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Terrarium is finally finished!
It took almost 3 months of playing and experimenting, but I think I have finally finished it!
I would like to take the time in this thread to explain my thoughts, issues and things I did/learned in the process of making this terrarium as there doesn't appear to be a thread like that here on the OrchidBoard. For those of you not interested in all of the nitty-gritty, I will spare you the details and jump right to the pictures! And of course, as this is my first terrarium build and mounting effort, please feel free to give me your thoughts and suggestions! This has been a HUGE learning curve for me and I appreciate everyone's input! I really appreciate the patience everyone here has shown me as I've been asking tons of questions and learning. So, here are the pics! The "final" terrarium build minus 4 orchids that still need to be mounted: http://www.orchidboard.com/community...6-11-small.jpg My hand made water fall/fountain that has a very soft and pleasant sound like a trickling river in the distance. http://www.orchidboard.com/community...tain-small.jpg And now for the orchids that are mounted thus far! 1.) Bulbophyllum sikkimense http://www.orchidboard.com/community...6-11-small.jpg 2.) Haraella retrocalla http://www.orchidboard.com/community...6-11-small.jpg 3.) Maxillaria uncata 'Lineas Rojis' http://www.orchidboard.com/community...6-11-small.jpg 4.) Mediocalcar decoratum http://www.orchidboard.com/community...6-11-small.jpg 5.) Porroglossum dalstroemii http://www.orchidboard.com/community...6-11-small.jpg 6.) Sedirea japonica http://www.orchidboard.com/community...6-11-small.jpg 7.) Trisetella gemmata http://www.orchidboard.com/community...6-11-small.jpg The new orchids that just arrived this evening are Aerangis fastuosa, Dendrobium cuthbertsonii, Haraella odorata (I know, just found out it's the same thing as retrocalla - good thing I love this one, lol...) and Dryadella zebrina. I will post pics once I get them mounted in a few days. I want them to adjust to the new climate before I tamper with them though. So my next posting here will be more about the detail of what went into the construction of this terrarium from the very beginning. Thanks for viewing! |
Cool setup. How big is the entire thing? I've always liked the idea, but have no idea how big I could have and where it would go. Hopefully you're setup commentary will provide some insight. Nice going as always Paul!
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Hello zxyqu, the terrarium is only 1 foot by 1 foot by 1.5 foot. It is a Zoo Med terrarium sold at PetSmart for around 50 dollars. While it's small, I plan to only put extremely small mini's in here - as many as it will potentially hold. However, the biggest thing for me after having bought several mini's is the relationship between the color of the flower and the size. For example, if it's a bright color then no matter how small it is you will be able to see it admist the browns and green in the terrarium. Otherwise, if it's a bigger flower (3/4 inch or larger) then I am assuming I will be able to view and enjoy it as is regardless of color.
However, the Tristella and the Porroglossum were two of the first mini's I bought. I started my adventure on the mini terrarium build because my Porroglossum lost over half of it's leaves and the Tristella was doing nothing. However, since it's been in a terrarium setting (primarily due to increased humidity), the Porroglossum has not lost any more leaves and appears to have new root growth and the Trisetella has many new baby leaves forming and many very noticable roots. I hope to start my "journal" this weekend. It will take me some time to recall my thought and experience process though. |
looking good! I hope you have tons of fun with it!
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You know, it was a lot of work and sometimes a bit frustrating as I had to go back and re-do things many times. But overall, it was quite an exciting project. Now, I'm finally in the really fun stages though - the planting!
1st Step: Once I found the space away from direct sunlight in the house and the terrarium that could fit that space, I had to consider a false bottom. I wanted a water feature so I needed a resevoir of water on the underside of the false bottom. If it had not been for the water feature, then I would still need some room for excess water to fall and not affect the substrates that much. However, having the body of water I thought would help to increase and maintain the humidity of the terrarium. My first step was to find a pump so would know how deep of a basin beneath the substrate I needed. Most pumps operate underwater and very few will operate in shallow water. I only had 3 inches in the bottom of my terrarium to play with. So, minus the substrate and the eggcrate used to create the false bottom that would leave me with about 1 1/2 inches of space. I finally found my pump that would operate in as little as 1/2 inch of water. It is a Repti-Flo 250. Another consideration for finding the pump was the thickness (gauge) of the wire. It needed to be a normal gauge (about 16) to fit through the wire slots at the top of the terrarium. This pump worked perfectly! I then went to Home Depot and bought the following: eggcrate, electrical zip ties, PVC connectors (rounds), screen door meshing and pea gravel. I used gardening sheers to cut a square out of the eggcrate and put that inside the terrarium. I quickly discovered that I would need to cut the eggcrate much smaller so no one would be able to see the eggcrate and the body of water underneath. Once I had the square cut, I had to cut a space in the back for the water pump to fit. As dirt can easily clog a pump, I wanted an extra layer of screening to go around it, so I cut the space for the pump inside of the square towards the back. The next part was to consider where I wanted my body of water ("mini lake") to be. It took several attempts to find where I ultimately wanted it to be. Then I played with rocks to see how it looked. I was shocked to learn that I would have to make the mini lake bigger so you could actually see a "lake" as opposed to just rocks. By the way, the rocks would cover up the eggcrate in the finished product so you wouldn't be able to see it and the resevoir of water underneath. Once I was satisfied with the bottom and layout (many attempts and designs later), I made walls from the eggcrate and secured them to the bottom of my false bottom using the electrical zip ties. I did the same thing for the pump area cut out on the inside as well. On the inside of those walls, I used aquarium sealant to place the PVC connectors to help support the weight. I used as few as possible but remember that eggcrate is rather flimsy, so you need to support any weight that will be on top of it. I erred on the side of one or two too many which I felt was fine. Once the PVC connectors had cured and were secure, I cut a very large piece of screen door screening out and folded (and in some places had to cut it to fit) around the false bottom. The idea here is to ensure that none of the substrate and particles could get into the resevoir and potentially damage the pump. The screening was specifically cut large enough so it could go down the sides of the walls and then had a bit more that would just sit on the bottom of the terrarium. This extra bit would be held down by the pea gravel used to hide the sides of the false bottom. I used aqaurium sealant to seal the screening to the top and to ensure that it was even up there. I then rinsed over and over again the pea gravel to ensure it was completely clean of any dirt, then boiled it on the stove for about 30 minutes to get any unwanted bacterias, molds, viruses, etc... off of it. Once it had cooled, I put in the false bottom and poured the pea gravel all around, ensuring that the screening was not seen as I shoved it all in. By the way, the first time I did this I realized that the false bottom had to be cut even more to allow for more pea gravel as I could still see the screening and eggcrate a bit in places. I used some larger rocks (cleaned and boiled) in the front where the lake would be to hold back the pea gravel and ensure that the lake had my "special colored" rocks in there for viewing pleasure. I wanted a mixture of red and white rocks as opposed to pea gravel. The rocks I chose were a bit large, but I also knew I would have to conceal the false bottom in the "mini lake" area as well. One note on the false bottom, many people secure their false bottom with aquarium sealant to the bottom of their terrarium. I did not do this. I wanted to be sure that if down the road I did not like something or if I needed to clean the entire terrarium that everything was able to come out so I could do that. Also, if I ever decided I wanted a different design then I could remove everything and start from scratch. To be honest, this was what took the most time - reverse engineering so to speak - to ensure that I could remove everything if need be. |
It looks like your hard work really paid off! Very lovely!
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Really well done!
-Tristan |
Thanks everyone! I'm mostly pleased with it, though there are still some things I'm looking to correct, but for now it's seems to be working, lol...
So much more quickly than step 1, here's... Step 2: I spent a lot of time looking at pictures of other people's terrariums here on the OrchidBoard, in google images, and any other places I could find. I took notes on what I liked about each one in an excel spreadsheet and any thoughts or suggestions that were listed with the build. I also provided a link back to the page so I could see the image again and again while I formulated what I wanted to see. Originally, I wanted more levels and to utilize those levels for planting orchids on and then use a few branches to extend up to the top of the terrarium to plant on as well. Here's the eggcrate model I had originally built. http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ake1-small.jpg However, it was way too symmetrical for my taste. I could have changed some of them to cork rounds or halves, but I still wasn't quite satisfied with the overall look in my mind's eye. So needless to say, there was a lot of thinking, looking around and imagining going on. This was also the time I started researching air flow and self-automated watering systems to ensure the fact that I would have to do minimal maintenance on it once it was completed. (This still has yet to be determined by the way, lol...). While doing this, I also looked at various materials available to construct a background, the various styles other people used and materials they incorporated. After much deliberation, I opted for some earthy areas but also wanted rocks. I also wanted a variety of wood materials, so I used some cork rounds cut in half, mopani wood and a pressed cork board for terrariums (the later two you can buy at any PetSmart or pet store that carries terrarium supplies). As I was looking for particular shapes, sizes, colorations, textures and overall designs, I did not purchase any of these online as you never know what you will recieve. I wanted to see it before I committed to a purchase. The mopani wood was chosen because other woods can grow mold very quickly (based upon some other people's comments). However, another good choice may have been driftwood as it is very used to being in a watery/high humidity environment. But I liked the overall look of the mopani the best. In all honesty, I over bought on the materials - but I guess that just means more materials for playing with later, lol... I think the biggest thing I learned here was to not just settle for a design because it was your first or your 10th design. Keep going until you truly feel it is right for you. Once you think you've got it down, step away from it for a few days and don't even think about it. Come back and view it with a fresh pair of eyes and dissect it in relation to what you originally wrote down you liked and disliked about other designs you've seen. But overall, have fun and enjoy the designing part and let your imagination go. If you construct it by not permanently attaching anything you can always tear it back down and start over, lol... To give you an idea of at least one design I was considering, here's a picture. I did not like this design because it did not have room for my waterfall. The waterfall would either have to go over or under the mopani wood piece, neither of which I liked. However, with the wood sitting like this it would have allowed for a lot more air movement as well. Just a few of the things to consider when playing with your design. http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ure-i-want.jpg One big thing that I learned here as well (thank you Pluerothallis - if I got your online name right) is that bigger/thicker pieces of wood like the one I am currently using not only block air flow but they also limit the amount of space you have to plant on. I am still considering changing my current piece of wood out with smaller ones or repositioning it somehow inside. |
Very cool! I am starting to think about a terrarium for growing some high humidity or cooler growing chids. I love the look of your terrarium. You did a really great job with it. Keep us posted as to how things go!
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Thank you for that idea Pluerothallid! I will keep that in mind as I monitor and see what happens.
This actually brings me to the next step in the built and how I think I may have gotten around this. I'm testing it now so we'll see. Step 3: Once I had all of the materials, the background picked out and sealed on (be sure to leave room for any wires to exit at the top and to cut off the bottom so the cork doesn't sit in the water), I moved on to air flow. Obviously, this may still be an issue for me though. I read on the OrchidBoard a thread where a guy told exactly what he used. I searched online and ended up buying the smallest computer fan I could find, a 3 to 4 pin adaptor and a molex power adaptor so I could plug the fan into a regular power socket. I think I spent a total of about $15 or $20 dollars on everything. After putting the fan in and having it run, I noticed that the humidity would drop if I left the fan on the entire time. This was not good. I tried having the fan turn on for 15 minutes every hour then off for the rest and it seemed to help but I noticed mold slowly starting to grow. Again, not good. At this time I also started putting my wood and other pieces in and situating them the way I wanted them and then I noticed that the air flow was not as strong as before due to the wood and overall structure. So, I upgraded the computer fan to the next size up and completely covered the top of the terrarium to limit the ways humidity could escape. The later one was not my idea, again thank you to people on the OrchidBoard for that suggestion! Now, other than when I'm watering the orchids which I will discuss in the another step, the fan stays on 24/7. While the leaves of the orchids in there do not really move other than a few here and there, the sphag that is not secured and hanging sways in the wind. When I open up the terrarium and put my face slightly in, I can feel a good draft. Another reason why I'm very satisfied with the air flow currently is that the water evaporates off of the flowers and leaves of the orchids in about 30 minutes with the new fan, and most of the sphag is dry by the next watering time. In fact, it works so well and gets the plants so dry, that I am going to add another time slot for the watering unit to go on in the evening. Currently, I have it set for 3 hours in the morning. After having the fan in for about a week now, there is no more mold growing anywhere, and the mold that was there has completely dried up and disappeared. |
Step 4:
There are a few watering systems available. There are spraying/misting systems such as the kind that Marty offers and there are drip lines. However, I have found that the Zoo Med humidity/fog machine works just great for my small set up. The only issue I had was originally using the Zoo Med fog machine only to increase humidity and was confused why everything was so dry. I looked into both drip lines and misting systems, but my main issue is that I do not have a true dedicated space for the terrarium so every component is visable to the eye. This is an asthetics issue for me. Most people build ontop of a cabinet and hide their components underneath or behind their terrarium. If I were to use any of these systems then I wanted them to hide within the terrarium, but due to the small size this was not a possibility for me. I could have done drip lines perhaps, but it appears that the fog machine works just fine as long as it runs for an extended period of time. At the moment, I do go in and spritz with a spray bottle where I believe I need to, but I am slowly stopping this practice in favor of having the fog machine run another time in the evening. However, a misting or drip line system is not totally off of the table for me as of yet. I'm still looking for system that I feel would work given my particular situation and desires as far as aesthetics. Again, as many here have told me, it's really a matter of experimentation and observation. Time will tell you what you need to adjust, if anything. |
Step 5:
The next step was finding lighting. Now, on this one I won't be much help as I truly do not understand much about light. However, I will be able to tell you what my thoughts were as I made this. According to Ray, you can use your various T lights for your terrarium, Compact Flourescent Lights or the newer and somewhat untested LED's. The important things to remember when choosing your lights and where the lights will sit are: 1.) what temperatures are you trying to maintain in your terrarium and what will your orchids appreciate, 2.) how much light do you really need in relation to where your set up is (in a sunny room vs. basement), and 3.) the fact that with every foot light intensity diminishes. As my terrarium hold mostly Intermediate temperature orchids, heat from the bulbs was an issue. I could not use the hood that Zoo Med creates for their terrariums without also adding more computer fans to it to help push the heat off of the bulbs and away from the terrarium. As a result, I wanted the light to be up higher. I could have used a T light set-up, but they don't make them small enough and I wasn't sure how I would hang it and make it look nice. My terrarium is set up in the guest bedroom after all. So, I opted for the Zoo Med adjustable lamp stand and went to Home Depot to buy a CFL able work light with reflector dome. I ended up buying a true 45 Watt (not a same as) CFL bulb that was somewhere within the 6500 range. Sorry, I don't remember what that number was exactly but I'm guessing it was color temperature (which has to do with the color spectrum it produces). This is where Ray can help you better than I and I strongly urge you to read over his material on lighting on his website, FirstRay.com. Using my light meter, I found that the light may be a bit too intense for some of the orchids but I will watch, wait and see. If need be, I will cover the top of the terrarium with some sort of shade cloth. |
Look'n good...... Can't wait to see it fill out.
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Here's an update on the terrarium! First some pics.
This is the terrarium with it's new plantings. http://www.orchidboard.com/community...0-11-small.jpg Here's a front/bottom view. Note that in the water I have some semi-aquatic grasses growing. http://www.orchidboard.com/community...0-11-small.jpg And a top view. http://www.orchidboard.com/community...0-11-small.jpg |
Here are the new plants, and my first bloom in the terrarium! Yeah! But I can't take credit for the bloom as it was already blooming when I got it about a month ago, lol... However, this is the second bloom on this one, so I guess I'm giving it something it likes.
Haraella retrocalla bloom. http://www.orchidboard.com/community...0-11-small.jpg Now, here's the new plants. Aerangis fastuosa http://www.orchidboard.com/community...0-11-small.jpg Dendrobium cuthbertsonii http://www.orchidboard.com/community...0-11-small.jpg Haraella odorata (same as the retrocalla, but did not arrive in bloom - not even a nubbing, lol...) http://www.orchidboard.com/community...0-11-small.jpg And finally, Dryadella zebrina. It's the one on the very front, somewhat on top of the porroglossum that has darker green leaves. http://www.orchidboard.com/community...0-11-small.jpg |
Another update, I have a thermometer reader in there that records the highs and the lows. In the past few days, the highest it has ever been is 78F degrees and the lowest is 66F. I have discovered that if I leave a small crack open near the fan (and I mean small so as to not lose humidity) that the temperature drops and is a bit closer to the temperature of the room during the daytime (around 72F).
Also, the Bulbophyllum sikkimense has a brand new leaf! So I guess it's happy as well. The Maxillaria and the Mediocalcar also seem to be producing some new leaves but the growth appears to be small at this time - so I'm not sure if it's new or if it's what was there during the original mounting. The next thing I'll tell everyone about is how I made the fountain from scratch. Then really, after that, it's all about having fun putting in the final layers of substrate and medium, then on to planting. |
Looking good ! Plants look happy :)
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Thanks Gin! I can't take all the credit for the plants though as they all arrived within the last 2 months in really good condition. However, I guess I can take credit for keeping them that way, lol...
Step 6: To create the fountain, I took slabs of styrofoam and used aquarium sealant to seal them together. I then took a knife and cut out a space in the bottom for the top portion of the pump (the part that sits above my eggcrate), a place for the water line to run up the back and then a resevoir for the water to spill into with an opening for the water to pour out the front. This meant putting it in the terrarium over and over again to make sure that I had all of the cuts correct. I also left enough room around the pump to avoid the styrofoam melting should the pump get too hot. Then I cut the sloap for the water to run down and the sides to how I envisioned it. Before I started the next piece, I put the pump in to see if the water flow would work the way I envisioned. Luckily, it did on my first try. Once that was all done came the tedious part of using the aquarium sealant to adhere each little stone onto the sides. Some people just smear the sealant on the sides and then apply their substrate that looks like soil to cover it up, but I wanted a more rock like feature somewhat resembling an old wall. Then I moved on to creating the top piece (which is the flat slate piece you see on top. I adhered more rocks to the top piece so it would have a perfect fit everytime on the top, and the rocks rolling out over the top of it would look like it belonged as opposed to a removable piece. I made it removable just in case I ever needed to get in there to clean or anything else. http://www.orchidboard.com/community...tain-small.jpg FYI: Aquarium and aquarium safe sealants have aecedic acid in it - the vinegar smell. Work with it outside and wear a gas mask if you are going to doing tedious up close work as it is corrosive and can burn your nose, throat and eyes! I learned the hard way. Should have read those directions, lol... After it had completely cured (about 1 week before the vinegar smell had completely gone and stayed gone), I put the waterfall feature in and turned it on. I did not adhere it to the bottom again as I wanted to ensure that I could get to the pump and remove everything with ease. To complete the water feature, I put rocks up against the eggcrate to hide it and to build a bit of a wall up above the eggcrate so the substrates would not fall in. After testing the waterfall, it was splattering way too much, so I added more rocks to where the water fell and it helped to reduce the splatter. I also added some semi-aquatic grass from PetSmart to the side that had the most splatter to act as a guard and to make the edge of the pool more natural and less hard edged. While building up the rocks under the waterfall, I placed a bag of charcoal for aquarium's (again, from PetSmart - those people know me by name now, lol...). The charcoal will help to reduce any toxins that build up in the water and help to keep it fresh. Again, the rocks are not sealed to anything so it will be easy to remove and replace. |
Step 7:
There are many substrates available for use. Here is where I would suggest that you should research the pros and cons of each. Currently, I am using rocks (pea gravel) on top of the eggcrate because I like the more natural appearance. On top of that is a thin layer of New Zealand Sphagum moss to help retain moisture and to hold the final top layer in place and ensure it doesn't slip down into the rocks and onto my mesh screening on the eggcrate. Then I added a natural forest bedding which you can buy at any PetSmart. I preferred this over anything else primarily because it looks like good brown dirt while it stays moist. It also helps to add humidity by retaining some water. The one issue I am having right now that I am seeing I will have to change is that the substrate's seem to stay completely wet all the time. This is not good as it invites mold. The issue I believe is that the water in my resevoir seems to be creeping up the rocks a bit and into the sphag. I will be removing the top two layers and adding some more rocks to elevate the top two layers. Once you have your substrate completed, it's time to start planting. Use your imagination and whatever you have on hand to mount. Also, be sure your lights, fans, pump and fog or misting is on a timer system attached to GFCI outlet of some sort. The only thing you will need to do is monitor and make adjustments. Watch the temperature, humidity and timing of everything to ensure that your orchids will get what they need (drying time, watering, air flow, etc...) Currently, I have a piece of plexiglass on the top over the screen portion to keep the humidity inside, but leave a very small crack for fresh air to get in and to help bring the temperature down during the daytime. The highest temperature recorded is 79 degrees which is about right, and the lowest is 64 which is fairly perfect for the diurnal range of the orchids I have put in there. Just keep your orchid requirements in mind before you put them in there. Lastly, always use RO or distilled water in your terrarium as the chemicals in tap water can quickly build up and kill your plants. When you fertilize, be sure you don't over do it as again there is no where for the fertilizer to go and it will build up. I think that about sums it all up! Thanks for viewing and for reading if you were interested in the step by step process. |
Looks awesome, Paul! And thanks for spelling out your process in detail! I especially like that you talk about things that DIDN'T work for you, and how you went about correcting mistakes. I've been wanting to put together a terrarium for a while, and now that I've seen your great setup I'm re-inspired! Thank you!
You mentioned that you put in some aquatic plants to help reduce the splashing from your waterfall, but do you plan on adding any other non-orchids? Please keep us posted with any changes. |
Yes! :agree: thanks for the thread Paul. Please do keep keep keeping us updated. One day I too mean to have a proper terranium and all this info is greatly appreciated.
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Paul, how is the cuthbertsonii doing for you? I'm thinking about getting one, but I'm afraid my temps may be too high. My temp range will be similar to yours though, so your experience will be helpful.
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Thank you everyone. I had hoped that at least one person could learn from my thought process.
Goods14, that's a tough question to answer at the moment. It has produced a flower bud which is HUGE in comparison to the plant, but not knowing what it is supposed to look like is causing me some confusion. It started looking rather sickly and getting really thin at the base of the bud like it was going to drop. But as of today, it looks like it's trying to open. So, as for flowering, I'm not sure yet. However, the roots have been growing like mad! And, there is an entirely new set of leaves on a huge growth, so I'm very excited about that. It does appear to be happy, minus not knowing about the bloom thing. However, I have heard that while we have to show patience for orchids when we see them setting spikes and blooms, this one is really testing my patience level! LOL... |
That's what I wanted to hear! Congrats on your success with this one. I was excited to hear that it has been growing well for you. The flower is a bonus!
The temps in my tank are in the 76-80 range for daytime highs and 66-70 for night lows. Is yours still in the 66-78 range? |
It is staying in that range, although the air conditioner went out a few weeks ago and it got into the low 80's for a few days. I still don't know what's going to happen during the winter months yet, but I'm assuming that the temperature range will drop with seasonal weather and internal house temperature. We keep our temperature at between 72 to 74 during the summer, and 69 to 70 during the winter.
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BTW, I'm preparing to leave for Mexico so if you post another question it will be about a week before I can respond.
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Ok thanks for all that information! I was mainly worried that my temps would be too high to risk trying cuthbertsonii, but I may be wrong after reading your information. Congrats on your success with the tank!
Enjoy your trip. |
Hey Paul! I really like your terrarium! It is very spiffy. And thank you for going step-by-step! What was the species of grass you added? It looks really cool sitting right there in front of the waterfall!
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I believe it was called Kyoto. It's a semi-aquatic "grass" that you can buy in the fish section of PetSmart.
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Hi Paul! Love ur setup :) I've been putting a little project tank together too ur info with both ups and downs has been really informative! Plus it's nice to know that their ARE challenges along the way, but working them out and being proud of ur achievements makes the whole experience very rewarding!
My latest pause for thought was getting the tank to the point I could check out the temp/light/humidity.... And finding the tank's too hot! LOL. But another scout round the internet and I found a solution I think... Glass between to isolate lights from plants, then maybe an inch or so's gap and a house fan on the outside to shift the heat.... I need to drop 4degC when the light is on in the summer. In winter I'm gonna need the lights to keep it warm I think?? We'll see!! :D Anywho!.... LOVE the tank it's inspiring :) i planned aerangis fastuosa as my first plant to mount when my specs have settled, how is urs getting along?? Can we have update pics as the tank starts to fill out? :) Kim |
Thanks Kim! Best of luck to you and your project, and yes, I believe you are on the right track with using a fan between your light source and the actual top of the tank to shift the heat. I've seen this done in many cool growing terrarium models. I got lucky because the room it's in tends to be one of the cooler rooms on the floor so that was not an issue for me. But we'll see what happens comes winter, lol...
As for the progress, there really isn't much going on other than root growth and new leaf production at the moment. Most of the orchids I put in there are not known for creating huge masses quickly. Perhaps in another year or so it will look vastly different, but for now it's pretty much the same. The dendrobium that I have in there is still trying to bloom, but it just hasn't quite opened up yet. Other orchids are budding, but nothing is opening yet. I'll post once they do. |
Paul, any updates on the terrarium? I thought about making a small one.
I have a couple of mounted Tolumnia species that were suffering and drying and i stuck one end of a stick in a tall glass vase and i partly covered the top and finally started to make new growth,. So I am wondering if a small terrarium may be good. I have some questions: doesn't the high humidity affect the fan? Is it still working? DO you have a photo where you placed it? - I also would like to see the photo of teh 45 W bulb. Is it above the terrarium? Is it enough to make your orchids bloom? I have not seen any 45 W bulbs at the HDs near me. - Is the water pump just for the little pond? I think if you want to prevent mold / fungus it is good to put some Hydrogen Peroxide in the bottom. Also some horticultural charcoal. Also how is the Sphag holding in high humidity? would be nice to have some live one. DO you have any gnats in the terrarium? |
I don't know about my terrarium set up in relation to Tolumnia's. The main reason being that I use a fogger twice a day and Tolumnia's need to be completely dry by bed-time. I have tolumnia's in clay pots with just a bit of horticultural charcoal in there and water every morning when it's hot and occasionally every other day when it's a bit cooler (although I still try to be consistent and go off of how it looks inside the small clay pot (dry or not).
The fan is still working, although there is some mold growth on it. I need to clean it up a bit, lol... It is located way up at the top, tilted a bit so the air flow hits the back of the terrarium. It's in the back of it so as to hide it a bit better. I'll have to take some pictures later and post. As for the 45 watt bulb, it's one of those energy saving bulbs actually as opposed to the standard bulb. It's in a light fixture I bought from Home Depot for lights, then the stand is one I bought from PetSmart from the reptile area. Again, I'll have to take pictures. The light has been enough to make 4 of the 11 plants bloom thus far, and one has a huge nub on it starting. That one though is supposed to bloom sometime during late winter/early spring though so it will be a while. So time will tell yet, but I'm fairly sure that they are getting enough light based on my light meter measurements. The pump is just for the little pond, although the running water helps to keep algea growth down and promotes humidity. I did place some fish tank charcoal in with the pump, but again I really need to get in there and clean it out and replace the bag. The sphag for the most part is holding up nicely, however the area where the fogger blows down has become slimy. My goal is to get rid of the sphag there come early next year once the orchid there has rooted itself on good. I think it may almost be there now though, lol... Roots everywhere!!! I did have gnats in the terrarium for a while, then I bought two carnivorous plants. For a while, the population dwindled but then the plants died. So, now I use the bits offered by RePotme.com in my water sprayers and the population has pretty much disappeared. There were also several types of bugs in there (tiny little critters), and they also appear to be gone as well. |
What carnivorous plants did you try?
I wonder if the fertilizer killed them. Although at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden I see various CP in the aquatic house with mangroves and Orchids and they seem to do fine, the curator told me the area gets fertilized. I wonder if you try to grow live sphagnum probably it would not get slimy, but there is the fertilizer issue... But still at the Votanic Garden I saw some live moss growing in orchid pots and looks nice. I wonder if there are any mosses that can take fertilizer. I was given 2 small pieces of Tolumnia urophylla and T. leitze. Again I saw a clumping Tolumnia at the Botanic Garden and it was hanging on some mangrove branch under the leaves and close to the water of the pond. By looking that I put my mounted sticks in a tall Ikea vase and that is when I started seeing new growth. I would probably interested in a terrarium a little simpler and dryer than yours (no lake/ no water pump) could be good for some small orchids. For gnats I find Mexican Pinguiculas work great. Maybe you could use some for a while, and keep tehm in a separate pot... Although Pinguiculas are usually watered from the bottom, I wonder if the misting system could be what killed them. Would be great to see photos of your terrarium update! |
I honestly don't remember which two I tried, although I knew one would not make it. The other should have done great in there based upon my research but alas it did not, lol... I'm not sure if it ate all it's food and then starved or if it was fertilizer run off as you say. I never did figure it out but the problem has disappeared.
I'm personally not familiar with those two Tolumnia's, but generally they all want to be dry by bedtime. Yes, you will have to tailor your terrarium to closely match the environment of the orchids you put in there. In my case, I built it because I had two orchids from the Ande's mountains that were dying. I built it as a place to save them and bought others that were in similar environments to add later. I will have to get some updated pics here soon, but honestly, other than roots, slime and mold growth, not much has happened. The flowers on the few things that were in flower were so small that I could not get good pictures of them. |
How is the terrarium going? Is the cuthbertsonii still doing well?
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It's going great actually, thanks for asking! The cutherbertsonii is still doing good, but two others are questionable at the moment. I've moved them into more light to see if it will help. Hopefully I'll get around to cleaning it soon and taking pics of it again.
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Well, sad news. Almost everything croaked on me. There was a lot of black mold growing through everything. I was able to save 2 and replace one.
After having done some more reading, it appears that Im not the only one who has issues when a mold or contagion gets in. In fact, it has lead several people to not even consider the traditional terrarium style. I'm not saying I'm giving up, just that I need to learn more before attempting again. So in the meanwhile, I changed the set up restocked. Here ya go! http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/05/qara7aby.jpg |
Very nice, it makes me think of what I could do with a 20 gal long tank thats just sitting in my basement
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