I was just wondering if anyone has used a natural tree branch wrapped in moss for their climbers or if the thought process is that the wet moss will deteriorate the wood. I ask because I have several small vines that I'd like to train upward. A neighbor behind us recently cut down a tree and some great looking branches fell in our yard. Obviously I would dry them out well beforehand to get rid of any bugs, but I thought it would be a more natural type look, maybe a little more jungle-ish. Any thoughts or dug would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance and have a great day!

What kind of plant do you want to climb up this branch? I would just use the branch, no moss.

A silver satin & neon Pothos & possibly a marble queen. Not moss is a good idea! Thank you!

It depends on the tree. Oak is a great hardwood that takes a long time to deteriorate. Ditto Cypress and Cedar. Pine has too much resin in the wood to use fresh for most things. Sanitized de-salted driftwood is a wonderful mount, as is freshwater driftwood. The hickories we have here have too much natural 'sugar in them and they deteriorate quicker.

It is best IMO (I guess because this is how I do it) to use some Sphagnum moss as a cushion under the plant. It doesn't have to be a lot, but it being damp ups the humidity for the roots and provides water for them to draw on slowly.

I usually mount on totems I make from PVC pipe and coir mat wrapping because I need heavy duty large diameter totems to let more than one large growing climber adhere to. But for a single small plant its nice to use a more natural substrate.

Thanks Gina! I saw your PVC post, which was awesome btw! I have total plant envy for you too! 😁 It's oak, so I should be good in that respect. I wanted driftwood, but haven't had a chance to get down to the lakefront this summer for a scavenging day. I'm hoping to do so soon before it gets too cold here because I want to mount my staghorn on driftwood for sure.

Another cool substrate is cork bark. Orchid growers use it a lot. Its great for all kinds of stuff because it has natural cracks and crevices and lasts a very long time. Its available at some places that sell orchids and also online as 'cork slabs'. I use it for many epiphytic and climbing plants. These are some in my dry planted aquarium called Marcgravias. They are little shingle plants. Each leaf produces small roots and it sticks the plant to the mount without moss. An epipremnum (what you are calling 'pothos') and a Scindapsus (what you are calling 'satin pothos') would both grow on this but the Epipremnul would been to be planted in a container of soil, the Scindapsus would not


Another cool mount (if you can find a big enough piece or enough pieces to meld together to make one larger piece) is Chollo cactus skeleton. They sell some of this stuff at places like petsmart or places that specialize in reptiles

StephanieL said:Thanks Gina! I saw your PVC post, which was awesome btw! I have total plant envy for you too! 😁 It's oak, so I should be good in that respect. I wanted driftwood, but haven't had a chance to get down to the lakefront this summer for a scavenging day. I'm hoping to do so soon before it gets too cold here because I want to mount my staghorn on driftwood for sure.

That's sweet of you to say. Oak is a good choice. You are really lucky to live close to a lake that has wood you can collect! Here we have to go to the Cypress yard (about 20 miles away) to buy large enough pieces.

Skip the Cholla - they rot in a flash with any amount of moisture.

That's surprising I have used them before for orchids

StephanieL said:A silver satin & neon Pothos & possibly a marble queen. Not moss is a good idea! Thank you!

Just to clarify, are we talking about an indoor plant? Certain, and branch you find decorative would work if that is the case.

Yes indoor plants 🙂 I just figured something a bit more natural would be pretty.