I just take the existing mount plus plant and tack it on to a square of weathered, untreated hardwood. Seems to work fine but the orchids that i grow mounted need drying out between waterings.

I've also used that florists stuff (oasis?) tacked onto hardwood squares and wine corks cut in half tacked onto hardwood. Growing a climbing Oncidium using the last method and it seems fine.

Time for some experiments! Have not tried coconut matting

And i'll add my usual about mounting orchids. Do not do it unless the particular orchid grows best that way in your growing conditions.

Here is a link that might be useful: Some mounted orchids

Agree with arthur. I have grown in a variety of coconut substrates. They work well especially if you have a heavier watering arm.

Why is it that orchids seem to like bare wood rather than substrate to grown on? Anything wrong with no "padding" a mount?

Clara

Hi
One of my "experiment" has been "expanding foam" the kind used for insulation . have 10 different types of orchids planted in, on . and nearby .With and without different potting materials. None have completely rejected the material and several have rooted directly into it.
Too soon to tell how well it works . Have used the "stuff " in terrariums for several years but this is the first use in the shadehouse. i like the stuff because it can be any size shape or color you want and is self adhesive to other materials. The planting area is now around 7x10 feet and have had more mechanical problems with the waterfall than the plants. Had an almost immediate set back when i had to replace the roof of the shadehouse due to storm damage. Lots of sunburn to those that weren't moved and of course a growth setback to those that were,
For use as a single mount. I'd blow the stuff out on waxpaper until you get the size and shape you want. i find acrylic latex paint to work just as well as two part epoxy.
You can also form it around pots either cut in half or whole and attach hangers directly into the foam.
I know many people who use the stuff in terrariums but nobody who uses it as a potting media as i am. definitely an experiment. gary

Can you put the mount into a basket to continue it's wandering ways. I received a catt that is/was originally on a tree fern mount that was placed inside a wooden basket and it continued it's wandering ways with roots everywhere.

Brooke

Thanks folks for all your good advice. Brooke, I have tried your idea with baskets and that works fine with plants growing horizontally. I had a lot of old cedarwood blinds with slats about one inch and a quarter wide and a half inch thick. Taken to bits the slats made excellent shallow baskets to custom sizes. I could make a shallow bed of bark and chopped coconut fibre place the mount on top and fill in around the edges. Perfect, the plants have grown on well and love it. My problem is with plants hanging vertically, can't use that method cos all the compost would drop out! Clara you are so right, I could make a ladder arrangement with my slats and simply place the existing mount onto that. They could then be sprayed with water and fertilizer and would I know grow well. However what is attractive about my existing mounts which get dunked in rainwater at GH temp.is that they get covered in a layer of a very fine and attractive moss which of course sets the plants off beautifully and makes me think I am in a rain forest somewhere. That is why I want to try and find a thin attractive layer of something for the moss to grow on and which won't drop off. Thanks Arthurm for your suggestions, the plants I grow vertically and which do so well mounted are the smaller Phalaenopsis species, like Lindeni, Ang. compactum, Aer. modesta, Neofenetia falcata, Amesiella philippinensis, Dend delacourii and plants of this sort of size. They seem to love it. Thanks again to you all Peter