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haxuan

What do you think?

haxuan
13 years ago

I'm planning to mount my tillandsias and bromeliads on this "tree". Do you think it's OK to do so? Should I treat the "tree" with a coat of paint first to prevent rot?

{{gwi:456040}}

Many thanks for your advice.

Xuan

Comments (12)

  • vriesea
    13 years ago

    Hi Xuan ,that is an interesting ' Tree ' not sure about painting it ,i am a profesional house painter ( 51 years experience ) and to preserve it you would have to use a oil based paint ,now most plants will not like the taste of that ,and if you use a ' Water' based Acrylic paint,( read that as water thinnable ,no paint is based on water as such )you will not preserve the tree as it is a porous paint ,( water proof but not water tight ) best would be to give it a coat of Linseed oil and leave it in the sun for about a week ,it will preserve to a degree and plants will be ok with it, i hope this helps ,
    Cheers Mate ,
    Jack

  • hotdiggetydam
    13 years ago

    Xuan, I personally would not use any preservation. It takes away from the look of the plants and wood. Let nature take its course. Some of my wood mounts are more that than 10 years old and literally held together by the plants themselves.

  • haxuan
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Oh, thank you very much, Jack and hotdiggetydam, for your quick advice.

    I'll see what I can do. If I cannot find that Linseed oil as Jack recommended, I might as well leave the "tree" alone.

    Again, many thanks for your advice.

    Xuan

  • bromadams
    13 years ago

    I tried some linseed oil on a cedar orchid basket a few months back. The brom I put in there hasn't shown any ill effects so far. I've never heard of anyone using linseed oil before but I wanted to do the experiment to see if it has any positive long term effect on the basket life.

  • kerry_t_australia
    13 years ago

    Linseed oil sounds like a good idea to me, or even a natural vegetable oil. It should soak into the bark and hopefully enhance the woodgrain, but still have a natural look. It's a lovely sculptural piece, Xuan.

    Like HDD, I have used wood mounts where the broms end up holding it together...and then the whole thing has gradually fallen apart. Until this happens though, you should have several years of enjoyment from your epiphytic sculpture. If the "tree" is softwood, it won't last long with broms attached to it. Hardwood lasts a lot longer. Good thing is, once the mount has bit the dust, the broms can easily be attached or potted elsewhere - no worries.

    Looking forward to seeing the progress of your three-dimensional creation, Xuan.

    Kerry :)

  • gonzer_gw
    13 years ago

    No preservatives Haxuan. If you don't end up using it you can always ship it to me.

  • splinter1804
    13 years ago

    Hi haxuan,

    I would just like to add one thing. If you are going to dig a hole in the ground to support the tree, don't use concrete to fill the hole, just firmly pack some rocks and earth around it in the hole with a crow bar to give it support.

    The reason I say this is that if concrete is used, the timber will shrink slightly as it ages and a small space will develop between the outer surface of the tree and the concrete. It is here that water will continually lie and greatly excellerate the start of rot. If it is packed as explained above, water can drain away.

    This is the reason why in our country so many untreated wooden fence posts rot off at ground level, where as ones installed by the no concrete method are still standing after many many years.

    The thing is, in this day and age where time costs money, it is quicker and cheaper to use CCA treated posts and concrete them into the hole, however we all know what unpainted CCA treated timber does to brom's when it comes into contact with them, so no toxic treatment and no concrete.

    All the best, Nev.

  • vriesea
    13 years ago

    Hi Xuan, its me again , Linseed Oil is a vegetable type oil,and is naturally preserving ( since ancient times )but contains NO TOXINS ,it is used in organic paint ,medicines ,cooking ,and is actually good for you ,but the taste is well ? personal , but it does no harm ,
    Jack

  • epiphyte78
    13 years ago

    Very cool looking mount! Your area looks pretty moist so personally I would try and suspend the mount above the ground. Besides decreasing the chance of rot it also helps keep some pests off of the mount.

  • pinkbroms
    13 years ago

    Hi Guys

    Xaun, I have made quite a few Brom. trees like you are proposing to do, I always only soaked the base of the piece to go into the ground in old sump oil (cheap), however I do agree linseed oil would be good, but only treat the part going into the ground would be sufficient. I started some new pieces over the last couple of weeks but used the Splinter method (no concrete), didn't bother to treat them at all.
    That's a very nice selection for a mount, if you are going to leave it above ground as pictured sit it on gravel or rocks for drainage.

    Pinkbroms

  • haxuan
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you so much, everyone, for your valuable advice. I really appreciate your taking the time to give me such good suggestions.

    I will surely post photos of the finished mount when I'm done.

    Again, many thanks for your kind words.

    Xuan

  • turtlewalker
    13 years ago

    What kind of tree is it?

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