Minis for a dorm room living wall
Login
User Name
Password   


Registration is FREE. Click to become a member of OrchidBoard community
(You're NOT logged in)

menu menu

Sponsor
Donate Now
and become
Forum Supporter.

Minis for a dorm room living wall
Many perks!
<...more...>


Sponsor
 

Google


Fauna Top Sites
Register Minis for a dorm room living wall Members Minis for a dorm room living wall Minis for a dorm room living wall Today's PostsMinis for a dorm room living wall Minis for a dorm room living wall Minis for a dorm room living wall
LOG IN/REGISTER TO CLOSE THIS ADVERTISEMENT
Go Back   Orchid Board - Most Complete Orchid Forum on the web ! > >
Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 06-14-2017, 06:00 PM
Fishkeeper Fishkeeper is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 226
Minis for a dorm room living wall
Default Minis for a dorm room living wall



Build thread is here:
Miniature living wall build thread! - Dendroboard

Essentially, it's a living wall made of a type of expanding foam frequently used in dart frog habitats. Over that is Hygrolon, a type of plastic foam designed to wick water. It functions something like an artificial moss. There's a reservoir of water underneath that the mesh dips into, keeping it constantly moist.
I also have a deer skull on which to place plants that like drier roots, but it used to be an aquarium decoration, so it's sealed with acrylic. May as well be a plastic skull for the purposes of the plants. Won't leach anything weird.
The whole setup is 12" across and about 14" high, so it needs very small plants.

The best light I can have over this is a reading lamp with a 100w equivalent LED bulb. It puts out 1680 lumens at 5000K, and I can put it very close to a portion of the wall.

I'm hoping there are a couple of types of small orchid that would grow well on here. Any thoughts?

Requirements:
Likes its roots to be constantly moist, or
Would grow on something inorganic (skull is sealed w/ acrylic) and do well with dry roots and daily misting
Will grow well mounted or 'planted' with its roots wrapped in mesh
Low-light
Doesn't need high ambient humidity
Tolerant of typical household temperatures
Mini (entire plant 4" across or less, or, if clumping, individual pseudobulb+leaf units 3" long or less)
Not a heavy feeder

Cool but not required:
Strange-looking flowers
Mini-mini (entire plant less than 2" across, or individual units 1.5" or less)
Looks like a tiny version of a larger orchid, i.e. recognizable as an orchid by relative laypersons

Also, any suggestions on how to fertilize the plants on this? I'm hoping to find a way that would keep part of the Hygrolon completely fertilizer-free. I'm going to keep a Pinguicula on one part of the wall to eat any potential fungus gnats, and Pings can't stand fertilizers. Maybe liquid orchid fertilizer spritzed around various plants, then a rinse around the Ping to be sure the mesh around it doesn't have anything unpleasant?
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 06-15-2017, 12:16 AM
Fishkeeper Fishkeeper is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 226
Minis for a dorm room living wall
Default

I've gone to the Andy's Orchids website, which has a really good search feature that lets you filter orchids by things like size, light requirements, and water requirements. After fiddling with the search and doing some Googling, I have a few orchids I'm considering. Can anyone give me some advice on whether they'd be suitable? Or maybe some suggestions?

1: Haraella odorata
2: Ceratostylis pleurothallis (sp. mini Cambodia)
3: Stelis hirtzii
4: Bulbophyllum catenulatum
5: Masdevallia minuta
6: Bulbophyllum alagense large form
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 06-15-2017, 12:52 AM
rtbaum rtbaum is offline
Member
 

Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 32
Minis for a dorm room living wall
Default

Orchids on a deer skull?!......inconceivable! Counter clockwise from upper left Leptotes bicolor, Phal. bellina, Phal. manni, Dendrobium cucumerium....oh, yeah and a Noid Phal in the background (ignore it, it follows me where ever I go). Tolumnia may be an option, if you have enough light in a window.
Attached Thumbnails
Minis for a dorm room living wall-dsc_1082-jpg   Minis for a dorm room living wall-dsc_1187-jpg  

Last edited by rtbaum; 06-15-2017 at 01:30 AM..
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 06-17-2017, 03:53 PM
Fishkeeper Fishkeeper is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 226
Minis for a dorm room living wall
Default

Those are pretty cool, but I think a bit too big.

Anyone else have any suggestions, or any input on the ones I listed?
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 06-19-2017, 09:22 PM
Fishkeeper Fishkeeper is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 226
Minis for a dorm room living wall
Default


Updated pic with edited Hygrolon structure and added plants! See the build thread (linked in the first post) to get plant info.

The lower part of the wall stays wetter than the upper part, now that I have the water in. The top is just barely damp, and it gets wetter the further down you go. The top will work fairly well for orchids that like to be watered just before they dry out, and the bottom will be good for ones that like having constantly wet roots.

Any input on whether jewel orchids would do well on here?

Any species suggestions?

Input on the species I listed above?
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
orchid, plants, roots, skull, wall


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
FREE Living Wall Cabinet Ray Orchid Lounge 0 08-05-2016 05:42 PM
Living wall v. 3.0 ALToronto Members' Displays 32 03-19-2015 08:33 AM
Recommendations for Dorm Room shahrezsyed Growing Under Lights 7 01-09-2015 03:04 AM
Vertical wall design indoor orchid setup Jussi_K Terrarium Gardening 7 12-12-2014 04:20 AM
My aeroponic orchid wall ALToronto Members' Displays 32 10-18-2013 12:24 AM

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 11:42 PM.

© 2007 OrchidBoard.com
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO v2.0.37 (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Feedback Buttons provided by Advanced Post Thanks / Like (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.

Clubs vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.