Growing naturally or is that naturalistically ? catts on trees in England !

[cgorchid]

Beautiful Geoff,

I think you've convienced me to mount a few of my catts also! Great Job!

[PetSlayer]

Check out the sheer SIZE of those roots! Congratulations Geoff, your catts look sooooo endlessly happy!



Laura

[Cjcorner]

Great roots on those! That is why I love mounted cattleya...they grow so easily.

[coeruleo]

i love it. nice to see how orchids are supposed to grow. and them are some amazing roots. they look very happy.

[Dorsetman]

Since I started this thread I have mounted a lot more orchids of various genera , in fact I now have a line extending the length of my greenhouse ( 35 feet, 10.5 m) filled with them, and have just put up another line ready for a few more. I wanted a few pics, to include in a talk I am preparing, and came across this little Cat ( Bc Mai Lai ) which I put on a branch in September, when it arrived here. The thing which gives me great satisfaction is seen in the second view - that new roots are coming not only from the absolute lead, but also from the bulb behind that, and even from a bulb several years older.
Not everything likes it , this bare roots on wood scheme - surprisingly I have not yet managed to get any really thick rooted Vandaceous type ( Aerides, Rhyncostyis, Mokara etc ) to do anything, but Cattleyas and Oncidiums both seem to love it. For Dendrobiums, Ascocentrums, and more genera, I am still trying....

[catttan]

I like this horizontal mounting.Most of my mounts are verticals but I think horizontal mounts really suit cattleyas and dendrobiums. I'll be mounting some of my catts and dendrobes this way the next time I 'repot'.

[AtantaR]

love the pictures of the roots. They are one of my favorite parts of orchids other than the flowers of course. Its cool to see them grow, as you said "naturalistically" lol...I have been converting slowly to wooden mounts compared to pots, myself. Pots are just two constrictive and you can never transplant out of terracatta without ripping the roots off or breaking them.

[ECC_lectic]

Is there any dependence between the type of orchid and the type of wood it's mounted on? Could it be that the vandas aren't happy because the wood they're mounted on is giving off something they disagree with?

I saw some inexpensive sandblasted grape vines in a reptile pet store, 2-3 feet long (60-90 cm), about 2" or 50 mm diameter. Very rough surface due to sandblasting, and not a trace of bark left. Would these be suitable for mounting?

[Dorsetman]

Is there any dependence between the type of orchid and the type of wood it's mounted on? Could it be that the vandas aren't happy because the wood they're mounted on is giving off something they disagree with?

I saw some inexpensive sandblasted grape vines in a reptile pet store, 2-3 feet long (60-90 cm), about 2" or 50 mm diameter. Very rough surface due to sandblasting, and not a trace of bark left. Would these be suitable for mounting?

That could well be right ; it is possible to find plenty of trees in the rain forest with no orchids on them at all , and others quite covered. Perhaps a matter of which trees are 'sympatico' with the microrhizza ( I never know how to spell that word). In any case, the pieces of branch I can find in the English New Forest - oak, ash, holly,sweet chestnut,some coniferous stuff, etc, are unlikely to be the same species, and often not even the same genera as the trees of the rain forest. I would doubt if gtrape is ever the host either ! ( although some you might not guess are frequent hosts - e.g. coffee & cocoa - and they don't grow around here, either ).

[ECC_lectic]

Mycorrhiza



I certainly wouldn't use holly - it's toxic to people and animals, I wouldn't trust it with an orchid.