Numerous slower-growing epiphytic species are excellent choices for growing on bark. This is a decent and fun way to raise a lot of orchids. The ability to effectively utilise a greenhouse’s side walls to conserve essential staging space is one of the advantages.
The best plants for bark culture are those having pseudobulbs generated on an upward-growing rhizome, such those that are sold by specialised nurseries. Select a piece of cork bark or wood that is the proper size for the plant and has room for expansion. Insert a wire into the top of the bark to make a hook. Additionally required are a screwdriver and a length of thin, plastic-coated wire.
Place a wood of the supporting moss and fibre directly on the bark and another wad around the base of the plant, avoiding the pseudobulbs. Place your plant on top of this with the top of the new growths facing the bark. Reverse the plant’s tendency to grow downward, such as Brassavola nodosa. Hold the plant firmly once it is in place and apply a band of thin,
Wire with a plastic coating was wrapped around the base to hold it in place. Take care to avoid cutting into a pseudobulb as you pass the wire around the medium and rhizome. Cut off the ends after tightly pulling and twisting the wire with the pliers. If required, add another tie farther. When done, the plant must be up and securely attached to its bark. If it’s loose, it won’t grow or root into the bark. finalise foundation trimming .
To provide a precise, expert finish to your work, use a good pair of scissors. To keep the plant’s base moist, mist it daily and occasionally immerse it in water. Compared to plants in pots, plants grown in this manner require more frequent spraying and watering to maintain moisture. You’ll be rewarded with fresh growth and roots in a matter of weeks. Some species, like Oncidium flexuosum, generate a dense mat of roots that hang well below the bark surface and creep over it.
You can go a step farther and mount the orchids on the bark. You can put multiple little orchids on the tree to good effect if you can locate a suitable branch of an oak tree, or any other tree other than resinous pine. This will provide a beautiful feature in a greenhouse, and as long as the plants are frequently treated, they will flourish. You can have plants bloom by picking the appropriate species of orchid.
at different times throughout the year. You can decorate the orchid tree further by attaching a few of the smaller-growing tillandsias or ferns.
Orchids growing in this way need the humidity that can only be achieved in a greenhouse. They would not grow well indoors, where it would be extremely difficult to keep the plants sufficiently wet.
How to Mount a Orchid on a Bark
If the orchid is growing out of its pot, and there are aerial roots showing that have not grown into the compost (growing medium), remove the orchid from the pot and mount on to bark.
1.You will need a slab of tree fem ora piece of cork (with a wire hook) some sphagnum moss and coconut fibre a roll of plastic-coated garden wire, a pair of secateurs (pruners), and a pair of pliers.
2..Using the pair of secateurs, cut the rhizome at the rim of the pot, leaving a plant with six leaves and a long, thin rhizome. The plant shown here is Bulbophyllum macranthum.
3..Prepare a sandwich of sphagnum moss and coconut fibre to fit the size of the piece of tree fern or cork bark.
4..Prepare a sandwich of sphagnum moss and coconut fibre to fit the size of the piece of tree fern or cork bark.
5.These plants will flourish growing suspended in this natural epiphytic manner. They will require daily spraying with water and fertilizer once a week.
6. 6 Growing in this natural epiphytic manner suspended, these plants will prosper. They will need weekly applications of fertiliser and daily applications of water.
ORCHIDS VARIETIES FOR GROWING ON BARK
Brassia verrucosa
Dendrobium miyakei
Dendrobium victoria-regina
Encyclia polybulbon
Encyclia vitellina
Laelia anceps
Maxillaria tenuifolia
Oncidium flexuosum
Sarcochilus Fitzhart
Trichopilia tortilis