Choosing the right sized mount.

10 years ago

Pots are never a problem, a small plant gets a small pot, when it gets bigger it moves into a bigger pot. With mounts that's not possible, the mount you choose at the beginning stays even as the plant gets bigger. For some plants that's not a problem as they ramble and make a plant ball. Cattleyas are the perfect example. Other plants, on the other hand, look best when the size of the mount matches the plant. Dendrobium speciosum and Oncidium sphacellatum fall into the later category.

Around the turn of the century 2,000 or so, I saw a large Onc sphacellatum in full bloom and was impressed. Could not find a large one to buy and ended up with a blooming sized plant with 5 to 7 pbulbs. I knew what the plant is capable off and hit my son up for a mount. His daytime job is paediatrics but he is a frustrated lumberjack who loves his chainsaw more than life itself. He cut me a sizable Manzanita log with a fork and we put a stand on the bottom similar to what one does to Xmas trees.

I just dropped the plant into the fork did not even have to tie it up as the saddle was so big it rested comfortably there. The only way to describe it at that time was with ridicule. What's this little plant doing in this tree?

Here is a picture of the base of the log. The plant is 14 years older.

Nick

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Comments (6)

orchidnick
Original Author
10 years ago
The back side of it giving an idea of the size of the log. That's a 4' x 8' PVC grid it's sitting on.

Nick
orchidnick
Original Author
10 years ago
The plant. Very little of the log is still visible from the front.

Nick
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orchidnick
Original Author
10 years ago
The plant climbing up the long back leg of the log.

Nick
orchidnick
Original Author
10 years ago
The rootball making up the center of the plant.

Nick
orchidnick
Original Author
10 years ago
This year would have been the break-out year as it made 9 inflorescence. Rats eliminated 2 of them completely and chopped the top of 3 more leaving 4. Oh well there is next year.

Now 14 years later the plant and the log are perfectly matched. I do control how big it will be allowed to get but had I chosen a smaller mount I could not have upgraded it easily. One can of course, pull the plant off it's mount and stick it onto something bigger but getting the right size from the beginning works best. I have a couple of Dendrobium speciosums that got similar treatment.

Nick
jane__ny
10 years ago
Thats very impressive. Where did you start the plant? Toward the middle or lower down? It appears the plant is climbing up.

What a great idea. I've run into problems with a couple of mounts where I started too small. The plants have outgrown the mount and now roots are hanging in the air. I can't remove the plants without destroying too many roots. I've been trying to find larger mounts to tie the smaller mounts to. What a pain.

Nothing like a man with a chain saw!

Jane