Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)
Pleurothallis allenii is from Panama. This plant only tops out at 3". It's only $18 at Andy's. I bet you can find this species elsewhere for a bit less. This one will bloom whenever it feels like it, so you can essentially see flowers all year round sporadically. It grows in cloud forests and can be mounted. These grow much, much faster than a Phal or a Catt. Don't be surprised if within a year of being grown properly that this species will double in size.
Plths segoviensis is another great mini, I've grown these before. Tops off at no more than 3". Can put out sprays of flowers. Originates from Panama, according to Andy. It's sold for $16.
None of the ones listed as being from Panama are $35.
Catts are high light orchids. They will not grow well in your conditions. By Cattleyas, I mean the actual genus as well as all the intergenerics (i.e. Blc, C, Epc, Lc, Slc, etc). They also get too large for your viv.
Laelias will not work either. In fact, most of the epiphytical Laelias are enormous, many can get to be a foot tall to 5 feet tall depending on the species. The only miniature epiphytical Laelia I know of is Laelia alaori, but your conditions are not bright enough and might be too wet.
While the genus Sophronitis consists of miniature species, they're not suited to your vivarium as well because they grow in bright light and it may be too wet for them in your tank.
Phals on the other hand can grow in your conditions better, but the larger ones get much too large for your tank. Although they grow relatively slower than, say, some of the ferns in your viv, you'll be surprised by how fast they can potentially grow. More often than not, it's only 1 to 2 leaves per year, but sometimes they can be very vigorous growers putting out 3 to 4 leaves in one growing season. Then there's the spike. Not to mention the roots (the roots grow much, much faster than the leaves do), some of these Phals have fairly large root systems.
There are mini Phals, if you're going to try. But if the NOID hybrid mini Phals spike, all bets are off, as I don't know how large it'll get and if they grow upright or pendulously, or whatever. There are just too many hybrids out there for me to keep into account. Maybe other members can give you suggestions as to what kinds of hybrid mini Phals fit in your viv. NOID mini Phals are sold in places like Lowe's as well.
Maybe something like Phal 'Mini Mark' would work (since it's a named variety it may cost you a pretty penny).
Or if you like species, something like Phal gibbosa, Phal lobbii, or Phal parishii would work for you. There are more mini Phal species but these should be the easier ones to grow that have short spikes. These are not terribly expensive, but they won't be $2 to $5.
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