Great demonstration. I met someone over 30 years ago making baskets this way with hardwood offcuts. Only real difference was he would add an extra 2 pieces at the bottom to support the bottom slats in the basket. These were included in the upright hanging wires and reduced the need to rely on nails to hold them in place.
Great job and description!!! Thank you!!! I'm making the same for my mom but I will use plastic covered 3/4" by 3/4" wood trim. I will spray paint the cut ends to hopefully keep them a bit more water resistant
If you want your baskets to go nice and mossy then dont oil them or sand them either. The rougher the better for moss, and the orchid roots like it better too.
As a fellow orchid grower decades old - I heartily suggest not using basswood nor red oak. Red oat never. But basswood is the lightest wood out there, it is a hardwood but the lightest one there is. I’m not sure where your data came from but basswood not at all like cedar and is probably the worst wood to use for this purpose. It is horrible in moisture applications and has absolutely no resistance to rot, insects, etc. And the resins in hardwood like Ipe, teak, even cedar, redwood, or cypress etc are far different than flaxseed oil which is what linseed is. And while decades/centuries ago old growth redwood, cypress, western cedar were very dense and had high amounts of natural resins - fast grown plantation wood today is not anywhere the same quality. Same for pine or oak. I would use raw teak or I like ipe better. Ipe is being used in high water locations like Niagara Falls for decking because it stands up for 40-50+ years under high moisture exterior use. It will Grey to a beautiful grey but if used in a deck or inside floor and is kept oiled with a timber oil - will retain the beautiful chocolate brown. But I don’t recommend oiling in contact with orchids roots which will be attaching to the wood. I haven’t seen any properly run orchid trials with any kind of oil, stain etc but it just seems like common sense. Black locust we use to use for fence posts because if properly cured and put in - no concrete, tamped inch by inch - it would last for decades. There is some I put in in the 60s, still standing. Concrete rots wood - it’s one of the reasons it’s never put down on foundations without protection or being treated. Oak was used and still is for building ships, yachts, etc but then it is always kept painted and ask anyone who owns one - how often it spends time on land being scrape, sanded and repainted. Again old growth oak timbers stood up well but they used various coatings in ancient times and many a slave broke his back working on the ships. I might try with a cheap plant some high quality white oak that’s been standing for 3-400 years as opposed to 35-40 year plantation oak. Look for somewhere an old oak has but the dust in a storm or just grown too big too close to someone’s house. You must cure it out - stick it after milling before use but look for some recyled oak amd have the finish planed off. And for orchid roots - you will not want to use petroleum based varnishes or typical paints or stains due to the chemicals. I wouldn’t even use linseed oil. Linseed oil from the big box stores has a lot of chemicals, plus it isn’t purified and will mildew, mold, algae, etc. You forgot the solvents in boiled linseed oil. I would only use organic boiled linseed processed by oxygen method (not boiled and solvents not used). If you have to use linseed oil then purchase from Solvent Free Paint company and get the organic purified raw. I like the Swedish one but the US produced is fine and you can get an 8oz container. www.solventfreepaint.com/cleaned_linseed_oil.htm Make sure while on the site do some reading - lots of good information and products there. I have no connection to them just like their mission. True linseed based paints (no solvents, additives, etc) painted on raw property prepared bare wood, it won’t need repainting for years, decades. If it looks oxidized, dull, it usually just needs to be washed down with high quality linseed soap and rubbed down with a light coat of organic purified linseed oil and that will carry you another 10+ years. Europe has used pigments and linseed oil to paint homes (interior and exterior) for centuries - no solvents, no scraping, repainting every 3-4 years. See use on metals like underneath car and tractors etc. Needless to say I like true organic linseed oil but I’m not sure plant roots like orchids that actually attach to the wood do. I know for a fact they do not like red oak and will decline. I would only use cedar, redwood, cypress or ipe, teak to make baskets. I prefer cork oak bark for mounting or Fernwood Tree fern totems or boards. In terms of teak or ipe, these are more expensive, but you don’t need much unless going into commercial production. You want woods that naturally stand up to moisture and don’t forget that you are constantly spraying (usually once a day) plants mounted in baskets, sometimes more in heat of summer. Don’t forget the effects of fertilizer salts too. Plants like Vanda wired into these baskets placed outside with a couple of large junks of charcoal and/or Super Orchiata will require daily in winter to 2x day in active growth (new growth, and green root tips) maybe 3x midJuly/August in much of US. You might if you absolutely have to -use non toxic stains on Basswood but most of those have some ingredients I think would still be toxic to orchid roots. I sorta take the point that anything that says it’s highly combustible or you need to use mineral spirits or turpentine to clean up - maybe I don’t want it near a $300 dollar plant’s roots. Basswood article Perdue University www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/FNR-274-W.pdf
Bravo ! They'll certainly last for a very long time. I'm really impressed. Thanks for sharing. Have a nice day and happy growing ! I've just subscribed and hope many people will do so as well...
