Just learned that 70% of orchids grow in trees naturally, not in soil

I was reading that new book on tropical plants from the library and saw that stat about orchids being epiphytes. It blew my mind because every orchid I've ever owned was potted in bark mix. So which side is right - should we be mounting orchids on wood like in nature, or are pots fine for home use?

3 comments

3 Comments

theajohnson4d agoMost Upvoted

so the tree thing is totally true for most orchids, and i've been down this exact rabbit hole. a lot of the common ones like phalaenopsis are actually epiphytes in the wild, they just cling to bark and get rain and air. i tried mounting one on a piece of cork bark once and it did great for like 8 months until i forgot to water it and it shriveled up. honestly pots are fine for most people because you can control the moisture better, just use a really chunky bark mix with lots of air pockets. if you want to try mounting, go with something like a cattleya or dendrobium since they handle the drying out cycles better than moth orchids do.

green.noah4d ago

That cork bark experiment sounds about right for how my luck goes too. I tried mounting a little phalaenopsis on a piece of driftwood once and it stayed alive just long enough to give me false hope before it dropped every single leaf. Now I just keep mine in a plastic pot with holes drilled all over it like some kind of plant colander. It looks stupid but the roots dont rot so I cant complain.

nancy_wood4d ago

Oh man, I went through the same thing a few years ago... bought a beautiful little cattleya on a whim and tried mounting it on a cedar shingle. It actually did great for about six months, roots gripping the wood and everything, but then my cat knocked it off the shelf and that was the end of that. These days I just use clear plastic pots with extra holes and a super chunky bark mix, lets me see the roots and they dry out fast enough that I don't kill them with love. I've got three phals in pots now that have been reblooming for years, so pots are totally fine for normal homes where you can't control the humidity like a greenhouse.