masdevallia erinacea in bloom

[RandomGemini]

That may be my problem. Mine is mounted. I was wondering if mounting it was the right decision when I got it. I could move it to the floor of the terrarium. If I did that it would stay a lot more moist, but it would not get as much light. I do have a haraella retrocalla at that level in there that grows well and blooms annually. Think that could work??

[u bada]

Because of my personal thoughts on dismantling plants (repotting etc.) i really try not to mess with a plants roots whatsover... so with situations like that where I have a mounted plant I can't keep wet enough I cut the mount down and put in a net pot with rocks and set at bottom.

that was actually blooming last month so when it was done blooming it moved into a lower light corner as the levels looked a little too yellow and see how it does. Supposedly it should flower in fairly low light but ya never know. I have a cadetia taylori near it that has only bloomed once in the last 2 years, one single flower. (supposedly blooms all the time and prefers low light) enfuriating.

if you're growing with lights, you can also put another pot below it to raise it up to lights? if you grow with lights, what kind of lights?

[RandomGemini]

I'm growing under a CFL bulb. This is a pic of my terrarium. I might be able to cut the mount down. You can see my Masdevallia Erinacea on the left below my tilandisia.

[u bada]

The thing about cfls is the further away from them you are the intensity of light diminishes a lot... so yeah it would be a gamble to put it farther away, however, I would try just sitting mount on the floor and see if that may be a enough. that way you don't compromise look of case. But you never know, may just be enough light at bottom of case for it.

The haraella really doesn't like too bright light, however in a lower light levels it likes, it should bloom almost year round when happy, so depending on where it is, and other plants should give you an idea on light levels.

... or you can just water more often ;P

I've been using LED's with what could be fairly good results. There are now fairly inexpensive LED screw in "bulbs" that might be worth trying. LED light (is said) to penetrate more evenly more deeply than flours.

[wintergirl]

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

How do you keep it moist? I have one in my terrarium and it doesn't seem to be moist enough.

Mine is on a Kool-log, so it stays moist because I keep the chamber filled.

[u bada]

Never heard of those, sounds like an amazing product... very similar to the terra cotta tube method (forget what it's called)

[wintergirl]

Originally Posted by u bada

Never heard of those, sounds like an amazing product... very similar to the terra cotta tube method (forget what it's called)

Kool-Logs

[Paphy]

u bada that is such a unique species. It's curious and exotic at the same time! Thnx for posting it! I like your little eco set-up too.

re: Kool-logs

Anyone else but me think they are anything but 'kool'? They may function but they certainly don't look kool. I mean, white??? not exactly natural at all. Unless they've started making them in organic colors and I'm not up to speed..

[wintergirl]

Originally Posted by Paphy

u bada that is such a unique species. It's curious and exotic at the same time! Thnx for posting it! I like your little eco set-up too.

re: Kool-logs

Anyone else but me think they are anything but 'kool'? They may function but they certainly don't look kool. I mean, white??? not exactly natural at all. Unless they've started making them in organic colors and I'm not up to speed..

Eventually they get green from algae. If they keep the plant alive, that is all I care about. Some of those species masdies are hard to care for without the Kool-log IMO.

[u bada]

Paphy, I agree not too crazy on how they look... but I'm also not into how big they are, probably can't put them nicely in a small aquarium or glass vessel... however I'm willing to try them and will eventually order just because how they work, if they work for me, would be crucial to grow certain things if at all for me with the summer heat up here... as wintergirl pointed out.

There is an interesting use of terra cotta pipes that I believe work in the same way for nano vivariums. In them a terra cotta pipe sits permanently in water at bottom of a cylinder and through capillary action stays evenly moist, and you grow micro-mini's along the surface. In kool logs they work by keeping it filled with water on reservoir... below is a link of examples by this swedish guy who is an amazing grower of many minis and apparently a brilliant tech guy by way of tech for miniature vivarium growing

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lika_s...7606521712474/

as you can see the terra cotta gets engulfed with moss and plants, so I'm hoping that once I try a couple the same would happen with the kool logs...

wintergirl, how often do you have to refill the resevoir on typical summer week?