Thanks!.... they are still going strong :)

I placed them standing upright in my shower, sprayed them with some rubbing alchol, let stand for 5 mins or so, then rinsed with hot tap water. I used a clean towel to dry off excess water, then allowed them to air dry in the sun. When dried, I then placed them in my oven preheated on the highest setting... left them until I felt they were very hot, but not burning (15 mins max)... Just enough to zap any bacterial spores that might be left after washing. (The smell of the hot wood was fantastic LOL.) Do monitor them closely when they are in the oven.. just in case a piece may spark or something. When finished, turn off oven and let them cool before handling.

@@MocasWorld This is so wonderful! Exactly what I needed.!!! I have my own woods and I need some round mounts and now I feel confident I will be good to go!Thanks so much!!!!!

@@barbaradessel2625 I'm excited for you! Glad I could help somehow :)

@@MocasWorld so now you have dead bugs in your oven...

@@evarene07 Sanitizing in the oven after I washed the wood, was mainly to eliminate any lingering bacterial spores, that may transfer onto my orchids. If there were any "dead bugs", they are long gone to bug heaven, as I clean my oven very often.

Hi..over time I transitioned many of the more exotic species back to regular pots. I find that the phaleonopsis are the only ones that thrive when mounted on wood. You have to make sure the piece of wood is solid throughout to begin with. Then give it a good treatment like I did, which takes care of any bugs that may degrade the wood. Also it's important to not soak the wood too much when watering the plants in general. I give the plants a good watering once a week, then I spritz roots AND leaves with a misting spray bottle of water so they stay hydrated but not soaking the wood. Of course it's natural that the wood will degrade over time, but allowing it to dry in-between waterings helps.

I removed debris, placed them in my shower upright, and rinsed with very hot water then let them air dry. Don't leave them soaking. You could also spray rubbing alcohol and let sit for 5-10 minutes before you rinse them. After air drying or almost dried, placed them in the oven for the added sterilization/debugging. Just pay close attention during this process to avoid fires.

Not really sure... they are just random pieces of driftwood that I collected from the forest nearby.

Most of these look like pine, which isn’t supposed to be good for mounting plants on due to the resin. I’ve stuck to hardwoods and cedar, so I don’t have any personal experience with it though. It’s definitely good to be able to identify any natural materials you’re bringing into your home and plant collection since some trees are more attractive to harmful insects and others produce chemicals (like walnut) that inhibit growth of-or even kill-other plants. Hope these worked out for you, though! There really pretty pieces nonetheless :)

Oh, and only remove moss/natural material from land that you own or have specific permission to collect from and make sure to do so in the least damaging way possible. Even if it’s your own land, removing moss can cause erosion and other ecosystem damage. (A tiny bit here and there is usually fine though!) There are even laws against poaching from public lands, leading to pretty significant fines if violated. One person collecting may not have that much of an impact, but evidence of materials being removed can encourage others to do the same. Anyways, thanks for reading, I just want to make sure you know to collect responsibly and not get in trouble 🌱