i heard that if you attatch a vining plant to a piece of cork bark it will grow on it and mature. The leaves will grow bigger and some change colour. i would be trying it with marble queen and a pice of arrowhead vine. Also i heard that if you put some peat moss and wrap it in some mesh, then attach the vine you can achiee the same result. Can any one shed some light on this??
I would assume that you would pick a plant with aerial roots and as you say cover it with sphagnum moss (rather than peat I should think) and tie it with wire or pieces of chicken wire. You would most likely water it like a Staghorn (spelling?) fern and dunk it once a week or so and spray it with water once a day at least. You would probably need some decent ambient humidity (a greenhouse even perhaps) to pull this off after you take away the wire and moss once the plant has anchored itself. I have my doubts that it would alter the size of the leaves or the colour that much but I could well be wrong. I'm sure that others on the forum have much more informative things to say about this :). Good luck! Ryan
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami, FL has an enormous display of epiphytic species from South American rain forests done exactly as you described. They used naturally curved cork bark and attached it to large PVC pipes which are then suspended from the ceiling by wire. Orchids, vining plants, bromeliads and other epiphytic species have been attached to the fake trees for about 7 or 8 years now. The orchids and other species such as Anthurium have dropped their roots many feet below the fake logs. The entire display is quite stunning. We lived in Miami at the time this display was being built and I was so intrigued by the process I bought a 130 pound bale of natural cork bark and built my own display in our rain forest atrium. We now have vines including Epipremnum aureum (Pothos or Marble Queen), Bromeliads, orchids, and many other epiphytic species growing on two long sections. My only caution is you should be aware the cork bark has a life span of only 6 or 7 years and will eventually begin to fall apart. But in the meantime, your display will be beautiful. We attached the orchids and Bromeliad sp using Liquid Nails glue. If you use Liquid Nails just be sure and don't put any glue on the plant itself. Putting glue on the roots or hold fasts in the case of Bromeliad species is fine. The plant won't care. But if the glue touches the bottom of a Bromeliad the plant will die. That was the same method used at Fairchild. In time, the plants will attach their own roots or "hold fasts" to the cork and spread naturally. For your Marble Queen, all you'll need to do is pin the vine to the cork. It won't take many months and it will naturally attach itself. You can buy the totems you described in many lengths from several suppliers. I have at least 20 vining plants climbing sphagnum totems in our atrium right now. You can order a variety of totems here, likely for less than you can build your own: https://www.secureserver.com/mosserlee/orderonline.html You can see one of our cork bark logs here and the second photo was taken inside the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden display.
One other note, you will be very surprised at how large your Marble Queen which is Epipremnum aureum will grow if you allow it to climb a tall cork log. Check out this link and you can see our plant which is not very old. We now have leaves that are 18 inches (45cm) and larger. This one isn't climbing a cork tree but instead a cedar post that measures 6 x 8 inches and is 12 feet (approximately 4 meters) tall. The plant grew all the way to the top of the post and then began to climb the support posts for the ceiling. It is now at the 17 foot (over 5 meters) level which is as high as it can grow. http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Epipremnum aurenum pc.html
Ryan, I just reread your notes on Staghorn ferns. We started three tiny ones on the outside of a wire basket lined with a coconut liner and filled with a sand and soil mix in 1999 or thereabouts. Today the plant has a span of 8 feet and is suspended from the ceiling of our atrium. The wire basket is now no longer visible and the plant has totally encircled all the wire, coconut and soil. In the wild these plants have periods of dryness and receive a great deal of light. During the summer our plant is exposed to nearly full sunlight with the exception the Lexan reduces the light level just a bit. Being able to grow epiphytically vastly improves the rapid growth. I have a friend in Florida with one just a few years older than mine and that plant has a 14 foot span. They do love high humidity but they can also do well if allowed to dry out a bit. The only problem is you are likely to loose some of the fronds from time to time. But they replace themselves so fast, you'll hardly notice. The second photo is the same plant two years later (today). The timber above and to the right is a 6 x 8 inch timber for comparison. The fronds extend out the top of the frame as well as out the bottom. The first photo is two years old and the plant is now twice as large and wide. The wooden box to the left is 12 inches square for comparison. But since this photo was taken with a wide angle lens the box looks much larger than it actually is in comparison to the plant. If given humidity, light and a fair amount of water, they grow really fast. Your note made me aware I need to photograph the plant again. The second photo is today. The beam to the right is a 6 x 8 inch beam. The fronds now extend out both the top and bottom of the frame.
Wow Steve! Those Staghorn's are amazing! I've always wanted to grow one myself but they seem to be hard to find up where I live. Interesting that they seem to like lots of light! Also, the Pothos leaves are HUGE! It seems that I was wrong about the leaves growing larger if they're put on cork. I wonder why that is? Either way it's (for lack of a different word) amazing. Thanks for the sharing your info/pictures! Cheers, Ryan
I think the size of both plants is due to the controlled temperature, high humidity and bright light. Most people assume tropical plants don't like bright light but I've found the opposite to be true. The closer most of them grow to the ceiling, the larger they grow. I am constantly "amazed" at the growth we see. Right now we have 8 inflorescences on the pothos (Epipremnum aureum) with 6 up on the big support rafter and 2 near the base of the plant. The humidity in the room never drops below 85% due to the big pond in the center of the room and the water motion caused by the waterfall. There are also 3 large fans in the room to keep the air constantly moving and I water twice a week in the winter, every other day now, and in June we'll step it up to daily. I do everything I can to duplicate a natural rain forest and the plants seem to love it!
Thanks, i tried it and well see how it works. Im going to try to keep the bark fiarly moist, but if you let itdry out it will last a bit longer then 5 or more years. Ill post a pic of them when i get a chance. Unfortunatly i dont have a grenhouse and I live in calgary ( semi arid desert, so very dry air). I will keep you posted and take some pics on the way
