tuesdayschild, My opinion, for what its worth.......I would think you cold mount an orchid on the staghorn........but, I would wonder why you might want to do that.

Staghorns usually have a fairly loosely bound root ball. Most folks start them in a basket of moss, coconut husks, or something similar. The baskets usually rust out over time, leaving the hanger imbedded in the root ball to use as a hanger for the entire plant.

I would think an orchid mounted on this root ball would certainly be able to find a comfortable moisture level at some depth in this large root ball, and you would not have to worry about root rot or such problems.

However, I would think that if you attacjed any heavy orchid (large Cattleya or Phal. for instance) to the side of the rootball, the plant over time might become so heavy as to literally tear itself out of the root ball of the fern. Maybe if you planted it directly on top of the fern this might not happen, but then the whole thing might become top heavy, and be a problem.

At fern dividing time, I suspect you would have to sacrifice a great number of orchid roots to divide the fern.

In short, I don't see any compelling reason why you can't "marry the two", but there could be problems down the line.

Just my thoughts. I would be interested to hear the results in a year or so.

Bill

Thanks for your comments Bill. I think you're probably right that putting a heavy orchid in the side areas of the fern probably would result in it eventually dropping out. I'm thinking, though, that I have a number of pretty deep "basins" that are more or less on top of large masses in the fern "colony" that an orchid might fit into nicely. Since the whole dense mass takes 2 to 3 large strong guys to move it, I think its got enough heft to support them upright. The stag horn itself is not mounted on anything-- it long ago outgrew anything I could put it on (my whole fence would come down) so it sits on a bed of bark sort of leaning up against the magnolia, but since it's base is about 4' deep, it pretty much stands up by itself. You can still see a tiny corner of the original 1 x 12 board we mounted it on originally, deep down in the back.

Ah, yes... the "why?" of the matter. Well, for one thing, I just thought some color would be pretty occasionally in that large dark green area --I had some impatiens balfourii (sometimes known as "poor man's orchid" ;-) ) that shot some seeds in there a few years ago and they were a beautiful surprise to find dancing above the fern fronds the next season. Also, I have a really hard time getting my orchids to re-bloom here in San Diego, except for the ones that I have outside. I never had a problem in SF, but down here my luck is bad with orchids in the house. The outdoor ones re-bloom beautifully, but their leaves are pretty much a raggedy chewed mess, since everything seems to like to munch on them and I thought that if took some of my stubborn indoor guys out and plonked them outside into the stag horn they might a) re-bloom and b) not have their inevitably scroungy leaves look so obvious.

You're a man after my own heart......Just because I want to do it has always been enough for me, and I have pulled off some real conversation pieces in my time.

Looking back at your original post with the dimensions of your "little" Staghorn, I wonder why I ever thought it might be hanging on something. Maybe an engine block lifter, or something similar......☺

I say go for it, and have fun.....that's why I grow the crazy things.

Bill

Hi

Sounds like an interesting experiment.. What types of orchids are you thinking?? I grow mine up in trees about 20 feet off the ground and I'm getting a bit old for ladder gardening I am trying some terete vandas on tree ferns but so far the "hair' on the fern is casting the roots off lol but since thes will grow just hanging in the air hasn'taffected either plant much lol

There are species of orchids that grow with various types of ferns naturally so they might be a good choice ?? good luck gary

Just my 10c worth. I say go for it.

Native cymbidium orchids naturally grow in elkhorn ferns, so I'd go for a species cym or maybe a primary hybrid.You wouldn't mount it on the fern, you'd tuck it in the the top.

http://www.cymspecies.com/madidum.htm

Platyceriums make natural "baskets" that are perfectly suitable for a wide variety of plants. Personally, I think that most common Platys are way too boring without some other companions! For some relevant info/photos...

An Orchid on Every Tree

Mounting Mediums

Oncidium sphacelatum and Platy

Mounting Platyceriums

Here's a photo of a Sobennikoffia robusta that I mounted above a Platycerium veitchii. Unfortunately, it turned out that the robusta can't take full sun here where I am in Southern California (Glendale). I have another one also mounted above a veitchii... but it's in a more shaded location.

I also have a board-mounted P. willinckii with various plants growing in its basket... Anthurium obscurinervium, Sedum Fine Leaf Gold, epiphytic hanging Kalanchoes (Orangery, uniflora) and a Sarcochilus.

Another epiphytic fern that also makes a nice basket is Aglaomorpha coronans. It grows great here in SoCal... but it needs a decent amount of moss to establish on a tree. Well... at least where I am. Sometimes this fern is available on ebay.

That photo looks staged. Probably for a magazine. Notice the oncidium leaves grow straight up. They are under a roof. They would be growing forward toward the light.

Someone stuck a pot behind the mount for the photo.

Jane