# growing epiphytes on a CMU wall...IDEAS??



## agrosse (Apr 5, 2005)

Ok guys,

I have a glassroom that includes a planted area and I am interested in growing epiphytes on this wall. My question is this, what would you do if you had this situation

I want to grow broms, staghorns, philodendrons, ect, ect

I thought about mounting the bigger guys on plywood and then filling in the rest with creeping fig?

Ive also been looking for something i can roll on the wall, and maybe run some sort of mesh over it just to give the roots something to hold onto, but it has to be able to hold up all the plant weight.

Im kinda lost as i havent really come up with anything that I am all for, but the basic concept is for this area to basically be a living wall!

Check the pic out and throw me some ideas!


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## lethal dart (Mar 1, 2006)

nothing on the idea side but i think its a cool idea on your part to have a living wall


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2006)

Well not that I have any experience creating a living wall. But I would seriously re-think the plants you want to grow on there, primarily the staghorns. These ferns get absolutely massive. With time one staghorn could easily disrupt the structural integrity of that wall.

I recently had a 9 foot diameter staghorn fall from its mount (actually it broke the steel rods in place supporting it) it was a total disaster.
It completely obliterated the bench and all the plants it was hanging over.
As a matter of personal interest you may want to pick this book up.

http://www.timberpress.com/books/isbn.cfm/0-88192-640-X

Matt


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## agrosse (Apr 5, 2005)

*living wall*

Good point!

I actually thought about this already. I worked for a greenhouse at UGA while I was attending, and they mounted all of thier staghorns on plywood and when they got too heavy we divided them. This is why i considered mounting them seperatly. The wall is going to be maintained as the plants grow, so that I wont be put in a situation where the plants are pulling my house apart........thanks for the heads up though

Alan


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

Great Idea, I know there was a link about some moisture retaining substance they use to create moss walls. Check out vivaria for ideas...theirs are more pricy, so just like for ideas lol.

Ryan


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2006)

If I was doing it I think I'd paint the wall w/marine epoxy & then bolt a frame to it w/spacers & cover the frame w/wire mesh. Sounds like a cool project. Please post pix as ya go.
Good Luck


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## Cory (Jan 18, 2005)

I would buy some geotex mesh. it's use to stabilize the ground. Secure it to the wall in MANY locations with concrete anchors. If your worried about waterproofing then coat the concrete with a sealer first. Then you can hang any plants you want any way you want either by attaching them through the geotex to the wall or on top of it.


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2006)

i know its done with staghorns, but you may have trouble mounting bromeilads on plywood. most plants are, but bromeliads are ESPECIALLY sensitive to copper, and most plywood is pressure treated with copper. just somthing to watch for.


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## jhupp (Feb 27, 2004)

Alan,

I am thinking along the same lines as GreenMan. Seal the wall first no mater what you do, even with concrette block moisture and buildings don't mix. I would bolt up a frame and instead of wire mesh go with plastic. You can get half inch plastic hardware cloth at HD pretty cheap. And then I would pack the frame with sphagnum. You can get huge bails of it pretty cheap from a feed store or a nursery supply place, as oppossed to the tiny little 5$ brick from HD or Lowes. And I think I would install some drip lines for irrigation as watering may be difficult with everything mounted verticaly. With the moss matt you will be able to plant directly into it. I used a similar method for the background in my first viv.

Hope it helped,
Jay


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

What I've seen for a lot of "wall" that were covered in zoos is shagnum moss or a "soil" mixture held to a wall by rubber coated half to one inch "mesh/screening". Plants where mounted to this wall by either planting nodes in the moss (for vines) or by having the plants fixed in place by cotton string/rubber coated wire similar to how we mount plants like broms and orchids in our tanks.

I've also seen fake trees covered with cork bark on which plants were mounted, but this would be harder to manage than the moss wall moisture wise.. you'd have to have it sprayed/misted often, rather than having the moss wall have drips in it, and need the occassional rainstorm to keep it happy.

Other than the mounted wall is lighting... that doesn't look like it has good lighting. You might have to look into really high output spotlights to keep the plants happy.


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

I'm not sure how much the whole thing will weigh, or exactly how you are thinking of mounting it to the wall, but I'd definately have the frame's weight setting on the ground, thus using the wall only to keep it from tipping, and not suspended to the wall with the frame up off the ground. Concrete doesn't take too well to loads in tension and if the whole thing were mounted to the wall without support from the ground, you run the risk of fracturing the concrete blocks and the whole thing crashing down, not to mention any further damage it could cause to the foundation of your house.



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## Guest (Mar 2, 2006)

I think this had been posted on this forum before but it may be of interest here. 
If you read it there is some discussion of how it was constructed.
Make sure you follow all the links, lots of interesting stuff.

http://www.robertsonbuilding.com/biowall.htm

Matt


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