting of
the bark to make wine bottle corks.
I use a lot of driftwood as I also grow Tillandsias (air plants)
so collected pieces everytime we went on vacation.
One piece had Termites & I didn't know it at the time! So I
soak everything using Malathion & then with clear water. This is
difficult to do as wood floats. I used a nylon mesh turkey bag with
a rock & some driftwood, tied it up & the weight of the rock kept
the wood under water. I have use bleach too.
I like to use grape wood sticks but they are hard to find?

--
Cheers Wendy

Remove PETERPAN for email reply

Dustin wrote:
Almost all of my plants are mounted on cork bark, tree fern or well
aged driftwood. With the recent hurricanes there are plenty of nice
freshly fallen pieces of oak around. Is that safe to mount plants
on? I thought that cork came from oak trees. . .

Dustin

(Dustin ) wrote in message ...
Almost all of my plants are mounted on cork bark, tree fern or well aged
driftwood. With the recent hurricanes there are plenty of nice freshly
fallen pieces of oak around. Is that safe to mount plants on? I
thought that cork came from oak trees. . .


It does indeed, but not from the kinds of oak trees in Florida.

J. Del col

(Dustin ) wrote in message ...
Almost all of my plants are mounted on cork bark, tree fern or well aged
driftwood. With the recent hurricanes there are plenty of nice freshly
fallen pieces of oak around. Is that safe to mount plants on? I
thought that cork came from oak trees. . .


It does indeed, but not from the kinds of oak trees in Florida.

J. Del col

Certainly, if one were using salt-water driftwood. In many areas, however,
fresh-water driftwood from lakes or rivers is available.
--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids
http://www.jborchids.com

"Princess Spendalotta" wrote in
message news:Jawbd.126349$He1.94762@attbi_s01...
ANd would't the salt from sea water be a problem if you did not treat the
driftwood first?


"wendy7" wrote in message
news:Qkvbd.26068$kz3.5603@fed1read02...
Hi Dustin, There are cork trees which are grown for the harvesting of
the bark to make wine bottle corks.
I use a lot of driftwood as I also grow Tillandsias (air plants)
so collected pieces everytime we went on vacation.
One piece had Termites & I didn't know it at the time! So I
soak everything using Malathion & then with clear water. This is
difficult to do as wood floats. I used a nylon mesh turkey bag with
a rock & some driftwood, tied it up & the weight of the rock kept
the wood under water. I have use bleach too.
I like to use grape wood sticks but they are hard to find?

--
Cheers Wendy

Remove PETERPAN for email reply

Dustin wrote:
Almost all of my plants are mounted on cork bark, tree fern or well
aged driftwood. With the recent hurricanes there are plenty of nice
freshly fallen pieces of oak around. Is that safe to mount plants
on? I thought that cork came from oak trees. . .

Dustin

Certainly, if one were using salt-water driftwood. In many areas, however,
fresh-water driftwood from lakes or rivers is available.
--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids
http://www.jborchids.com

"Princess Spendalotta" wrote in
message news:Jawbd.126349$He1.94762@attbi_s01...
ANd would't the salt from sea water be a problem if you did not treat the
driftwood first?


"wendy7" wrote in message
news:Qkvbd.26068$kz3.5603@fed1read02...
Hi Dustin, There are cork trees which are grown for the harvesting of
the bark to make wine bottle corks.
I use a lot of driftwood as I also grow Tillandsias (air plants)
so collected pieces everytime we went on vacation.
One piece had Termites & I didn't know it at the time! So I
soak everything using Malathion & then with clear water. This is
difficult to do as wood floats. I used a nylon mesh turkey bag with
a rock & some driftwood, tied it up & the weight of the rock kept
the wood under water. I have use bleach too.
I like to use grape wood sticks but they are hard to find?

--
Cheers Wendy

Remove PETERPAN for email reply

Dustin wrote:
Almost all of my plants are mounted on cork bark, tree fern or well
aged driftwood. With the recent hurricanes there are plenty of nice
freshly fallen pieces of oak around. Is that safe to mount plants
on? I thought that cork came from oak trees. . .

Dustin

I know its a different kind of oak, I was just wondering if the type of
oaks we have here would be safe to use before it has dried out or
turned into "driftwood"

Dustin


J. Del Col wrote:

(Dustin ) wrote in message ...
Almost all of my plants are mounted on cork bark, tree fern or well aged
driftwood. With the recent hurricanes there are plenty of nice freshly
fallen pieces of oak around. Is that safe to mount plants on? I
thought that cork came from oak trees. . .


It does indeed, but not from the kinds of oak trees in Florida.

J. Del col

I know its a different kind of oak, I was just wondering if the type of
oaks we have here would be safe to use before it has dried out or
turned into "driftwood"

Look around! Loads of us Floridians grow orchids attached to our live oaks,
so I can't see why using a piece of wood from one for a mount would be a
problem.

Diana

I know its a different kind of oak, I was just wondering if the type of
oaks we have here would be safe to use before it has dried out or
turned into "driftwood"

Look around! Loads of us Floridians grow orchids attached to our live oaks,
so I can't see why using a piece of wood from one for a mount would be a
problem.

Diana

I thought about that, those trees are live and healthy though. I wasnt
sure if the fresh cut wood would break down and perhaps be too acidic or
something.

Dustin


Diana Kulaga wrote:

I know its a different kind of oak, I was just wondering if the type of
oaks we have here would be safe to use before it has dried out or
turned into "driftwood"

Look around! Loads of us Floridians grow orchids attached to our live oaks,
so I can't see why using a piece of wood from one for a mount would be a
problem.

Diana

I thought about that, those trees are live and healthy though. I wasnt
sure if the fresh cut wood would break down and perhaps be too acidic or
something.

Dustin


Diana Kulaga wrote:

I know its a different kind of oak, I was just wondering if the type of
oaks we have here would be safe to use before it has dried out or
turned into "driftwood"

Look around! Loads of us Floridians grow orchids attached to our live oaks,
so I can't see why using a piece of wood from one for a mount would be a
problem.

Diana

I think the issue with downed oak is twofold: if the wood has bark, great,
but in time it - and the orchid attached to it - will fall off, and if you
remove the bark, the wood is likely to be so dense that its moisture-holding
capacity will be minimal. Granted, down your way that latter situation
might not be an issue.

I would be concerned about the chemistry of fresh wood, though. If I was in
your shoes I'd strip the bark and leave the wood out to "weather" a few
months before use. I have a lot of maples here in SE PA, and when dead
branches fall out of the trees - long since debarked and weathered - they
are great for mounting tolumnias and the like, but the plants will shy away
from fresh branches.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!
..
"Dustin " wrote in message ...
I thought about that, those trees are live and healthy though. I wasnt
sure if the fresh cut wood would break down and perhaps be too acidic or
something.

Dustin


Diana Kulaga wrote:

I know its a different kind of oak, I was just wondering if the type of
oaks we have here would be safe to use before it has dried out or
turned into "driftwood"

Look around! Loads of us Floridians grow orchids attached to our live
oaks,
so I can't see why using a piece of wood from one for a mount would be a
problem.

Diana

Hi All,

I just stumbled on this thread, and am so glad.... as I was wondering
if manzanita trunks and large branches would make decent orchid
mounting material. Any opinions on that? This is manzanita that is
native to Northern California. I have plenty of it on our property.
Some of it pretty old and obviously dead looking. The red bark is all
peeled away. Nothing but weathered, gray, gnarly twisted trunks and
limbs. Pretty cool looking stuff!

Wendy, how long do you soak the bark in Malathion and then in clear
water? Also, have you ever tried manzanita for mounting your orchids?

Thanks!
Lori

Manzanita is a good choice. Andy's Orchids in So. Cal uses it extensively
for his mounted orchid species. I don't know how he preps it, if at all
though. If you are interested, his site is at
http://www.andysorchids.com/default.asp

Good luck!
Garland

"Lori Siegmund" wrote in message
om...
Hi All,

I just stumbled on this thread, and am so glad.... as I was wondering
if manzanita trunks and large branches would make decent orchid
mounting material. Any opinions on that? This is manzanita that is
native to Northern California. I have plenty of it on our property.
Some of it pretty old and obviously dead looking. The red bark is all
peeled away. Nothing but weathered, gray, gnarly twisted trunks and
limbs. Pretty cool looking stuff!

Wendy, how long do you soak the bark in Malathion and then in clear
water? Also, have you ever tried manzanita for mounting your orchids?

Thanks!
Lori