How to Grow Orchids on Pieces of Wood

Select an epiphytic orchid, including phaleonopsis, dendrobium, cattleya, vanda and oncidium species. Look for an orchid with healthy green leaves and white roots. Mount the orchid in its resting (non-flowering) phase to reduce transplant shock to your plant.

Choose a piece of wood, preferably with bark attached, so as orchid roots grow they can cling easily. Use a water-resistant wood, such as redwood, cedar or cypress, to extend the life of your mount. Attach a sawtooth picture hanger to the back of the wood or a wire hanger on the top of the wood, according to preference.

Purchase bagged long-fiber sphagnum peat moss, used for lining wire forms, not baled peat moss. Soak a large handful of peat moss and the piece of wood in a plastic bucket of water overnight. Remove the wooden mount and let it drip-dry in a kitchen drainboard or colander for a couple of hours.

Squeeze excess water out of a small handful of the peat moss and place the moss in the center of the wooden mount. Tamp eight ½-inch headed nails around the outside of the moss to a depth of ¼ inch.

Lift the orchid from its pot and carefully remove the potting medium from its roots. Rinse the roots thoroughly and spread them gently on top of the damp moss. Place a thin layer of damp moss on top of the roots.

Attach fishing line to one of the nails and take the line over the orchid’s moss-covered roots to the opposite nail. Circle the nail with the line while pulling out any slack and continue drawing line in a criss-cross pattern over the rest of the nails. Knot the line when you reach the last nail and clip the excess. Drive all nails flush with the wood to ensure the line does not pull free.

Hang the orchid in a brightly lit location but not in direct sunlight. Mist it lightly every day. Clip the fishing line free when the orchid’s roots cling to the wooden mount.