Edit 4/11/2019
Of course, 2 weeks into this process, I stumble upon UoF's research paper on their propagation and cultural techniques. If you're serious about trying to grow this orchid, you owe it to yourself to read their research paper.
You can find a copy of it
HERE.
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I'm finally taking the plunge and going all in on this 3rd and probably final attempt. I'd actually attempted this twice before and both times ended in failure but for different reasons.
Attempt #1 never made it out of the flask, as mold took the entire collection before I could finish building v1 of the ghost orchid enclosure.
Attempt #2 - I managed to keep them alive for about 5 months, when the habitat was over run by spider mites that hitch hiked in on a taeniophyllum obtusum and killed everything in the tank. (though to be fair, in trying to kill the mites, I miiiiight have done a few things I shouldn't have that probably didn't help the seedlings either)
Attempt #3 - I took a loooooong break to read up as much as I possibly could specifically on the ghost orchid, and the science behind orchids in general and have made quite a few equipment investments that addressed some glaring issues in my current routine. I drew up some designs and have about 10-12 individual sub systems that I need to build in order to make this work the way I think it needs to work.
So with that said, I'm building a semi automated enclosure for a newly acquired collection of flasked ghost orchid seedlings obtained from SpringWater Orchids in Florida (they're on ebay if you're interested).
Here's what I have worked out so far:
For humidity and heat, I picked up an
Inkbird humidity and heat controller . I'll be plugging in a small humidifier that I will hook up to a distribution bulkhead inside the tank. This will help me keep the internal humidity at or nearly 85% perpetually.
I also purchased a 110v 500w PTC heating element that I'll be encasing in a small block of concrete to create something like a mini mass heater for those cold winter months when the orchid room goes down to 65. This should be a little more efficient than just using those ceramic heating elements that you see in reptile habitats.
For air handling, I'll have internal fans circulating air but I also have a plan to install a UV sterilizer either inside the tank, or inline with the air system. I haven't worked out the specifics for that yet, but that should help with keeping pathogens inside the tank to a minimum. Mold is going to be an issue, and while I'm happy to shoot everything with Physan, I'd just as soon avoid it.
For watering, I'm building a custom setup based on a 125psi water pump and
misting nozzles (basically a mist king but for only $25 worth of parts).
For lights, I haven't settled on the exact configuration yet, but I'll end up somewhere in the 30W-50W range utilizing full spectrum COBs. The 50W module I have now puts out about 6,000 FC at 24" at 40v, but it also hits about 200F in 18 seconds, so that's not exactly safe to use right now. I'm waiting on a variable led power supply/driver along with some aluminum heatsinks that I'll tinker with to see what I can do to get the right output at a reasonable height. If these turn out to be too powerful, I can fabricate a lower power setup using either a collection of 3W-5W cobs or just 3 10W cobs. So this part's TBA.
For building the tank - this whole project is just for 1 plant
so I'm not overdoing the size of the tank. I'm starting with a 20 gallon tank, and if I build the environmental systems right, I can lift and shift the components to a larger tank if we ever get to that.
For mounting - I'm not doing anything fancy, no coir foam backgrounds or anything like that...this is a purpose built tank for 1 goal in mind. I will be using some hickory bark that I acquired a few years back, but I have enough seedlings that I'll be able to experiment with a few different mounting options.
For feeding, I'll be using a custom mix of different recipes I've found, but the plan is to try MSU for a while, and maybe this special mix that contains nutrient supplements...but for right now I'm going to try to keep it to 150ppm per feeding and then gauge how the seedlings respond.
The last big thing I'm doing with the tank, and this is just more for the cool factor, is that I'm going to be injecting CO2 directly into the tank. I think the aim for now will be to maintain internal co2 levels of around 2,000-3,000ppm. I want to do everything I can to supercharge the growing environment at least while they're getting established. At least from the journals I've read, that should increase their growth rate by 20-30%. Worst comes to worst, I ditch the CO2 and build a kegerator instead, so win-win...
Anyway - the equipment is still arriving in dribs and drabs. The seedlings arrived today, so the pressure's on to get something in place and soon.
My project for today was to install a smaller RO system inside the grow room that's going to be hooked up to a 5 gallon pail with a float valve. I also hacked a 5v portable shower head to act as a powered watering can, so that should be fun.
I'll be taking pictures along the way, I just wanted to get my thoughts down now while they were still fresh in my head. Oh and if it wasn't clear before, I'm not sure if any of this is even going to work, and while I'm sure there are a lot of gaps in my knowledge, I'm equally sure that you fine folks will help me fill in the missing details as we go through this adventure together
More to come soon.
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My Ghost Orchid Project
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