Osmunda Wick

Here is how I grow some of my Pleuros.

I take a chunk of Osmunda and a reservoir. Here I am using a PVC end cap for PVC piping it is 1.5" deep and 2" across. I find that a sharp knife works well for cutting Osmunda. It is a messy project so do outdoors or on the potting bench.



I cut a piece of Osmunda, with all the fibers running vertically. My reservoir is 1.5" deep so I want a piece that is 3" long and of a greater diameter than the reservoir. You want to compress the Osmunda together tightly to put into the PVC cap.



You then plant the chid (in this case a Scaphosepalum swetiifolium) in the Osmunda that is above the rim of the reservoir. And fill the reservoir with water.



The Osmunda wicks the water up and the roots of the plant stays moist but yet aerated.

Neat!! What kinds of 'chids are recommended for this kind of "potting" ?

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-Sara
Addicted and loving it.

Interesting thread Ron. I love these kinds of ideas.

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Three wrong doesn't make a right; three left does make a right.

What a great idea! This is cool Ron. You might think about developing it into an article for the library. That way later when someone comes along it is easily found.

Cheers,
BD

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We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box. ...Hmmm? .

I use this method for small Pleuros but should work for for any small chid that requires constant moisture.

Cool! Judi

That is cool.

That should allow some of us "dry climate" folks to have a fighting chance with orchids that prefer to be moist all the time without getting too wet.

Neat! I just got the purple variety of swertifolium on Friday and it needs repotting too.