And the 'Best' fertilizer for orchids is...

[naoki]

Well, lichens probably grow too slowly to be any practical use for the cultivation of orchids. At least the ones which I'm familiar with from arctic, alpine, tundra, and boreal forests. I wonder if tropical lichens which Lance is talking about have a higher metabolism. Do they grow quickly in tropics? Here is some info of culturing lichen: http://lichenlovers.org/lichen_growth_formula.phtml
In pots, they get easily outcompeted by moss etc.

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

Has anyone tried mounting an orchid on lichen covered bark? In terms of pollution, lichens had been extinct in NYC for years. As air quality improved, lichens came back. Now there are loads of trees in my neighborhood with lichens on the trunk.

 

[gonewild]

Well, lichens probably grow too slowly to be any practical use for the cultivation of orchids. At least the ones which I'm familiar with from arctic, alpine, tundra, and boreal forests. I wonder if tropical lichens which Lance is talking about have a higher metabolism. Do they grow quickly in tropics? Here is some info of culturing lichen: http://lichenlovers.org/lichen_growth_formula.phtml
In pots, they get easily outcompeted by moss etc.

Tropical lichens grow very quickly. At least some species do. I see lichens on leaves of plants that I know are less than 6 months old.

 

[gonewild]

Has anyone tried mounting an orchid on lichen covered bark? In terms of pollution, lichens had been extinct in NYC for years. As air quality improved, lichens came back. Now there are loads of trees in my neighborhood with lichens on the trunk.

That's pretty cool about the lichens coming back after the air cleaned up!

 

[TyroneGenade]

Has anyone tried mounting an orchid on lichen covered bark?

I got some cork bark with lichen on. I was told to bleach it before mounting my Tolumnia on it. So I did but two chunks never got bleached as well as the others. Best root developming: on the bleached cork. I think the lichen can be a barrier to root development but this doesn't mean having them in proximity to the plants isn't beneficial in nutrient supply.

 

[Trithor]

At our previous house, I planted a number of the trees with cold tolerant orchids. The Madagascar peppercorn had loads of lichen on it. The orchids planted on that tree grew way faster than any of the others on any other tree. I had a number of clones of Laelia anceps which eventualy were way larger and floriferous than the mother plants which were in the greenhouse.

 

[limuhead]

I am really 'lichen' some of the posts in this thread...

 

[NYEric]

 

[Rick]

At our previous house, I planted a number of the trees with cold tolerant orchids. The Madagascar peppercorn had loads of lichen on it. The orchids planted on that tree grew way faster than any of the others on any other tree. I had a number of clones of Laelia anceps which eventualy were way larger and floriferous than the mother plants which were in the greenhouse.

And how often were you feeding the orchids outside on the peppercorn tree (as opposed to the plants in the GH)?

 

[Rick]

Has anyone tried mounting an orchid on lichen covered bark? In terms of pollution, lichens had been extinct in NYC for years. As air quality improved, lichens came back. Now there are loads of trees in my neighborhood with lichens on the trunk.

I mount a lot of stuff without doing much cleaning off of whatever lichen/moss is already on it. (Usually just try to power wash off the dirt and loose stuff).

I don't usually use pieces very thick in lichen (as opposed to mosses), and I haven't noticed anything in particular where the lichens have taken off. But I'll poke around the mounted stuff and see what I find.

I was cleaning off our deck and just pitched a load of wooden deck furniture with luxuriant lichen growth with no moss growth. I didn't think to try putting any orchids on them

 

[Trithor]

And how often were you feeding the orchids outside on the peppercorn tree (as opposed to the plants in the GH)?

I never fed the plants in the peppercorn. I actually never gave it much thought until recently. The plants growing naturally were bigger, greener and flowered more often. Our winters are very dry, so the only interference in the natural course was to hose them down every now and again in the dry season.

 

[Paul]

Hi,
Now that I'm feeding only 15-20ppm N, a plant like kolopakingii mature growth in less than a year... growths over a meter large and leaves wide as my hand...

 

[Rick]

Hi,
Now that I'm feeding only 15-20ppm N, a plant like kolopakingii mature growth in less than a year... growths over a meter large and leaves wide as my hand...

Pretty crazy isn't it.

 

[Rick]

Well I couldn't find any obvious lichens still growing on any of my mounts.

There were a few gray-green smudges here and there, that I think are new.

Maybe you can only get the lichens to kick in on starvation diets.

Maybe I should try another experiment and spray some lichen covered twigs with fert out in the backyard and see if they crap out.

 

[Paul]

Pretty crazy isn't it.

yes and last year, when I only had the time to water with pure municipal water (same EC and pH than the water I use for feeding now), so with NO fertilizing, plants were really decreasing in size and more sensitive to any disease.

 

[gonewild]

Hi,
Now that I'm feeding only 15-20ppm N, a plant like kolopakingii mature growth in less than a year... growths over a meter large and leaves wide as my hand...

What nutrient ratio are you using?

 

[gonewild]

Well I couldn't find any obvious lichens still growing on any of my mounts.

There were a few gray-green smudges here and there, that I think are new.

Maybe you can only get the lichens to kick in on starvation diets.

Maybe I should try another experiment and spray some lichen covered twigs with fert out in the backyard and see if they crap out.

Yes try that.
It may be that they are sensitive to certain chemical excess in water.
It may also be that the lichen species that exist in your are don't grow under the environment you maintain for your orchids.

Spray some lichens with msu and some others with K-lite and see which decline fastest.

 

[keithrs]

I have some lichen growing on some mounts. I'm not sure that they get much of any thing from it. All my plants are feed a modified K-Lite @ about 15ppm N

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[Rick]

Spray some lichens with msu and some others with K-lite and see which decline fastest.

All in the name of science hey:wink:

 

[Rick]

Keith has the lichen growth increased or decreased since you set up the mount?

It looks like its been there long enough for a few new roots to either go through it or over the top of it.