icones wrote: > The trees they grow on are standing in several feet > of water and the capillary action pulls water up the tree bark, so the > roots are moist and seldom if ever dry out totally.
That might explain why attempts to replace plants that have been cut away from their host trees are reported to fail. If a chunk of wood with the orchid attached is simply wired to a suitable host tree, then there probably isn't a tight enough seal for capillary action to transfer moisture from the new host tree to the mount, even if the host tree is in a perfect microenvironment. I've got four seedlings that I deflasked about 5 years ago and mounted on cork. They are alive and apparently healthy but are growing at the "speed of petrified toenails."* Perhaps I need to try for more constant moisture. In contrast, a Caribbean Dendrophylax** grows much more vigourously. Perhaps it comes from a drier environment. *previously used by Steven Hammer to describe the growth rate of Avonia quinaria in cultivation. **supposedly D. fawcettii, but it likes to keiki instead of blooming, so I can't be sure. Nick -- Nicholas Plummer [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
