Who likes wet roots and low light?

[Fishkeeper]

This is a Hygrolon living wall that I'm setting up to take with me to college. Hygrolon is an inert plastic mesh that wicks water and is perfect for growing plants in and moss on. I'm looking for orchids that will do well on it, and, as it's only 12" across, they need to be small plants.

Trouble is, the only lights allowed in the dorm are LED or CFL reading lights. The light currently over these is the brightest I could find to fit in a reading lamp. It's a 100W equivalent LED light that puts out 1680 lumens at 5000K, so it should be enough for at least some low-light plants. The lamp is about 8" away from the brightest point on the light, a spot just above the deer skull.

The bottom half of the wall stays damp constantly, a portion above that stays just slightly damp, and the top just about dries out between daily waterings. The deer skull can have things mounted on it, but it's coated in acrylic, so it'll function as an inert object and won't release anything, helpful or otherwise.

So, does anyone have any suggestions for small orchids that like to stay damp, don't need terribly bright lights, and aren't too picky about temperature or humidity?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Try some of the mini Masdevallia spp., small Platystele spp., small Pleurothallis spp., certain Porroglossum spp., Restrepia, small Stelis spp., or some of the Trichosalpinx spp..

Some of the micro miniature Pleurothallis are sturdy, but not all of them, so be careful what you choose to get.

Some Porroglossum spp. do not bloom well if the humidity is low. Be careful.

There are a few very sturdy and easy to grow Lepanthes you can try growing as well. The only thing is if your humidity drops below 60% it could be a struggle to grow them.

Do not get micro-mini Trichosalpinx, they are almost like growing some of the Lepanthes, the larger ones are ok.

To give you a start...

Masdevallia:

1) Masdevallia campyloglossa
2) Masdevallia dynastes

Platystele:

1) Platystele orectoglossa
2) Platystele stenostachya

Pleurothallis (micro-mini to mini):

1) Pleurothallis grobyi
2) Pleurothallis tribuloides

Pleurothallis (small):

1) Pleurothallis palliolata
2) Pleurothallis stricta

Porroglossum:

1) Porroglossum lycinum
2) Porroglossum nutibara

Restrepia:

1) Restrepia striata
2) Restrepia muscifera

Stelis:

1) Stelis argentata
2) Stelis morganii

Trichosalpinx:

1) Trichosalpinx rotundifolia

If you want to really grow Lepanthes:

1) Lepanthes elegantula
2) Lepanthes gargoyla

You could also try:

1) Dracula inaequalis
2) Dracula lotax

Miniature Maxillarias could also work:

1. Maxillaria richii
2) Maxillaria sophronitis
3) Maxillaria schunkeana
4) Maxillaria variabilis

The plants I mentioned are not terribly picky about humidity. As long as it is within 60% - 70%, you and your [future] plants should be ok.

These are also plants that shouldn't really be breaking the bank of a college student either.

[Fishkeeper]

Awesome, thanks for the list of recommendations! I'll look into those.

[estación seca]

That will look fantastic.

If the light is not strong enough, I wonder whether you can replace the lamp in the fixture with one more powerful? Some reading lamps permit this. Or perhaps you could get a fixture that was originally incandescent and insert a really bright LED?

I don't think you need to coat the skull. The calcium leaching out will be good for the plants, and their roots will cling to the bone better than to acrylic. The skull itself will dissolve away, slowly.

[Fishkeeper]

This is the best LED bulb I could find that fits into a reading lamp fixture. I think it'll be enough for at least some lower-light plants. It's a decent color tint, and it looks very bright.

I've added a jewel orchid and a type of Mexican pinguicula to the wall, and I have another ping arriving Tuesday. Those, I figure, should be good measures of how much usable light the plants are getting. I'll just have to wait a couple of weeks to see what they think of the light levels. I'm also adding a resurrection fern, which will hopefully take over most of the far right area. I'll update with new pics once those plants get here.

The skull is already coated. I used to have it in an aquarium, and I didn't want anything leaching into the water. I'd prefer it not coated, but the acrylic certainly won't hurt anything, it's inert. If I mount any orchids on the antler, I'll take a piece of sandpaper to it first, see if I can rough anything up enough to matter.

Since I don't have any pics of the whole thing, here's a baby Pinguicula primuliflora. Should grow into a gnat-trapping machine.

[DarkDragoness]

Lepanthes calodictyon is a good choice for you setup: small, likes to be wet, not picky on light, easy to grow and blooms constantly.
I have one and it has doubled in size since I got it in February(started with ten leaves, now has twenty).

[Fishkeeper]

I just looked up the L. calodictyon, and I love them! They're so cute, and the flowers are ridiculously tiny. Plus, I have a few wetter spots that I think one would grow really well in. Thanks for the suggestion, I definitely want one.

Might have to keep a magnifying glass next to this setup for some of these flowers, come to think of it.

[charlesf6]

just curious but do you keep fish somewhere also?

[Fishkeeper]

I do, hence the name! I've been rehoming them all in preparation for college, but I used to have a total of 105 gallons of freshwater tanks and a 30 gallon saltwater tank. I also had a dart frog vivarium at one point. Those are difficult hobbies to take to college, though.

[DarkDragoness]

I forgot to mention that the leaves sorta sparkle and have nice purple veins. The flowers aren't too small.
I find that lepanthes don't like to be fussed over, they seem to want to be wet and left alone(also, some have huge flowers compared to the rest of the plant), so basically a beginner's plant.