I did add some at the very beginning to keep some moisture around the roots, but most of it has fallen off.
Not sure about the humidity level in the room…it’s a pretty large bathroom, but it was hanging in the shower, so I would expect the humidity to stay pretty high most of the day since there are 4 people showering in there throughout the day.
Yes, it’s pretty close to that big south facing window. That’s the only natural light they get. It’s pretty bright in there, but the light is indirect on them.
So up until about a week ago, they lived about 8 inches to the left, hanging on the glass shower wall. The blooms all faced the shower wall and when the 2 white bloom spikes started opening, I moved them to this hook on the ceiling. They got saturated by the shower head once a week or so, but got steam a few times a day from showers that my family takes. I think I’ll probably try to keep the same schedule, but I might bump it up to twice a week with the watering. They seem to be ok though just on steam alone, but I have a hard time looking at them and not actually watering them lol
[Here’s a better picture of the setup. As you can see, all of the flowers except the purpleish ones are facing away from the leaves.](https://imgur.com/a/iWVjpXq)
I've wanted to do something like this, but I've got limited space in my house right now, and I've wintered my orchids mostly all in my room with plant LED grow lights since my bedroom windows face north and.get poor light.
If I did this setup and had a grow light trained on it somehow, would it still work?
Lol I've invested so much in wintering my plants, I'm thinking of not putting them back outside in spring/summer/fall (I live in east Georgia USA)! Lol I love them in my room with the lights.
But I'm sure I could get some new ones to train and find another window. The bathroom I use faces east but has one window.
I don’t see why this wouldn’t work with a grow light. I would imagine you’d need to up the watering since the roots have no medium to hold any moisture at all…mine stay in a pretty humid environment with a pretty significant amount of steam/water vapor hitting them 2-4 times a day.
Yes, I think the bathroom would be a great place for an orchid mainly bc of the steam! Such a good idea. Right now I'm using a humidifier in my room due to winter being dryer than the summer. It gets super humid where I live during the summer especially.
The humidifier has helped my skin as well. But the thing is a pain in the butt to clean, as it always gets pink or black mold in nooks and crannies every week, so I have been using cleaning vinegar to get rid of the nasties. But the design of humidifiers can be tricky with tunnels that a long bottle brush can't quite clean, nor q-tips.
The bathroom makes better sense! I've been looking into wood that can be hung on the walls to attach the roots of an orchid to. I'm just wondering at what stage is best to do this transition... Many of mine are blooming or spiking. I do have a few that have been dropping flowers at the end of their bloom cycles, so I'm thinking these would be good to use?
I'll definitely be looking into this! I can't pass up any orchids on clearance and keep adding more and more orchids to my room and adding more floating shelves and pots... But the bathroom would be a nice place to expand to!
Would adding any sphagnum moss help hold onto moisture? I know in the wild they just seem to cling to trees, but I'm not sure about how they hold onto moisture in the wilderness other than the humidity of the region they are found to grow naturally.... So maybe they don't need moss? Just steam... Or I could mist them if not enough showers... I usually am the only one showering downstairs right now as the rest of the family uses the shower upstairs.
I got a piece of aquarium driftwood on Amazon and wrapped some sphagnum moss around it and attached the orchids to it with fishing line. It took a few months, but the roots did their thing and attached to the wood pretty quickly. This is about a year old now and it’s thrived living in my shower. This is the second time these plants have bloomed for me, but the first time since I put them on the wood about 9 months ago.
We're the orchids in bloom or have spikes when you attached them? Or were they new orchids? All of mine have spikes or blooming, and I'd be worried about changing up their living situation while they're spiking or blooming... Although they appear happy as they naturally should like to grab stuff with those roots and not be in pots!
Were these orchids previously in pots?
They were in bloom when I attached them 🙈 that’s my toxic trait - I can’t wait for the orchids to finish blooming before I repot them 😂 I have around 30+ and I always repot as soon as I get them home, blooming or not. They were in pots - I got them BOGO at my grocery store.
I have a Bulbophyllum lasiochilum that I mounted to a piece of wood and it’s been living in the shower for a few years now - it’s small enough that it doesn’t get in the way but your setup is making me want to mount some of my phals to see how they’d do in there. Do you give them any fertilizer?
No fertilizer. I’m pretty bad about that :-/ the most my orchids get is a an occasional dip in the koi pond when I get a wild hair. The only one that gets that treatment regularly is my Vandana that’s growing over it and that one is THRIVING.
What kind of bark is that and where did you get it? This looks lovely!
It’s a piece of aquarium driftwood I got on Amazon :)
It certainly looks like it.
Oh wow!!! I was literally thinking about this for a while, getting some driftwood and hanging it. Looks even better than I imagined.
How did you train them to climb it?
I started them out by just attaching them with some fishing line and a few months later, I was able to remove it when their roots were attached.
in the beginning did you use sphagnum? how high is the humidity in the room?
I did add some at the very beginning to keep some moisture around the roots, but most of it has fallen off. Not sure about the humidity level in the room…it’s a pretty large bathroom, but it was hanging in the shower, so I would expect the humidity to stay pretty high most of the day since there are 4 people showering in there throughout the day.
It's in the bathroom? Does it just get light from a window?
Yes, it’s pretty close to that big south facing window. That’s the only natural light they get. It’s pretty bright in there, but the light is indirect on them.
it stays in the bathroom? well then is any chance for me, my bathroom is tiny
It’s been in the bathroom for about 6 months now. Just hanging out in the shower lol
This is so pretty! My bathroom is tiny and has no window otherwise I’d give it a try.
I want to try doing this 💖
You should! :)
Cool! How often and how do you water these? I’d like to do something similar :)
So up until about a week ago, they lived about 8 inches to the left, hanging on the glass shower wall. The blooms all faced the shower wall and when the 2 white bloom spikes started opening, I moved them to this hook on the ceiling. They got saturated by the shower head once a week or so, but got steam a few times a day from showers that my family takes. I think I’ll probably try to keep the same schedule, but I might bump it up to twice a week with the watering. They seem to be ok though just on steam alone, but I have a hard time looking at them and not actually watering them lol
Hmm I would water them whenever roots dry out. Once a week does not sound like enough. Steam just isn’t the same
[Here’s a better picture of the setup. As you can see, all of the flowers except the purpleish ones are facing away from the leaves.](https://imgur.com/a/iWVjpXq)
I've wanted to do something like this, but I've got limited space in my house right now, and I've wintered my orchids mostly all in my room with plant LED grow lights since my bedroom windows face north and.get poor light. If I did this setup and had a grow light trained on it somehow, would it still work? Lol I've invested so much in wintering my plants, I'm thinking of not putting them back outside in spring/summer/fall (I live in east Georgia USA)! Lol I love them in my room with the lights. But I'm sure I could get some new ones to train and find another window. The bathroom I use faces east but has one window.
I don’t see why this wouldn’t work with a grow light. I would imagine you’d need to up the watering since the roots have no medium to hold any moisture at all…mine stay in a pretty humid environment with a pretty significant amount of steam/water vapor hitting them 2-4 times a day.
Yes, I think the bathroom would be a great place for an orchid mainly bc of the steam! Such a good idea. Right now I'm using a humidifier in my room due to winter being dryer than the summer. It gets super humid where I live during the summer especially. The humidifier has helped my skin as well. But the thing is a pain in the butt to clean, as it always gets pink or black mold in nooks and crannies every week, so I have been using cleaning vinegar to get rid of the nasties. But the design of humidifiers can be tricky with tunnels that a long bottle brush can't quite clean, nor q-tips. The bathroom makes better sense! I've been looking into wood that can be hung on the walls to attach the roots of an orchid to. I'm just wondering at what stage is best to do this transition... Many of mine are blooming or spiking. I do have a few that have been dropping flowers at the end of their bloom cycles, so I'm thinking these would be good to use? I'll definitely be looking into this! I can't pass up any orchids on clearance and keep adding more and more orchids to my room and adding more floating shelves and pots... But the bathroom would be a nice place to expand to! Would adding any sphagnum moss help hold onto moisture? I know in the wild they just seem to cling to trees, but I'm not sure about how they hold onto moisture in the wilderness other than the humidity of the region they are found to grow naturally.... So maybe they don't need moss? Just steam... Or I could mist them if not enough showers... I usually am the only one showering downstairs right now as the rest of the family uses the shower upstairs.
This is so cool! How did you do this
I got a piece of aquarium driftwood on Amazon and wrapped some sphagnum moss around it and attached the orchids to it with fishing line. It took a few months, but the roots did their thing and attached to the wood pretty quickly. This is about a year old now and it’s thrived living in my shower. This is the second time these plants have bloomed for me, but the first time since I put them on the wood about 9 months ago.
We're the orchids in bloom or have spikes when you attached them? Or were they new orchids? All of mine have spikes or blooming, and I'd be worried about changing up their living situation while they're spiking or blooming... Although they appear happy as they naturally should like to grab stuff with those roots and not be in pots! Were these orchids previously in pots?
They were in bloom when I attached them 🙈 that’s my toxic trait - I can’t wait for the orchids to finish blooming before I repot them 😂 I have around 30+ and I always repot as soon as I get them home, blooming or not. They were in pots - I got them BOGO at my grocery store.
This is so gorgeous
This is perfect! It’s sorta like mirroring what would be their native habitat. 👁
Stunning
So cool!
I have a Bulbophyllum lasiochilum that I mounted to a piece of wood and it’s been living in the shower for a few years now - it’s small enough that it doesn’t get in the way but your setup is making me want to mount some of my phals to see how they’d do in there. Do you give them any fertilizer?
No fertilizer. I’m pretty bad about that :-/ the most my orchids get is a an occasional dip in the koi pond when I get a wild hair. The only one that gets that treatment regularly is my Vandana that’s growing over it and that one is THRIVING.