Orchid furniture - functional & pretty
 

:waving
I have almost finished furniture for my first orchids in Canada :bananaslide: It is a living room window (north/west). Initially I wanted something where my dog can't throw over the pots when he looks through the window... voila :)
The mosaic is made of spectrum glass & shale stone (the middle drawer is not yet finished). The furniture is on rolls and has holes on the bottom to pass cables to the inside, where I've installed a couple of plugs and 1 safeguard circuit for the heating cable (roof de-icing cable). If I want to move the furniture I only have to unplug 1 connection from the wall and roll the whole thing away.

The platform is waterproof and has a declination towards 1 corner to drain water easily. I would like to put a layer of something that conducts the heat to the pots but covers the cable; and keep this layer wet/partially flooded. Filling in water and installing a grid for the pots to stand on would be easy and hygienic... but the looks! And doesn't conduct the heat. Any ideas would be very much appreciated!!! :think2:
Someone already gave me the good tip to add a little Virkon to the water in the platform sometimes.

The orchids on the mount are doing specifically well and started growing new roots immediately.
The artificial light is almost not worth mentioning... I need to find a better solution.

Wow, very nice! I like your artsy mosaic work. How did you water proof it? Epoxy on plywood?

The heating cable sounds interesting. Do you use it because you keep the room cold? How many watts?
If you use HID lighting (HPS MH), then you may be able to solve the light and heat issue simultaneously.

Thank you!
It's a 30ft cable, 150W.
My small cattleyas had mold and fungus and people from the OB recommended me to keep the roots warmer and install a ventilator - it worked miracles!
I laminated the plywood (something that you would use to laminate your kitchen counter) and sealed the conjunctions and edges with silicone. Kind of like an aquarium.

Thanks for the info, the counter top (melamine or something like that, I guess) is an interesting idea. I've used elastomeric roofing paint to waterproof plywood (humidity tray), but your method is probably more durable.

Wow, that looks really nice! I've just appropriated my bookshelves and another metal shelving unit (nice because it lets the light through the shelves, the other ones are all open, but the shelves themselves are solid wood). I inquired about getting some custom shelving built, but it was too expensive for me at this time. I'll post some pictures when everything is done.

It looks great!!

I have absolutely no idea yet how durable that will be. It's my first experiment on the matter. My boyfriend had used it in humid areas and it lasted ages but no idea about submerging it constantly. The silicon seals should be fine tough, specifically since the temperature doesn't change much.

Looking forward to your pictures Laserbeak!

Awesome!

Very pretty and creative! Love it!

Nice set up.

:thanx: Thanks everyone!!!

Looks awesome I like the drawers on the left .

Looks great!! I like the clothespin name tag! That is a good idea! Lol, I wouldn't have thought of that.. But I might just have to use it on a couple of my mounts! ;)

It's beautiful and functional!

Thanks Island Girl and Lilac :)

if you like waves you probably like these ones too (but has nothing to do with orchids). Everybody always does only straight cuts on wood. I wonder why?

That's a very nice and well thought out piece of orchid furniture. Congrats on such a nice job!

Very creative and attractive.

wow! this looks very nice!

Beautiful and great job! Wish I had your talent!

There are products called marine epoxy which can be used to waterproof plywood--the people on the aquarium sites who build plywood tanks (usually 300 gallons or larger) use it and swear by it. If you google "diy plywood aquarium" you should get some build logs to pop up which will list exactly what they are using. Since it's fish safe my guess is it would be plant safe as well....

Hope this helps, and again, great job!

Catherine

Thanks again everybody. Next task will be to make some LED lights for it...

Yes, I have seen some videos about it; great stuff!!! But I couldn't find it here in Quebec and import/shipping a whole bucket was quite expensive.
Really appreciate getting suggestions! Thanks :)

You're welcome!

Sorry you can't find it in Quebec--if there's a local aquarium club (many have web presences so they may turn up on a web search) they may know of local sources/alternative waterproofing options.

The tricky part with all the waterproofing stuff that's out there is making sure it's plant/fish/critter safe, which is why I'd go to the local aquarium club (or maybe the herp/frog people would know, too).

What about fiberglass resin (the stuff that's used to patch bathtubs, for example)? It's pricey here, but pretty common. It should also add strength to your water reservoir with the mesh/resin combo that's used (at least in the patch kids).

Drylock (a concrete sealant which also bonds to styrofoam and Great Stuff foam and is inert once cured) should be waterproof, but I gather it also is not commonly available up your way.

Just tossing out some ideas....

Catherine

Gorgeous furniture! Love the curves. You had a question about putting something under the orchids that would conduct heat. I have damp granite gravel in my drip trays and it definitely gets warm from the seedling mats below it. There are probably more attractive looking gravels that would do the same.

That looks really cool!