It is important to know that there are 2 BIG CHOICES to make. Since many orchids are epiphytes, ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E... ) they can be grown either in pots with various media (bark mix, sphagnum moss, rocks) or with little or no media with roots exposed either mounted on wood or in baskets (wood or plastic).

When an orchid is mounted, the roots need watering daily.
In pots, most orchids can be watered (well) once a week like other houseplants. So you need to chose what you are WILLING to do.

If the roots are coming out of the pot, which is common and doesn't mean you must repot them, I mist them daily so the water makes the root greener. Usually nights are cooler than day. So it's best to have them watered and wet early in the day so the roots are dry by night.

So glad cubits is back because I haven't had time to read a lot of the information here. I have 8 of the mounted ones and enjoy being able to see the roots and also not have to worry about overwatering them. Do you know a good place to order the mounting materials? I am thinking about changing a few of my potted ones to mounted. Do the plants usually adjust well to this change?

As long as you water daily they adjust! I can get baskets locally at plant store. I buy some mounting material at shows and online at repotme.com. Ursula turned me on to epiweb instead of tree fern now..

So far, my mounted orchid is doing well. Do you take yours off the wall and soak them or just thoroughly mist them?

I used to dunk them but now they get sprayed with a hose and sprayer. Just as long as their roots are wet (some change color from white to green) and they are dry by night. Unless they are masdies and need to stay wet. Refresh my memory. Which is your mounted one?

My mounted orchid is the Pleurothallis schizopogon. It seem to be doing quite well. The only one that is not feeling so hot is Sedirea japonica. It started out great and what was a tiny little bump when I purchased it at the Connectucut show, turned into quite a nice spike with buds, but then leaves started falling off. Too much light I think. I have moved it away from the window, but I am not sure how it will do. The roots look good but the spike does not look so healthy and 2 of its 4 leaves have dropped.

At least you got a spike! My Sederia japonica looks healthy, and I saw lots of them in bloom last weekend, but I've got no sign of a spike. I'm keeping it in shade...maybe too much shade?

I think they are hard and a lot fussier than phals.

I'm a novice orchid grower but I've become totally hooked on mounted orchids since my first purchase from Marble Branch Farms last year. I've even successfully mounted a couple myself. My orchids stay out in my screened pool area most of the year but I do have to bring them inside from @ mid November until early March. They get showered with the garden hose every morning and now that we are into the dog days of summer they get an afternoon spritz as well. For fertilizing I have 5 gal buckets that I fill with water and fertilizer, dunk the plants for a few minutes until they are fully saturated and then hang them back up to drip/drain. I find that mounted orchids do so much better for me ... less likely to have root rot and I like to be able to view the roots.

Broughtonia sanguinea (Splash Petal Form):

That's great Lin! I agree. And I love your Broughtonia sanguinea. I have a pink splash but it hasn't bloomed yet.

I'm curious if any of y'all have tried this?

http://www.orchidboard.com/com...

We have a local business that cold-fires their pottery so it's a good porous clay pot. They're referred to as "ollas" and are used in several types of gardens to help with watering.
http://drippingspringsollas.co...

I have mounted Neofinetia falcatas on upside down clay pots but the roots never adhered so I gave up. That looks very cool.
Love the ollas!

I have done outside mounting on wine coolers made out of clay, but they weren't porous enough. I like these Ollas a lot! Too bad they don't sell them from their website.

I'll definitely give them a head's up for that!

That's a beautiful mounting idea. I fear shipping costs might kill the idea of buying online, though. A nice porous clay pot like those would be heavy and fragile!

What about using broken pieces of clay pots? For moisture lovers you could set the piece of clay in a saucer so it could wick the water up.

On a side note for mounting materials, I love the look of cork pieces, and our local nursery Tropiflora sells them fairly reasonably. They also sell online. www.tropiflora.com
The big piece at the top of this pic was only $6 and I could cut about 1/3 of it off for another mount if I needed it. But I like the way it looks. The Brassavola at the bottom is on a hunk of tree fern that I cut from a stump in my garden. I've also mounted a phal on a palm boot, and I'm not entirely sure how that is working yet. Overwatering is a worry here in summer if it rains a lot, but in winter I have to set up a mister on a timer to spray the mounted orchids twice a day if we're out of town.

Looks very nice, Elaine. I have a couple of Orchids in bark myself. Some grow very nicely on that.