Driftwood mounts - update

[wetfeet101b]

Here are some updated pictures of the orchids that I mounted.

Original pictures
Original pictures #2

C. aurantiaca from the "Romeo and Juliet" piece. These roots are getting big but the plant is still so tiny. The "Romeo" plant (C. guttata) on the top part of the driftwood did not set roots and was drying up badly so I had to repot it in a 2" pot for now.


C. guttata from another piece - the roots have started to take hold of the driftwood. The vertical pseudobulb in the middle did not yet exist on the original pictures - its a brand new growth. This is the "Chinese Mountain Art" piece.


Den. NOID - There are now plenty of roots and a new cane is rapidly growing from the base. This is the "Banana Trees..." piece.


Another Den. NOID - The roots are really digging into the driftwood. A new cane is also growing from the base.
This project originally had no name. But I have decided to name it "Katie's Gift". Since it was in fact, a gift from Katie (desertgal)


The same Den. NOID, showing the two keikis growing from the old cane.


Again, the same Den. NOID showing the new spike and new cane.


I ran out of driftwood so I just mounted this catt backbulb to a bundle of old grape vines that I had lying around. It seems to be happy there too.


Some of the other mounts did not fare so well so those plants have been potted into small plastic pots again for rehab.
When I get some more time and materials I can conjure up some more ideas for driftwood mounts.

BTW:
Most of these mounted driftwoods are located underneath one of the mister nozzles in the GH. So they get regular water and moisture from the frequent misting schedule.
If you want to mount orchids "bare" like this, you will need to water or mist frequently or risk drying out the plants. *Unless you live in a humid place like Florida or Hawaii.


~John

[Brutal_Dreamer]

They are growing well, John! Nice.

Cheers,
BD

[Shaydra]

Wow! That's really cool and those are doing really well (the ones that too, obviously.)

Thanks for the update.

[Molly Taco]

They look HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY !!!
Cin

[cleo]

I think growing them on driftwood is great, so natural looking. Welldone. Cleo

[desertgal]

Hi John......my Den looks very happy! Thanks for posting the picture.

Katie

[wetfeet101b]

Here's an update on the driftwood mounts.
They have come a long way since they were originally mounted.
It is amazing how long the roots get when mounted, compared to being confined in a pot.

Another thing I have observed with these mounts: 0 dead roots.
With comparable plants in plastic pots, I have to cut away dead roots every time I repot.








Roots

[JoeW]

RE: Den. NOID, showing the two keikis growing from the old cane.
Did roots grow well? How did you treat them? Thanks, Joe

[Ron-NY]

John, those are some stunning pieces of drift wood! I wish I could find some as nice! I mount quite a few things on treefern and bark, as well as a few stick and diftwood mounts. I tend to initially put them in an area that is shadier and get watered more frequently, until they get established and then I move them to their proper light levels.

Your driftwood mounts are going to be fabulous someday!

[wetfeet101b]

RE: Den. NOID, showing the two keikis growing from the old cane.
Did roots grow well? How did you treat them? Thanks, Joe

It was an interesting situation. I am glad you brought it up.
Here again is the old picture of the keikis attached to the mother plant.
Lets call the one on the left "A", and the one on the right "B".
Notice that A's base is not constricted by any leaves from the mother plant. Keiki B however, has its base almost entirely surrounded by leaves from the mother plant.


The result is that keiki A was able to produce healthy unrestricted roots and I was able to remove it from the mother plant without incident once it was mature enough.
For keiki B however, the roots were girdled by the surrounding leaves and the roots tried to dig down into the tiny space at the base of the leaf below it.
The leaf was strong and did not give way, so the roots died eventually.

After some time I got curious as to why I was not seeing any roots on keiki B so I gently pulled down the surrounding leaves to take a peek at whats going on. That is when I saw the crumpled remains of roots as they were trying to muscle their way out of the leaves.

The two keikis have been removed from the mother plant and "A" is doing great, while "B" is only beginning to grow on its own.

This is the first keiki "A" (notice it is one of my newer driftwood mounts as well.). It is starting to form its own colony on the driftwood. And has grown a new cane on its own.


And this is its slower twin "B", hanging on to dear life and is growing two keikis as it is being nursed in sphagnum moss.


So a word of caution for dendrobium growers. If you encounter a keiki situation like keiki B above, I would suggest you remove the surrounding leaves from the mother plant ASAP in order to allow unrestricted root growth of the keiki.
The mother plant's leaves were just too darn healthy, to the detriment of the keiki's roots.

Your driftwood mounts are going to be fabulous someday!

Ron,
I buy my driftwoods from aquarium/terrarium supply stores or pet shops.
They are a bit pricier than fern, but you could drop a piano on this wood and it will not crack

I think I made a mistake mounting the C. guttata seedling on this driftwood. Granted that the driftwood is no small chunk of bark (it is about the size of a 12" x 12" wood slab). I now know that a C. guttata pseudobulb could rise up to as much as 5 feet tall. Now imagine several 5-foot tall pseudobulbs growing on a 12"x12" slab lol