mounted vs. potted...how to decide

[Kaity]

Hello...

I have finally finished building my terrarium for minis and have a beginner question. Do all orchids (namely minis) do better mounted or do some prefer pots? I have room for both ways in my terrarium. The back is a solid wall of epiweb for mounting and their is a lot of floor space for pots. The humidity is around 85% and temps around 70-75 degrees during the day right now. I want to get some Platystele, Stelis, Porroglossom, Scaphosepalum, Lepanthes, Masdies, ...... EVERYTHING TINY.... What do you all recommend?

[Ray]

How will you water them?

[Kaity]

I have a drip irrigation system setup with soaker hose running the length of the wall for the epiweb. The potted plants I was just thinking the good old sink... frequency of watering for the epiweb wall is still up in the air...any suggestions are much appreciated.

[plantaholic]

I was wondering the same thing. I have a scapho that's crawling out of its pot. Apparently they tend to do that so was wondering about mounting it instead. I have it in a small tank above glass beads/water and turn on a little fogger a couple of times a day. It's been happy and just recently bloomed. So, if I just mount it and keep it in the same conditions, will it do okay?

[tucker85]

I've never grown orchids in a terrarium but with 85% humidity I would think many orchids would do well mounted. Here in South Florida we have high humidity and mounted orchids flourish. Good luck.

[Ray]

If the roots of the plant have grown sufficiently into the web to get direct contact with the fertilizer solution dripping through it, then it's no problem. If that hasn't happened yet, the occasional manual soaking will be necessary.