mounting orchids in terrariums
 

This may be a stupid question and sorry if so....but I would love to have a natural setting in my next orchidarium (I just acquired an Exo-Terra) and I am not sure how to go about making it look natural and mounting the orchids to the walls or on floors like I have seen in pictures. Is it better to put the orchids on individual mounts or is there some secret I should know about? I see materials such as coco fiber panels and tree fern panels and I am how to mount orchids to these, if I should, and is it safe to mount a few or several orchids to them and what if they grow into each other? :scratchhead:
Just trying to get some idea's in my head before I get in a hurry and set up another wardian style case.

Hi Becca, I know that many people will mount directly to the special backing (whether it is made from coco fibre or tree fern or whatever). However, I prefer to have mine individually mounted so that I can take them out and/or move them if needed. Just a personal preference really.

Ah yes...that reminds me....I would need to be able to take them out for watering....unless there is another way for watering...but I haven't found that easy way out yet, although I have been searching and bugging the experts...lol...it just isn't possible for me to get around needing to take them out to water.

An automatic misting system would resolve that...

Maybe. Depends on how it's set up. I found misting systen only staves off the amount of time between waterings. :biggrin: I still need to assure plants get totally dunked on schedule (what ever you choose). Misting only serves to keep humidity alive, so to speak.

If you are up for it you could use this guide to build a custom background, you get far the best result this way:
Page 1
There are other guides out there that might be better.. That's just the one I used. You can mount plants directly on the background by bending little pieces of copper or aluminum wire and just use them like staples to fasten the plants on the foam.

If the tank you've bought isn't to big you can just use a hand mister to wet the background and roots about twice a week.

Unless you really want to you don't have to take the plants out or move them around, if you just don't mount them to close, there will be no problems with them growing in to each other.

Christian

Thank you! I was looking for something like that. I thought misting twice a week would be to little?

I don't understand twice a week. My guys require more frequent water/fertilizer - like every other day! They are in 90%+ humidity and still dry out because of the fans. Maybe that's the difference? We all have fans, right? :evil: Fans have been suggested here over and over. Some say 2 or more fans. I have one that blows 24/7 and tends to dry out the guys nearest the fan (go figure!) So I place certain 'chids nearest the fans and others furthest from the fans.

Hi, Ross. I think that a lot depends on what the plants are mounted on. As you know, I don't have fans. My tank is just open topped and gets air circulation from a small window up high that I keep open. The plants that I have mounted on cork get misted in the morning, and by night they have dried out. However, the ones that I have mounted on tree fern, which seems to hold on to the water, stay moist for longer. My humidity runs 80%+ - though at the moment its above 95%.

So, if the backing were moisture retentive, it could take a couple of days to dry out after its been wetted down.

I mist twice a week, sometimes a little more.. But as long as the humidity is +80% I'm thinking that the roots will absorb some water from the air. WHen I first started out I misted way to much resulting in massive root rot on allmost all my plants - after that I toned it down a lot! I think they are thriving now though :)

Christian

am mounting in a number of ways depending on the orchid. Slab mounted I just put the plant somewhere and then follow how it grows, if ok then I remove it fom the orginal slab and tie it at the same place. Poted plants I just remove the pot and tie it somewhere and change the place if neccesary. Some orchids I plant bare root at a suitable place and see how it grows there. If problems I move it. It's a question of trial and error. Low less light high more light. Humidity somewhere dry and somewhere moist. There are no set rules, have a Oerstedella centedenia growing bare root and doing extremely well sank a few inches lower, due to the weight of the roots, in the terrarium less light less water started to dry out. So had to move it.

Awesome setup Christian!

I spend a fair amount of time drooling over some of the setups over on the Dendroboard (www.dendroboard.com). I'd love to set a 34 x 18 x 24 Exo-Terra or a custom tank from Glasscages (Glasscages.com - Home) with an Epi-web background and a couple of branches for miniature orchids.

Cheers.
Jim

Speaking of Glasscages.com, i have one of their large terrariums. The plants include mounted orchids on cork or stick and other tropical plants. I usually have to mist the plants every day or every other day.
You can see pics here:
Terrarium Update Sept 2007 - a photoset on Flickr

:shock: OMG! That is a gorgeous tank!!! You really planned that one nicely. What kind of lights are you using by the way?? How tall is the tank?

Great tank! What are the specs?

Where did you get your T. xerographica? I had one years ago until it got eaten by a rabbit after it blew out of the tree I kept it in during a storm. They're really hard to come by since they're CITES listed.

I love your Drosera collection too BTW.

Cheers.
Jim

lighting is 4 24 watt t5 bulbs, plus 2 23 watt cfl's.
The tank is 36 x 36 x 18.
The Tillandsia i got off ebay i think, someone from Florida.
Peter.

In my set up, I don't water the plants. The bottom part of the terrarium is filled with water. In front ther is a small pool and under the peat are stones. Then there is a pump which pumps the water 24/7 up behind the tree fern walling and the water flows down the backwall. There is also an adjustable bypass so I have allso a waterfall. The plants are on their original mounts or I pin some sakesticks in the wall and just put the plant on them. The plant then decides where to grow its roots, some grow them into the backwall others away. Then some grow keikis which then grow midair for example Oerstedella centradenia. Bulbophyllyms grow their new bulbs also in midair with great new roots. In some places have moss ond the plant is just put on the moss, and they grow Haraella odorata, Others like slipper orchidis I've just taken out of the pot and put them in a suitable place. I mist 10 times per day , about 30 seconds each. Starting from lights on 7am till 5 pm and lights go out at 9 pm. i am circulating the air 24/7 two fans pulling the air out. The new air flows in under the front glass door. Also when the lights are on I have a fan blowing through the lamp hood air into the terrarium. Warms the terrarium and keeps the glasses clear,

Just thought I'd show You guys my setup to..

I build the terrarium myself back in April, and made the background according to the guide I posted in my first reply to this thread.
In retrospect I would much rather have used the Flevopol method to create the outer layer of the background.. But that'll be for next time :D

Christian

Great job! It looks awesome! I will have to give that a try someday....to scared to try my hand at creativity!

It really isn't hard to do at all! It just takes some time.. And if you terrarium isn't 6 fet tall like mine that might not even be too much of a problem either :)

All you have to do is:
buy 2-4 small pieces of driftwood and some schredded coconut at your local pet shop/terrarium shupply.

Buy 3 or 4 cans of PUR foam and some tubes of black silicone at the hardware store (if you plan on keeping reptiles you might want to go for the silicone without fungicide)

That's the hard part...

Now just put your tank on the side, place the driftwood in some random places.. Spray a layer of foam around them to cover the entire back wall.
When dry cut the foam you don't want away
apply silicone in small patches and dap shredded coconut on..

Done..

Just go for it, you'll be glad you did!