new from pa and viv forum

[beckdg]

technically all of us vivariumforum junkies introduced ourselves in another section when we were re-directed here. this one's just for me though.

i just picked up my first chids recently. one's a bulbopyllum pulchellum and the other's a ludisa discolor. basically i'm a blank slate at this point... with plants depending on me to keep them alive.

on that note, i don't know if it's absolutely necessary but i did just get a 5 stage r/o system installed under my sink this weekend. (thank you very much ray.) the system is great so far. seems well built and sturdy and my water and coffee tastes fantastic.

now, i just have to hook up the misting system that came in yesterday too. (thank you very much marty) i can't wait to utilize that little piece of equipment either. running around the house from pot to pot, tank to tank with a 1 quart pump sprayer and spray bottle everyday has been ridiculous... as well as replacing pur filters on the sink every month.

life will be a lot easier by the end of the week.

i'll be checking in from time to time. for now, take it easy and... .

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[Zoi2]

Hello and welcome to the OB.
Joann

[Call_Me_Bob]

welcome to ob. what part of pa are you from?

[cb977]

and

I'm glad you decided to stick around...this is a great place...lots of wonderful folks and great fun

if you need help, let us klnow

[trdyl]

Welcome to OB!

[beckdg]

what a warm welcome.

i'm from a little town called croydon in bucks county not but about 40 minutes from rays area.

i may just need help actually. the ludisa seems to be doing as good as can be but i'm not sure about the bulbo. it has real thick leafs too so i'm afraid by the time i figure it out it may be too late.

i've got them both in a small terrarium (rigged for now since i broke the glass like a dummy) with 3 shop lights over it and long fiber sphagnum moss as a soil. temp stays between 70* - 85* F depending night or day and humidity is always at least 80%. there's a pc fan in there rigged up for circulation also.

one thing i know i'm totally clueless about is fertilizing. i have not done any as of yet. so far i've been watering with water from a pur filter on my faucet. i think that would have been fine since our water is very soft as it is (~2dkh + ~2dgh) but i've got the r/o now anyways. so, i think that's about good but i keep hearing about all these different ferts and i'm lost. i have heard of the msu ferts and i know there's one specifically for r/o water but i'm not sure that's what's best atm. not only that i want to be sure of how to and how much to add/mix/etc. before i do something stupid.

my horse is in the water, he's just not sure he should drink it so to say... i guess.

[RosieC]

Welcome to Orchid Board

I'm afraid I know nothing about either Bulbos or about growing in terrariums/vivariams so I can't help much there.

You may want to ask your question in our Bulbo area as there should be people arround there who know more about them.Bulbophyllum Alliance

We also have a terrarium area where folks are used to growing in those sorts of conditions.Terrarium Gardening

Sorry I can't help myself, hope you get the answers you need.

[beckdg]

i'll be asking soon, i think. i have done some searching around... especially in the bulbo section. still getting used to the layout. i actually did find that susanne seems to be doing pretty good with her pulchellum and she's in florida so possibly close to the conditions i'm keeping mine in. which is good... i think.

what i'm actually thinking might be best would be to mount the bulbo. i've got a pinguicula moranensis i might decide to mount also. i think the one thing i'll have to take precaution against is fertilizing the ping. i don't think they take too kindly to that sort of treatment. anyway, i have some bark from a trimmed tree in my back yard i'm thinking of using. not sure the type of tree as i'm not good with identifying trees but the bark is kind of rough and sturdy and the tree produces no sap or scent. i might try my hand at propagating a couple more pings through leaf cuttings before i put this one through the ringer so to say. it's fairly new and the new leafs have not yet layed flat for me to feel confident to start tearing leafs off quite yet but soon i think. it is growing larger than when i received it with more leafs so i'm definitely confident it's happy where it is so far.

hopefully i'll have the misting system installed and running today... but i'll have to make room to put my tanks close to each other and i'm not 100% sure how i want to do that as of yet. the goings on throughout the day should help to decide that... hopefully.

anyway, enough gabbing from me. i'm just happy this whole ordeal seems to finally be moving in a forward direction. tty guys and gals l...

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[Ray]

The ludisia should thrive in that environment, as should be bulbo. Both of them tend to like it warm, moist, and shady - I don't know how large your tank is, but 3 shop lights might be too much, especially if they are close.

DO NOT us RO water alone, or with "regular" fertilizers. The MSU RO stuff is definitely the way to go, but in a closed system and sphagnum, I'd cut the dosage back to 50-75 ppm N.

[beckdg]

thanks ray.