my neighbor's husband was thinning out his #orchids, so now i am the owner of this tangled mess of little red orchids.

these are #epiphytes & as far as i can tell, don't need any soil at all. roots come out of the stem, and as the stem gets longer, more roots come out of the newer parts of the stem.

the flowers are tiny, but they are cute ^-^

#plants #gardening #flowers #orchid

#plants @plants #gardening

any tips for fertilizing plants that are mostly or entirely in the air?

i have some #vanilla plants that are crawling their way through the forest. i have no idea where they touch the ground, but they have plenty of air roots.

i was thinking of fertilizing them, but realized i don't know what to do. maybe a mist or spray bottle? but then what goes in the bottle? at what concentration?

thanks in advance!

#TropicalAg #VineGang #tropical #epiphytes

The ironbark orchids are flowering!
#epiphytes #orchids #flora

as someone who likes to grow orchids, i enjoy seeing how they grow "in the wild". it helps me understand the conditions i'm trying to create for them in cultivation.

observing orchids in the forest led me to creating "forest floor mix" medium (using stuff i find on the forest floor), & now "forest canopy" medium (using stuff that is found in the canopy: moss, leaf litter, dried branches, etc.). yay learning!

#plants #orchids #epiphytes #ecology

#Orchids' ability to grow on other #plants independently #evolved multiple times.

#epiphytes #genomics #transcriptomes #phylogenetics

https://phys.org/news/2023-05-orchids-ability-independently-evolved-multiple.html

i wish i remembered where this epiphyte (tree-growing) orchid came from! i do remember that it was growing bare-rooted, so i just set it down on top of a pallet fence (in a mostly shade environment) & it has thrived.

this is the first time it's flowering! i often pick up stray orchids & they usually don't have flowers, so it's always a fun surprise when i finally get to see the flowers! and these ones are no exception. such interestingly-shaped flowers!

#orchid #orchids #epiphyte #epiphytes

Look closely and you can see that these low hanging boughs are shrouded in moss, which has created a living rooting medium for ferns. Fine spray from the river keeps everything cool and damp. #Ferns #Mosstodon #HardcastleCrags #Pteridophytes #Epiphytes

Resurrection Fern, Pleopeltis polypodioides, at the old homeplace in Alabama. #Epiphytes