Last year I purchased some small seedlings (phals mostly) that were mounted
on a stick of grapevine. I thought to myself, self you could do that. You
have plenty of grapevine growing in the woods. I went out and harvested a
big vine (and rescued the tree) and cut it up into 10-12" segments. Over
the past couple of months I've mounted more phals on these with a pad of
sphagnum. The plants are doing wonderfully but....

The roots are not clinging to the grapevine bark like it does on cork. I
contacted the vendor who sold the plants on a stick to me and got a reply
that they are seeing the same result but the plants still do OK.

Today, I took a pocket knife and removed the bark from the grapevine and
made a nice smooth stick. I remounted a couple of the phals on the smooth
stick to see if this improves the adheasion.

Does anyone else have any experience with mounting on grapevine?

Good Growing,
Gene

Gene Schurg wrote:
Last year I purchased some small seedlings (phals mostly) that were mounted
on a stick of grapevine. I thought to myself, self you could do that. You
have plenty of grapevine growing in the woods. I went out and harvested a
big vine (and rescued the tree) and cut it up into 10-12" segments. Over
the past couple of months I've mounted more phals on these with a pad of
sphagnum. The plants are doing wonderfully but....

The roots are not clinging to the grapevine bark like it does on cork. I
contacted the vendor who sold the plants on a stick to me and got a reply
that they are seeing the same result but the plants still do OK.

Today, I took a pocket knife and removed the bark from the grapevine and
made a nice smooth stick. I remounted a couple of the phals on the smooth
stick to see if this improves the adheasion.

Does anyone else have any experience with mounting on grapevine?

Good Growing,
Gene

Nope, don't do Grapevine but will be glad to hear how your work turns
out. Have you tried Oak or some other stick?
Joe T

On Wed, 21 Jun 2006 17:16:40 GMT, "Gene Schurg"
wrote:

Does anyone else have any experience with mounting on grapevine?

Good Growing,
Gene


We always used fruit tree limbs.

Try sending a note to Greg or Liese Butler at Oak Hill Gardens
I know they use and sell grapevine. I
believe they clean it of loose bark, but I could be wrong.


SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/main.php

Gene Schurg wrote:
Last year I purchased some small seedlings (phals mostly) that were mounted
on a stick of grapevine. I thought to myself, self you could do that. You
have plenty of grapevine growing in the woods. I went out and harvested a
big vine (and rescued the tree) and cut it up into 10-12" segments. Over
the past couple of months I've mounted more phals on these with a pad of
sphagnum. The plants are doing wonderfully but....

The roots are not clinging to the grapevine bark like it does on cork. I
contacted the vendor who sold the plants on a stick to me and got a reply
that they are seeing the same result but the plants still do OK.

Good Growing,
Gene

Not grapevine, per se, but vinca we stripped from a tree. It looked
like an interesting candidate for a mount, fuzzy roots and a branches
still intact. Finally the epi-catt is growing to and through the
mount. It improved being mounted from the pot, but the roots didn't
attach to the mount for nearly a year. I suspect that the live green
vines contain some protection that inhibits other plants and vines
attaching to them. You may try soaking or allowing them to age more

Gene Schurg wrote:

Does anyone else have any experience with mounting on grapevine?



I have one orchid mounted on a length of peeled grapevine. It's a
small dendrobium (can't recall the species right now) It does cling to
the vine.

OTOH, I have a --Masd. nidifica-- mounted on cork that is about to
fall off. In five years it has yet to attach firmly to the cork. It
grows and blooms well, but it hasn't attached yet.

I have a couple of oncidiums growing on cedar shakes. They are very
firmly attached.

Cedar shakes are very convenient. They split easily to whatever size
you need and have a rough surface the plants can cling to. Just be
sure to get untreated shakes. Some shakes are treated with a fire
retardant that is bad for plants.

I will be mounting several Bulbos. on shakes in the near future--can't
keep the damned things from 'crawling' out of their pots!

J. Del Col

On 23 Jun 2006 11:15:15 -0700, wrote:

Cedar shakes are very convenient. They split easily to whatever size
you need and have a rough surface the plants can cling to. Just be
sure to get untreated shakes. Some shakes are treated with a fire
retardant that is bad for plants.

I will be mounting several Bulbos. on shakes in the near future--can't
keep the damned things from 'crawling' out of their pots!

J. Del Col

I too like shakes, the problem is the darn fire-retardant. It is very
difficult to find untreated shakes. Has anyone tried "weathered" or
Used shakes? I wondered if years on the roof would make them better
or not. I figured all I need do is wait for a good hail storm -- then
go savaging.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/main.php

I have one mount on an oak stick. About 6 months after mounting it started
growing shelf mushrooms. It also rotted on the end after about a year in
the greenhouse. The Phal equestris on it seems to be doing ok right now.
It's about 2-3 years old on the stick.

Gene




"jtill" wrote in message
ps.com...

Gene Schurg wrote:
Last year I purchased some small seedlings (phals mostly) that were
mounted
on a stick of grapevine. I thought to myself, self you could do that.
You
have plenty of grapevine growing in the woods. I went out and harvested
a
big vine (and rescued the tree) and cut it up into 10-12" segments.
Over
the past couple of months I've mounted more phals on these with a pad of
sphagnum. The plants are doing wonderfully but....

The roots are not clinging to the grapevine bark like it does on cork.
I
contacted the vendor who sold the plants on a stick to me and got a
reply
that they are seeing the same result but the plants still do OK.

Today, I took a pocket knife and removed the bark from the grapevine and
made a nice smooth stick. I remounted a couple of the phals on the
smooth
stick to see if this improves the adheasion.

Does anyone else have any experience with mounting on grapevine?

Good Growing,
Gene

Nope, don't do Grapevine but will be glad to hear how your work turns
out. Have you tried Oak or some other stick?
Joe T

Sue,

I got my original mounts from Greg. He's the person who told me that they
aren't having the roots cling.

Any particular fruit tree? Peach, Plum, Cherry, Apple?

Gene


"Susan Erickson" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 21 Jun 2006 17:16:40 GMT, "Gene Schurg"
wrote:

Does anyone else have any experience with mounting on grapevine?

Good Growing,
Gene


We always used fruit tree limbs.

Try sending a note to Greg or Liese Butler at Oak Hill Gardens
I know they use and sell grapevine. I
believe they clean it of loose bark, but I could be wrong.


SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/main.php

I have a few small mounts on cedar shakes. I don't find them very natural
looking.

Also, if I had success with the grapevine I seem to have an endless supply
of wild grapevine in the woods near my home. I would be doing nature a
favor by cutting it down and finding a use for it.

Gene



wrote in message
oups.com...

Gene Schurg wrote:

Does anyone else have any experience with mounting on grapevine?



I have one orchid mounted on a length of peeled grapevine. It's a
small dendrobium (can't recall the species right now) It does cling to
the vine.

OTOH, I have a --Masd. nidifica-- mounted on cork that is about to
fall off. In five years it has yet to attach firmly to the cork. It
grows and blooms well, but it hasn't attached yet.

I have a couple of oncidiums growing on cedar shakes. They are very
firmly attached.

Cedar shakes are very convenient. They split easily to whatever size
you need and have a rough surface the plants can cling to. Just be
sure to get untreated shakes. Some shakes are treated with a fire
retardant that is bad for plants.

I will be mounting several Bulbos. on shakes in the near future--can't
keep the damned things from 'crawling' out of their pots!

J. Del Col

What would happen if you bought a bundle of them and laid them out in the
weather for the entire summer. Get the moss and stuff to start growing on
them so they don't look so doggone new?

Gene

"Susan Erickson" wrote in message
...
On 23 Jun 2006 11:15:15 -0700, wrote:

Cedar shakes are very convenient. They split easily to whatever size
you need and have a rough surface the plants can cling to. Just be
sure to get untreated shakes. Some shakes are treated with a fire
retardant that is bad for plants.

I will be mounting several Bulbos. on shakes in the near future--can't
keep the damned things from 'crawling' out of their pots!

J. Del Col

I too like shakes, the problem is the darn fire-retardant. It is very
difficult to find untreated shakes. Has anyone tried "weathered" or
Used shakes? I wondered if years on the roof would make them better
or not. I figured all I need do is wait for a good hail storm -- then
go savaging.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/main.php

On Sat, 24 Jun 2006 01:34:37 GMT, "Gene Schurg"
wrote:

Sue,

I got my original mounts from Greg. He's the person who told me that they
aren't having the roots cling.

Any particular fruit tree? Peach, Plum, Cherry, Apple?

Gene

I am tempted to say Yes. G I had a mount the lasted until the
stick rotted a good 10-15 years and it was Cherry I believe. I have
used Apple and Plum. Andy of Orchids on a Stick uses the same stuff
the 'bird people' give to parrots for gnawing and perches. I tried on
e of the bird perches and found it had been dipped in something. I
had to sand it clear.


SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/main.php

Gene Schurg wrote:
What would happen if you bought a bundle of them and laid them out in the
weather for the entire summer. Get the moss and stuff to start growing on
them so they don't look so doggone new?

Gene

"Susan Erickson" wrote in message
...
On 23 Jun 2006 11:15:15 -0700, wrote:

Cedar shakes are very convenient. They split easily to whatever size
you need and have a rough surface the plants can cling to. Just be
sure to get untreated shakes. Some shakes are treated with a fire
retardant that is bad for plants.

I will be mounting several Bulbos. on shakes in the near future--can't
keep the damned things from 'crawling' out of their pots!

J. Del Col

Gene; What about river driftwood? That should be old and salt free. Any
rivers nearby that you can get to? Clean rivers! ;-))
Joe T

Gene: On the grapevine, you might contact EFG/Powerplant, they do a lot of
that. Personally, I'd lose those sphagnum pads, or at least put them on top
of the roots, rather than between the roots and the mount. Other good
mounts: cabbage palm slabs are my very favorite, they seem to induce
exuberant new root growth. Citrus branches also work very well. Kenni

"Gene Schurg" wrote in message
news:Y9fmg.9991$1G2.5093@trnddc06...
Last year I purchased some small seedlings (phals mostly) that were
mounted
on a stick of grapevine. I thought to myself, self you could do that.
You
have plenty of grapevine growing in the woods. I went out and harvested a
big vine (and rescued the tree) and cut it up into 10-12" segments. Over
the past couple of months I've mounted more phals on these with a pad of
sphagnum. The plants are doing wonderfully but....

The roots are not clinging to the grapevine bark like it does on cork. I
contacted the vendor who sold the plants on a stick to me and got a reply
that they are seeing the same result but the plants still do OK.

Today, I took a pocket knife and removed the bark from the grapevine and
made a nice smooth stick. I remounted a couple of the phals on the smooth
stick to see if this improves the adheasion.

Does anyone else have any experience with mounting on grapevine?

Good Growing,
Gene

The shakes I use come from a pile of old, heavily weathered shakes at a
local builders' supply house. They let me have as many as I want for
free, because these shakes are old and much thinner than the new ones.
They bought several bundles of them about ten years ago, and never
sold any. At their thickest they are only about 7/16.

I split them to the sizes I need and trim away the very thin edge.
Voila, nice mounts for orchids. I fasten the orchids on pads of
sphagnum by tying them in place with el-cheapo
monofilament I got at Wally World.

J. Del Col

Hi guys. Might I suggest that you remove the bark from the stick, throw the
stick away, flatten the bark as best you can and mount your plants onto the
bark. A stick without bark is simply a stick. I'm not familiar with
'grapvine' bark, but orchids generally require a reasonably rough surface to
enable the root system to gain a hold. There are not many nutrients that
last in any bark as this is the 'skin' of every tree that is shed on a
regular basis so your plants will require more regular feeding to survive.
Although orchids are ephiphytes which grow 'on' things rather than 'in'
things, their roots do penetrate a living tree to obtain nutrients beneath
the outer bark surface. Another method I have used successfully for dens.and
cats. is hydroponics with a regular feed and sunlight and shade as normal
but utilising the little red bubbles of volcanic rock as a base for them to
grow on. This eventually forms a nice 'skin' of green moss which looks
absolutely great when the plants are in bloom. Hope this helps
Enjoy
Ted

"Gene Schurg" wrote in message
news:Y9fmg.9991$1G2.5093@trnddc06...
Last year I purchased some small seedlings (phals mostly) that were
mounted
on a stick of grapevine. I thought to myself, self you could do that.
You
have plenty of grapevine growing in the woods. I went out and harvested a
big vine (and rescued the tree) and cut it up into 10-12" segments. Over
the past couple of months I've mounted more phals on these with a pad of
sphagnum. The plants are doing wonderfully but....

The roots are not clinging to the grapevine bark like it does on cork. I
contacted the vendor who sold the plants on a stick to me and got a reply
that they are seeing the same result but the plants still do OK.

Today, I took a pocket knife and removed the bark from the grapevine and
made a nice smooth stick. I remounted a couple of the phals on the smooth
stick to see if this improves the adheasion.

Does anyone else have any experience with mounting on grapevine?

Good Growing,
Gene