Favorite Miniatures

[Clawhammer]

Hello fellow orchid lovers

I am planning to add quite a few miniatures to my setup described here now that I got it dialed in.
Automated setup. Tips please?

Please suggest your favorite miniatures and tell me why I need them in my collection! Thanks in advance for the advice

[Afid]

Dendrobium lichenastrum. It is a great little plant that has neat flowers and does not take up much space. It also seems pretty tolerant of drought and temperature. Plus, it smells like fish (not too strongly luckily)!

[Roberta]

Sophronitis (Cattleya) mantiqueirae, Sophronitis (Cattleya) cernua. (brilliant color) Ada (Brassia) brachypus. (Lots of flowers, blooms at least twice a year, and tiny) Nearly all Restrepias (cute little bugs...) Ceratochilus biglandulosus (what's not to love about an orchid where the long-lasting flower is larger than the plant, and the name is bigger than both)

[Subrosa]

Vanda Cherry Blossom comes in a range of colors and when blooming you can hardly see the leaves. Leptotes bicolor has neat, spiky leaves, blooms readily, and the seed pods can be used to make a sort of vanilla flavoring. Cynorkis fastigiata has cute little flowers and spreads readily by seed.

[SaraJean]

Is the 83°-60° temp rang your daily day/night? If so, I’m a little jealous and there are a good many things you could easily grow.
A few minis off the top of my head:

Dendrobium abberans. Very small plant, compact growth habit, blooms on young plants, long lasting flowers, evergreen, cute canes that are skinny twigs that get super round an inch up (like the cane tried to swallow a marble)

Haraella retrocalla (Syn. Haraella odorata, Gastrochilus retrocallus, and a few others. Not sure what the current “correct” name is). Blooms on very young plants, often carries several spikes at a time, sequential bloomer, relatively large flowers, fragrant, will bloom throughout the year, stays super small even once it starts producing little basal growths.

Any of the smaller Angraecums like Angraecum distichum or Angraecum didieri. Many of these are quite easy once you get them settled in some long lasting media or on a mount. They really don’t like root disturbance. The distichum is a pretty little orchid and will bloom a few times a year. The didieri is very fragrant. Also check out the Mystacidium, Amesiella, and Aerangis genera.

Laelia alaorii. A tiny Cattleya that will bloom several times a year, very charming plant and flowers, compact growth habit, will grow and bloom under a wide range of light. Not a demanding orchid at all.

Dendrobium cucumerinum. I’ve killed a few of these when my weather got too humid and rainy, but they are worth every attempt. Probably the cutest and most unique foliage on the planet that resembles little cucumbers. Everyone loves the pickle orchid.

[Clawhammer]

Thanks for all the suggestions... Bought and bunch of them. Think there is still room for more hehe

[Clawhammer]

Plant list (not all minis)

Aerangis articulata
Angraecum elephantium
Bulbophyllum moniliforme
Bulbophyllum Electrinum
Dendrobium kingianum
Dendrobium lichenastrum
Dendrobium loddigesii
Dendrobium unicum
Dendrobium aberans
Dendrochilum Bronze leaf
Dracula barrowii
Encyclia chacaoensis
Encyclia tampense
Haraella Retrocalla
Holcoglossum subulifolium
Lepanthopsis Astrophora
Masdevallia floribunda
Masdevallia rolfeana
Mediocalcar decoratum
Neofinetia falcata
Pleurothallis minutalis
Pleurothallis ornata
psygmorchis pusilla
Restrepia species 1
Sedirea (Aerides) japonica
Sophronitis mantiqueirae
Tuberolabium kotoense
Vandas - 3
Zygostates alliana

[wisdomseeker]

Originally Posted by Clawhammer

Thanks for all the suggestions... Bought and bunch of them. Think there is still room for more hehe

You have plenty of room!

That's a nice (and diverse) list of orchids. I like the way you designed the bottom of your set-up, along with the overhead watering system.

Schoenorchis fragrans is a small one that takes up very "little" space. One of mine started blooming around three weeks ago and is just now starting to fill out. I remounted this one on a wine cork 3 years ago. The last time it bloomed was in 2018. Skipped a blooming cycle last year for some reason (could have been because I moved it to in a dimmer location last year).