Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Specific Families and Genera => Pleione and Orchidaceae => Topic started by: LarsB on October 12, 2011, 10:14:55 AM
-
In another thread i mentioned that i used slabs of compressed rockwool for mounting Pleione and other orchids. Here's a a couple of pictures of the material and how it looks when you have grown a Pleione on it for a year.
It is kind of a semi hydro culture as the rockwool should stay wet all the time - for Pleione: while the roots are alive.
(http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p250/larsdane/Orchids/rockwool1.jpg)
(http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p250/larsdane/Orchids/rockwool2.jpg)
-
Hi Lars,
Interesting way to grow these!. How do you attach the bulbs until they make roots? - do you tie them on with wire?
A friend of mine in Germany grows some Pleione in another interesting way. He gets long clay pots and blocks up the drainage holes. Then he wires a layer of living wood moss all over the outside of the pot. The pot is then kept filled with water which makes the moss root into the surface of the pot and grow. He then mounts Pleiones in the moss. Looks very natural, hanging up in the greenhouse like a hanging basket.
Paul
-
I attach them either with fishing line or toothpicks. The toothpicks are sometimes rotting way a little too fast.
It's not all Pleione that has done well, and i've only tried this method for two years, but some, like the Zeus Weinstein 'Desert sands' to the right and Barcena to the left makes really nice size bulbs. Fuego was the first i tried and I've never had bulbs as large before.
-
Very interesting Lars ! :o
It's hard to see on the pix, but how thick is the rockwool slab please ?
-
It is approximately 2 cm, but i usually put two pieces together. That way i'm able to go on holiday as well without the plants drying out. ;D
Here's one seen from the side. It's a two layer slab.
(http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p250/larsdane/Orchids/rockwool3.jpg)
-
Is the bottom of the rockwool constantly in water, or would that make things too wet.
-
I think it would become too wet, but some plants might tolerate it.
-
That is good idea for a small amount of bulbs. How quickly the moss will cover the rockwool slab?
K.
-
Interesting experiment, but I'm admittedly a little curious about what makes this an advantage over growing them in pots? Do you keep them inside over summer?
-
They take approximately a growing season for the moss to cover them. The advantage of growing mounted instead of pots is that the watering is much easier as it is almost impossible to overwater them as the roots are on the material, not in the material. You could also say that it is closer to the way they grow in nature.
-
You could also say that it is closer to the way they grow in nature.
Having seen a few hundred in the last couple of days I'm tempted to disagree with you on that point... ;) Do you plan on keeping them growing on the same rockwool slab next season?
-
I've never seen them in nature, but from what i've read a lot of Pleiones are growing on moscovered stones, slops, and branches. The rockwool slaps imitate that quite well. At least some of the Pleiones i've tried like it very much. I've had some growing for a couple of seasons now and they do tend to get a little too close together, so i pick out some of them. The rockwool can last for five-six years i guess, maybe more, but will eventually break down.
-
I've seen them on trees, on cliffs and on the ground, and they all seem to have their roots deep down in the decomposing lower layer of moss. (The one on the ground grew in pure humus!) Once the moss-layer on your slabs grow thicker it will mimic nature, but then you won't be able to remove last years dead roots...
-
Nice pictures. Which Pleiones did you see?
I can't remove hte dead roots until the old bulb is dead. Then i remove the rest of the bulb and as name of the roots as possible.
-
Probably P. bulbocodioides and limprichtii? I've never been there in spring, so your guess is as good as mine. I saw P. yunnanensis in leaf back in June, that was a true "ground orchid", growing in humus and limestone gravel alongside Cyp plectrochilon.
-
Pleione formosana grows in a similar fashion on rocky slopes in the wild despite the fact it can grow in a pot in a heavy soil. Pleione hookeriana I have only seen as epiphytes in the wild. Pleione praecox can be found on moss covered branches of trees as well as in the humuslayer of the forest floor.
-
Well, both formosana, hookeriana and praecox has done fairly well, so has specios(pleiononides). Plione bulbocoides and limprictii has not done well on the slaps. I've mainly experiemented whit hybrids, but i next year i'll mount more species on rockwool.
-
Seems like an odd way of growing them... Good odd, not bad odd :)
Does this method attract any extra creepy crawlies?
-
Hi Andy,
It might be odd but it does have advantages. It is a bit more difficult for the crawling visitors to get to the plants, including the slugs, and they are easier to see. The constantly damp slap do attract some small gnat/moskitoes that i don't know the English name for, but they are relatively harmless. There is a theory that they attach the roots, but i haven't experienced any root damage that i could contribute to them.
-
Hello,
I am brand new to this forum. Lars, your post made me join ;). I am just starting to really get in to moss culturing. I have had decent success growing moss on various capillary mats but am very intrigued by this compressed rockwool. Looks like it could have very nice moisture retention properties. I have been searching for the past couple days as to what this particular rockwool is used for. Is it sold as a "fire break", acoustic insulation? I cant find a product that has the compressive characteristics without hydrophobic properties.
I am located in the US. Any hints would be very much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Ben
-
Ben - Google Fibrgro rock wool. I'm sure they produce it in the USA as well as Canada. It is used by cucumber growers and comes in various shapes including slabs.
late PS - If this company has closed down I will see who is supplying a similar product now. Will check at work tomorrow and photograph.
johnw
-
Hi Ben!
Try this .... http://grodan101.com/products
http://grodan101.com/knowledge-center/rockwool-growing-substrate-hydroponic-systems
Distributors across USA.
for instance:
Baltimore Hydroponics, Essex, MD
Boston Gardener , Baltimore, MD
Commerce LLC, Baltimore, MD
Maryland Hydroponics - Kensington, Kensington, MD
Maryland Hydroponics-Laurel, Laurel, MD
Maryland Hydroponics-North Bethesda, North Bethesda, MD
Meadowview Feed & Garden Center, Pasadena, MD
Purple Mountain Organics, Takoma Park, MD
RePotme.com, N. Potomac, MD
Urban Organics Hydroponics, Elkridge, MD
-
Yes Ben, Maggi is correct. Grodan is indeed the replacement for Fibrgro. The name had slipped my mind.
johnw
-
Thanks everyone for the quick responses. I am familiar with the grodan rockwool products. It looked like to me in the original pictures that the material in question was more dense than the grodan formula. I am looking for something that has a higher compressive strength such that it could be occasionally walked upon. (think like a moss garden). Grodan is formulated to support vascular plants and therefore has a density to maintain a higher air to water ratio than would be necessary for moss growth where water retention is the most important. I have found some mineral wool products that seem to have these characteristics but all are coated with a hydrophobic coating. Maybe what i am searching for does not exist :(. Sorry for the slight thread highjacking.
Ben
-
Hope someone can help Ben with this search......
-
Sent you a mail, Ben.
-
Thank you Lars!