Just wanted to show these nice hunks of oak I cut yesterday. Had a big branch that had sagged right down onto the roof and was making creepy sounds in the wind at night. Went up with my little 'toy' pole saw (the saw part is at least 5ft. away from me so I feel pretty safe) and pretty soon 4 big branches were on the ground . . . once you start, right?

I think they'll make some pretty mounts, but the bigger pieces will have to be cut again as they are quite heavy.

Yes, that's the problem with hard wood. It is very heavy. If you could section those thicker pieces so that they are only 1-2" thick, that would give you the "wood" on one side and the bark on the other. The flat wood-side could then be hung or just placed on a surface, allowing the plant to grow more upright.

Here are some examples of various woods, all sectioned (except the cork) to show the character of the wood on one side and leaving the bark side untouched. I generally mount my plants on the bark side but sometimes will mount them on the finished side just to show off the wood.

cypress, oak, cedar, cork, cypress knee, heart-pine
white oak
red oak
cypress
oak (2)with cypress in the middle

Since I'm only using mine for orchids, I'll surely just use the bark side, so there's lots of rough surface for the plants to get their roots into.

Good idea to split the big hunks! I'll have to wait until DH gets home and ask him to cut them with the band saw. My little toy pole saw probably isn't up to that much of a cut.

No, it will take a band cutter (of similar) or a chain saw to do that job. My orchids attach to the finished side nicely, Elaine. I will take a couple of pictures of orchid roots growing over the finished side, and don't forget, I seal the finished side with epoxy, so that surface is very smooth. IF the wood-side is left as-is, it is pretty rough unless you sand it.

Ken, your roots don't need epoxy on them. Very pretty for some other use but I would not mount orchids on them.

I have mounted many dozen orchids, tillandsia, bromeliads, and staghorn ferns on that epoxy surface, Bert. I have done this for over three years and have never seen any sort of problem in mounting to that surface. Keep in mind I am using two-part, chemically cured epoxy, and when it cures it is inert. Thus, this epoxy is nothing like the sealants one is familiar with.

It sure looks pretty, Ken, but I can't help thinking an orchid could attach better to a rough, porous natural surface. It also will retain a little moisture which can't help but increase humidity around the plant. Considering how fast mounted orchids dry out, that's a plus, as well.

My 'chids sure do attach nicely to the rough surface of the cork. They also attach themselves to the sides of plastic and ceramic pots, but the ones that attach to clay pots stick more strongly. eg. I usually have to break a clay pot to re-pot its inmate. The roots will let go of ceramic and plastic pots if I soak them well in water.

I am quite sure you are correct. 90% of my mounted plants are mounted on the natural surface. I simply have people who want their plant mounted on the epoxy side (they love to see the rich wood surface), so 10% are mounted that way. I only use that epoxy side for mounting IF the wood is beautiful when epoxied. When roots do grow on that surface, they attach firmly. About the only thing I use clay for is my Phal. If I have to re-pot, I just use a larger clay pot and sit the old pot in the new one, with orchid media filling in the space. If I have a really big, really top-heavy plant (my personal plants), I will use clay for those as well.

I prefer the idea of attaching to rough bark...it's more natural...but I find the idea of an orchid displayed on a shiny wood grain background VERY enticing! That sounds like an excellent way to trick my DH into tolerating some indoor plants....

I mounted my Rhynchostylis digbyana some years ago on a nice, sturdy piece of Blueberry wood. The plant established well and finally took off for me. I had it in a pot, then years in a basket, it never grew well for me until I mounted it.

You are so funny, Kate. I guess my wife "tolerates" my orchids because she loves to paint their flowers. I wish I could say she "tolerates" them because she loves me. Maybe some of both.

He's getting there.....yesterday, I caught him tenderly picking tiny snails off of our dormant Pachypodiums, and patting the Old Man Palm's beard...He even asked if our Aloe hybrid 'Blue Sky' would survive indoors if we found a cool pot for it.

I found a hunk of what seems to be old palm wood with moss completely covering it....it's crumbly but reminds me of squishy dry cork...I'll post a pic soon but I'm dying to mount something to it. Just feels right. Does anyone ever try to get moss to grow on their mounts using that possibly mythological buttermilk method?

Kate, it seems you and I are caught up in a "moss" discussion on several threads. When you want moss to grow on a mount, I assume you don't mean Spanish moss, right? A lot of my cork has "other" moss growing on it and lots of lichen. Occasionally I will have some moss/lichen growing on an old piece of wood that I have collected, but I have never tried to actually "seed" a mount with moss/lichen. I would not know how to attach it to the wood. I have heard of "feeding" moss/lichen with buttermilk but have never tried to do so. We don't normally have buttermilk in the frig.

Never heard of using buttermilk for anything in the garden, Kate. But if your piece of palm wood already has moss going on it, it will spread of its own accord if the base you put it on is compatible. Try taking a piece and putting it on another mount?

I'd definitely try sticking an orchid on that piece of wood. Phals grow on palm trees in nature, I believe, with their roots upwards attached to the tree and leaves pointing down, then the flowers cascade beautifully when they bloom. (not like you buy in the store, upside down with the flowers staked upwards).

It seems I remember reading something about the bacterial culture(s) in buttermilk making good "fertilizer" for mosses and lichens.

One could look it up of course, but I seem to remember that one puts Buttermilk and (the correct kind of ) moss into a blender and then spray or brush the mixture on to the desired surface. Years ago it was the fashion to "age" your planters that way.

How about that. I never remember seeing that done, but I could have seen it and just didn't recognize how the moss grew on the surfaces.

Yes Ursula, that's precisely what I'm asking about....I wonder if it works.

Ken, I'm referring to real "moss" and lichen...Spanish moss is tillandsia and it seems to happily cling onto things on my epi-wall somehow....I've never glued it on or anything. I just start with a long strand, drape it over stuff and feed/water it as I do everything else and it turns sortof aquamarine color and gets clingy. I also stick ball moss, another tillandisa that looks like a tangle of spanish moss, onto places and it seems to stick like velcro to some things happily and commit suicide off other things! I have more Spanish moss than I know what to do with, but I love it. It's very mystical looking.

Two plants I mounted today:
A Potinara on a chunk of wood my son spotted in the woods (he has an amazing eagle eye for good mounts)






A mini Phal on pecky cypress: