Hygrolon living wall for my dorm room

[Fishkeeper]

This is a living wall made from a 2.5gal aquarium, which I'm going to take to college with me. Since I can't count on decent window lighting, I have a desk lamp over it. The bulb is an LED 100w equivalent that puts out 1680 lumens at 5000K, and so far it seems to be working out fairly well.

I don't have any orchids on it yet, I'm trying to grow enough plants to help increase the humidity right around it, but I thought people on here would find it interesting as a future orchid display. Plus, I'm looking for suggestions on how to improve it as far as suitability for orchids.

I'll update whenever orchids get involved. That'll be mid-August, on my birthday, and then an order from Andy's Orchids sometime in early September.

Without spritzing, the bottom third of the wall is almost soaking wet, the top quarter is almost completely dry, and the section between is varying levels of moisture but is fairly damp everywhere. I mist at least once a day, and I make sure to moisten the areas around the vine cuttings and the pinguicula. I haven't tried fertilizing yet, but will probably go with a very weak orchid fertilizer sprayed around the roots of everything that I think needs fertilizer.


This is the framework. A 2.5 gal aquarium, trim removed, laid on its side with one wall having been taken off and fastened parallel to the bottom. Braced in place with a thin sheet of acrylic, bits of the trim stuck to the inside to help everything cling to the glass.


Great Stuff expanding foam as the main bulk, then Hygrolon over the top of it, dabs of silicone underneath and around the edges to hold everything in place. The slits in the back are hopeful anchoring points for vines, and they have several layers of Hygrolon packed behind them. Also, a deer skull. The skull is coated in acrylic because it was formerly in an aquarium, so there's no calcium boost, but it looks nice.


The first planting, June 19th. The oak leaf ficus to the left almost immediately died in all but the wettest spots, the vine cuttings had to be moved higher, and I moved the fern up higher on the wall so it could reach up better.


This is a current pic, July 17th. The fern in the back is white rabbit's foot, and it did not grow that much in a month, I just added more because I had a bit that wasn't happy in its original pot.



Pinguicula emerginata. Seems to be doing well so far under the lights, but I've only had it since the 30th, so maybe a bit too soon to tell. New leaves are continuing to grow, that's a good sign. I'm hoping this one will spread around, I want them for gnat control and pretty flowers. They aren't technically epiphytic, but they'll happily grow in moss that's clinging to cliffs in their native habitat, so this little plant is perfect for this.


Microsaurum linguiforme micro fern. Growing slowly, but visibly. I'm hoping it'll eventually grow up the background.


Pellonia pulchra, growing faster than expected. I thought for sure it was going to throw a fit over the low humidity, but apparently daily misting and keeping it pressed to a wet section of the wall kept it alive. It lost a couple of leaves on that bit that's further away from the wall, but the tip is clearly growing.


Cuttings of Marcgravia rectiflora, which I'm hoping will take off enough that I can guide it up to cover a lot of the back wall. It has a nice shingling growth habit, and it's usually used in dart frog vivariums. It likes high humidity, but I think it'll be alright on here, since it's so close to the surface all the time.


Java moss, applied in its aquatic form. It's taking off and getting nice and fuzzy in the brightly lit spots, but the edges in the shade are just kind of existing. Java moss doesn't die in low light, but, clearly, it prefers proper lighting. I'm not sure what will end up in that shady spot, maybe I'll drape something over it.


Questions? Comments? Miscellaneous advice?

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I look forward to seeing it develop!

[Fishkeeper]

Updated shot after additions from Andy's Orchids and Miller's Tropicals:


Full shot, showing the added cover. The back is too dry for mosses, so I think I'll be covering it in vines and maybe some ferns. That large open spot under the Pinguicula is the brightest spot on the wall, so I'm saving it for a higher-light orchid.


Bottom is oak leaf ficus, the larger leaves on the right are a miniature fern, the center is a liverwort, and the left is a patch of Bulbophyllum alagense "large form".


Very center is Bulbophyllum catenulatum, top is another mini fern, red plant is a Pellonia pulchra.


Bottom right is Java moss, middle right is a Neo Punctissima "Red", not as bright red as before but doing well anyway, top is a Ceratostylis pleurothallis sp. "mini Cambodia".


Unknown peperomia center, Haraella odonata far left.


Dendrobium lichenastrum top, Pinguicula emarginata bottom.


Rabbit's foot fern in the center, leafless orchids top.


Everything's been doing pretty well so far. The oak leaf ficus mostly died off, but it's growing back from the wet spots. The liverwort is a new addition that's not doing well in the dryer spots, but it seems to be fine on the wet areas. The ping hasn't stopped blooming since I got it.

I can add more close-up photos of specific things on request.

[brianwstephens]

Awesome!!! I wish that I had this back when I was living in the dorms. Happy growing!!

[Fishkeeper]

I couldn't keep the top area damp and humid enough to keep things happy, so I just took it off entirely, leaving only the areas that stay wet enough to support plants.
Everything is growing, and the pinguicula hasn't stopped blooming since I added it.
I removed the H. odonata to put it somewhere with higher humidity, and I moved the bromeliad to a terrarium with brighter lights, but otherwise everything is still on here.
A torn leaf from the pinguicula accidentally landed on some moss below and started growing, so there are a few teeny pings hidden in the moss near the skull's eye socket.

There's moss and liverworts spreading everywhere, creeping up inside the hygrolon and occasionally popping out, which is really cool. Also, there are springtails! They must have come in on the liverworts, I suppose. Not sure where they're living, I only know about them because they're landing on my pinguiculas and getting stuck. They're probably living under the liverworts, I'm sure it's really wet under there. Everything seems healthy, so no concerns.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Looking good.