Brand new and struggling

[kheftling]

In the first picture attached you can see my orchid and the fern I bought initially planning to co-habitate. The right hand vessel is the terrarium (which didn't prove to be tall enough to house the flower spikes of the oncidium anyway) and left is a shallow glass dish I also have which could be put to use. I also found a nicely porous looking piece of volcanic stone that could perhaps serve as a mount? The last photo is of course the window I wanted to put it in.

[Leafmite]

You could mount the oncidium on the lava rock and set it in the bowl. If you keep water in the bottom of the bowl, the rock will wick up water and keep the roots damp. The air flow will keep the roots from rotting. I grow my haraella rectrocalla that way.
There are many ways to grow this oncidium. Your personal preferences and conditions are the best guide. Good luck!

[WhiteRabbit]

Originally Posted by kheftling

I live in northern Delaware, between 7a and 7b

I'm not sure what the humidity is there - I can imagine indoors in winter with heat going might be a bit dry, but not more so than most other places ...

I know there are people growing orchids without terrariums in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico...

[kheftling]

I think I will try that and hope the orchid likes the set up. I believe my smaller, lidded jar might be an ok spot for a jewel orchid

[catherinecarney]

Hi and welcome!

20H tanks are not too expensive (a lot of pet stores hold "dollar a gallon" sales on them a couple of times a year, so you can get them really cheap if you watch the sales). I have one set up as a terrarium/hospital tank for some of my minis and seedlings that need a bit more warmth and humidity than my house provides since my room temps are in the low to mid 60's during the day and my humidity runs 40-50%. Basic setup would be tank, substrate (I used the coir block I found in the reptile section), lighting (a double bulb light recycled from a marine tank) and that's pretty much it. I do mist the tank pretty much every day, and if I wanted to keep it a bit damper I would add a strip of glass over half of it. I set this up a while ago, and so far things (phals, small catt hybrids and seedlings, assorted dendrobium species, and so on) see to be growing quite well.

Bottom line is don't be afraid to experiment--part of growing orchids is to learn what works for you in your environment. The plants will tell you when they're happy and when they're not....

BTW, I envy you your bay window--wish I had one. I'll bet you can create a great orchid growing setup in that area!

Catherine

[kheftling]

Hi Catherine!

Thanks for the info, sounds fairly affordable. My only problem is more of an aesthetic one. I don't want to fill the window with huge tanks and lights and other equipment. It's a possibility for in the basement or another room at least, but I'm hoping to find something practical and still attractive to put in that window.

[catherinecarney]

I agree that the window is too pretty to fill with "gadgets."

OK, so what are your temps and humidity running right now? I grow my plants (including the orchids) in winter temps in the low to mid 60's with 40-50% humidity (including Onc. Tsiku Marguerite and Onc. Gowers Ramsey). I do mist them pretty much once a day, although they have been fine when I have been gone for a long weekend here and there. I also have a friend who grows similar orchids (incl the same onc cv's) and her conditions run a but warmer (temps at 70) and drier (35-40% humidity) and they are doing well.

It should be relatively easy to "tweak" the environment in your bay window and create a slightly warmer and damper environment if needed--after all, the bay is in essence a small room with a big opening into your main room. Even just partially closing off the bay with curtains or shutters (I've seen some attractive wooden ones on bays that fold back when not in use) might be enough to hold heat and humidity in the area. Also, if you install lighting above the plants in the bay that will tend to raise the temp for you as well. Grouping your plants in the area with humidity trays or a small humidifier should help with the dryness...BTW, what direction does that window face??

Just some thoughts off of the top of my head. I don't know how practical or useful any of them might be for you and your situation, but I hope it gives you some ideas.

Catherine

[kheftling]

All awesome suggestions. My husband has been working on building me a large humidity tray which I'm really excited about! I was also looking into some tiny, tabletop style humidifier/vaporizers that I could tuck into the window without them being too obtrusive. I actually have floor length drapes on that window which are drawn a lot of the time, so they do add insulation. I honestly am not sure about the temperature or humidity in the window...I should probably look into it. Installing a thermometer wouldn't be hard, but how do I go about measuring the humidity?

The direction of the window I believe is south-east. I have a second bay window in my kitchen which is north-east-ish? It's not precise.

[MattWoelfsen]

You can go to any home improvement center that sells thermostats and buy a little tool called a thermometer hygrometer that measures temperature and relative humidity. You can also buy them from Amazon. I have bought this product from Amazon.

[Tabbyblack13]

I use a key chain model that came with my outdoor weather station. I hang it next to my plants to see what the is temp and the relative humidity in the area.


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