Orchid heavy ExoTerra
 

ExoTerra 30x30x45 cm (12x12x18") with Epiweb drip wall on back side and one half side, plus a bunch of DIY Epiweb roots and lianas/branches.

Current inhabitants are:
Bulbophyllum fascinator, taiwanense and frostii
Epidendrum porpax
Masdevallia norae x2
Schoenorchis seidenfadenii x2
Platystele misera
Pleurothallis niveoglobula
Various stowaway ferns and (possible) gesneriads from the moss mix (and mosses, of course).
Larry the Giraffe

The setup is rather straightforward: epiweb covered in moss mix, covered in orchids. A mini-fan is running daytime and intermittently nighttime, the waterfall runs for two minutes four times a day.
I'll be adding another mini-fan soon, just because I found a spare at home. I'm thinking along the lines of "one on, one off" and "redundancy in case of breakdown".
Humidity is usually 70-100%.
Lighting is 2x23W compact flourescents in ExoTerras standard topside mounts.

The tank started in late February, and got the M. norae and P. niveoglobula in mid march (or rather, half the Masdie and a third of the Pleuro, the plants were rather big, and the tank very much isn't), so they're more established than the rest, and growing well. The Pleuro has been flowering since just after I put it in, and seems to continue to do so for a while.


Unfortunately, the tank looks rather unbalanced at this time: most of the plants are orchids (while I don't mind this, there are so many other interesting plants to have), and they're mostly located in the lower half of the tank.
Anyone has tips on plants that'd do well in the upper half (say, on the liana "shelf" to the left, for example), I'm mercifully accepting them.
Orchid or muggle plants (non-orchids, that is) doesn't really matter, but blooming or handsome foliage is preferred over plain evergreens.
I'm open to suggestions regarding plants (again, any type) that might like the more shady areas as well, because if there's space, it means I've got too few plants.
I'm hoping for plants that are rather easily aquired, and, considering the tank size, not too fast growing.

With those humidity levels, you could try carnivorous plants (Droseras, Nephentes, Bromeliaceae, Dionaea, etc).

Look here for more info.

You could plant the bottom with jewel orchids such as ludisia. I have an exoterra extra large tall forget the dimensions, but the biggest one they make. Can't tell if you re using two lamp fixtures or just one. I have a LED flood light over an area of
screen penetrates the canopy to the floor gies off little heat... I also have a Madagascar day gecko in the terrarium that gives a lot of colour.


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Jewels might work, although Ludisia is way too big to fit well. Are the others smaller? I did try Macodes petola way back when I had day geckos, but with 820 litres (216 US gal, 181 UK gal), nearly everything seems smallish...
I've got two light fixtures, ExoTerra's smallest single-bulb ones.
I found a (sort of) local supplier of gesneriads, looking for some micro-mini Sinningia, but she seems to be a bit slow to reply, I fear she's closed down.
I'll look into the carnivores, they're easily obtainable as well as attractive.

Beautiful tank! Really natural looking. I would suggest for your lower level of the tank maybe a Masdevallia erinacea, they are very small, almost grassy looking with the coolest blooms. Another for the bottom area the Lepanthopsis astrophora, my favorite mini. Mine is always blooming.

The upper shelf would be good for Epidendrum longirepens maybe? Or a mini Tolumnia. I have a Pleurothallis luctuosa that would be so cool on that shelf and mine gets pretty high light. It grows very well for me.

Hope you fill it up with some nice ones, it really looks great as is.

Thanks!
I've got L. astrophora on the list of stuff to get, adding P. luctuosa, saw that both are available from Wubben.... along with a host of things I'd want to try (a few Barbosella, Restrepia and Aerangis punctata).
This is probably going to be really expensive in the long run... oh wait, ex-coral-grower; used to costly stuff :D

Youre most welcome! Another one that may do well on the upper shelf is Leptotes bicolor. I have recently purchased a small one and mounted it. Mine is grown in a window so not the humidity of a terrarium but I believe they do well with humidity and strong light. Really awesome blooms.

I find TOMMYMIAMI'S plants as my inspiration. He can grow and bloom anything!

Ah, that one, yes. I've always had a view of it as larger, but it'd probably do well there, especially if I can convince it to go pendant; then I might fit something smallish and fan-growing on top, some small Tolumnia or a Psygmorchis.
This will end up being one h*ll of a mixed box of chocolates... :D

Leptotes bicolor gets too large for this terrarium. Way too large. Mine is currently sitting in a 4 inch pot. At mature size, the leaves on the Leptotes get to be between 4 and 5 inches long. They do bloom when smaller, but long term, probably not a good choice for a terrarium this tiny. You want to stick to micro miniatures in here I think. You'll get the most mileage out of them.

I would not put the masdie or the lepanthopsis near the bottom in this terrarium, they won't get enough light there. I have mine placed in the mid-range in my terrarium (the same one as the original poster's, actually) at approximately the same height, but I have the masdevallia positioned so it is slightly off to one side of the light bulb and they do well there.

The masdevallia erinacea can be tough to come by and is difficult to acclimate. So if you decide to try it, be aware that it might drop all of its leaves on you if you try to acclimate it to your conditions too quickly. Nothing with orchids happens fast, so when you acclimate it, take several weeks and read Tommy's thread on these plants several times. They can be kind of touchy.

I'd recommend you look at other non-orchid plants for the bottom of your terrarium, but the things I would suggest, have to be regularly pruned which is why I chose not to try them in mine. I went with a layer of sphagnum moss instead and I am considering tracking down some of the live stuff, so I can just plant it in the bottom of my terrarium and see if it will grow. It will give a grass like covering and I could just pull the stuff out in clumps and use it for medium when I remount my plants... but that idea could be a tad far fetched.

psygmorchis do well with high light and humidity so that would be a good one for high in your terrarium
Also lepanthes caprimugulus likes more light than most lepanthes and is very small. It could go about as high as you have your schoenorchis I think


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Also my oberonia japonica is happy high in my terrarium and is one of my smallest orchids


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Oh, sorry. I thought your tank seemed pretty bright at the lower level. I have the Masdevallia erinacea in my tiny terrarium and it is in a low light area. I've only had it for three weeks but it has not lost any leaves, in fact there is new growth and a spike! Fingers crossed I have blooms soon.

Finally we see the giraffe you posted about recently
Funny thing 😄

Ah, of course. Forgot that it's not just about fitting the plants into the tank when I get them: they actually grow too... :P
The P. niveoglobula has set nine new leaves and a keiki since I put it in two months ago; ought to have connected the dots there I guess.
Any plant that's a stretch to fit when mounted will likely be a whole herd of buffaloes in a china shop within a year, I guess.

Lepanthes is a very interesting genus, both in size and flower type. L. telipogoniflora and calodictyon are at the top of the wish list.
Too bad they're barely available over here unless you go to the major exhibits.

RandomGemini:
I've got live moss on the bottom of the tank, leftovers from the moss mix I covered the other surfaces with. It grows ok down there, so sooner or later, it'll be green. If it looks rather ok already, it'll be really nice later.
Any tips on non-orchids that'd do well? Still craving for Sinningias or something similar.

Tschimm:
Fantastic, isn't it?
Got myself a fair laugh when I unpacked that batch!
Until I get a set of Ranitomeya, he'll be the sole inhabitant in the tank.

Great looking setup! Upper areas of terrariums lit from above are suitable for catts and dendrobiums. They can get used to high humidity, although their existing roots will likely die. Make sure you choose plants that are just beginning to put out new roots, and these will adapt quickly. Also put in seedlings, they don't suffer the setback that mature plants are likely to have.

Thanks Al!
Any hints on suitable dendros? If it's under 3" and not too fast-growing, it might fit.
I think there are no catts that are small enough for this tank though?

Lots of miniatures to choose from. I have catt hybrids, most of them with cernua in the parentage, that don't grow more than 10 cm tall. They do spread, though!

I also have a lovely variegated mini dendrobium that is hugging the back wall of my gecko terrarium. It's maybe 25 cm from LED lights, and it's doing well.

You can also put in purple-leafed phals, they tolerate higher light levels. I plant phals upside down, and they grow out sideways.

You might look into the conditions required for dendrobium cucumerinum. I just ordered one to try and we'll see how it does. Weird looking orchid, cool flowers though. You should be able to grow sinningia, but I would choose one you love and start there. I also grow a tilandisia in my terrarium. It's near the top, about an inch or two away from the screen. Rather than soaking it in a cup, as a lot of people suggest, I mist the leaves every morning and it seems really happy in there, but it's weird, because I have killed two other tilandisia in this terrarium. I tried T. Stricta and T. Velutina and they did not thrive. I forget which one I have in my terrarium now, but it has done well there nearly a year. It's pale green with baby pink on the leaves. No blooms from it, but I figure if it isn't dying, I'm doing something right. :)

Sweet, I'll have a check with my usual dealers (Schwerter) and se what they can offer.
I'll pass on the Tillandsia though: never had much luck there, and I'm not overly likely to remember misting it properly in this tank either (as it's a drip wall, it'll probably rot instead regardless of how I mount it).
A miniature Neoregelia would look fantastic, but I've yet to see one small enough...

That's what happened to my others two tilandisia. They rotted out. I also have a drip wall set up in my terrarium. My favorite orchid grower got into these for a while and recommended it as a way to keep temps low in the summer. It seems to work pretty well for that purpose because my terrarium never gets much above room temp.

The tilandisia I have that's doing well is T. Ionantha. It's up high in my set up. Good air movement there. I'll take a pic of mine when the lights come up so you can see what I have going on.

Another orchid for you to look into, platystele Umbellata. I love mine. Blooms look like little raspberries. Really cute.

Ah, yes, the cute raspberry one! Adding it to the list. The P. misera seems to like it both in this tank and on the mini-wall, although it's just been up two weeks or so.

There are just so many interesting species!
Found a few (erh... promise! :D ) more nice ones at Wubben I'll be getting:
Bulbophyllum dolchioglottis, Aerangis punctata, Bulbophyllum longissimum, Restrepia dodsonii and Dendrobium Nestor.
(only the dolchioglottis and possibly the Aerangis for this tank though).

Picture update.
New, better camera, and the w*nker behind it starts to know what he's doing (switching from compact to system camera was a bit of an upgrade).
Things are growing, except for the B frostii, which is still in shock, I guess, although it might have sprouted some roots, hard to tell.
Hitchhikers have multiplied by the bizillion, mainly two sorts of fern, and I uninstalled the big fat thing clinging to the lights in the top, which looks like a birch with fuzzy leaves.
There was also a big hairy Begonia, now potted on its own, that one is going to get big, I think...

That's looking really nice.

Things are growing.
Some a lot, some a bit less. Ferns being the former, I now count four species, one of which I'll have to clean out ASAP, because in a small tank, there's not really room for a Phlebodium..

Lepanthes telipogoniflora in bloom, three spikes so far.
When I mounted it, it dropped a half-dead leaf, which seems to have started growing in the moss on the bottom. Pic is a week old, noticed the new growth to be 3 mm yesterday, so definetly likes it there.

Bulbophyllums frostii (foreground) and taiwanense starts to sprout as well after months of sulking.
Other bits and bobs too, the white and purple one is Chirita tamiana, the begonia came as a hiker with the moss mix, but it had to be transplanted outside, leaves are 8x12 cm and growing.

I'll hijack my own thread a bit to show my green wall as well:
Setup is 50x50 cm acrylic with a small tank inside at the top and a larger tank at the foot. 18W 6500K PAR38 lamp.
Base is epiweb, covered with hygrolon that wicks from both top and bottom.
Moss mix, ferns and orchids.
Bulbophyllum putidum, fascinator, sikkimense.
Aerangis citrata and fastuosa.
Pleurothallis niveoglobula and truncata.
Platystele misera
Barbosella cucullata
Dendrobium Berry Oda
Restrepia elegans
Epidendrum porpax

E. porpax is currently in bloom.
The A. fastuosa has bloomed once. The citrata was about to bloom in a few weeks, but the bl**dy cat decided to eat two of three spikes, the b*stard.
The Berry Oda is also in spike, and one of the bulbos might also be spiking, not sure which is which though.

Gesneriads are remarkably easy from seed. Sown directly onto moss in a nice terrarium, I would expect very high germination rates. There is a society in the US with a seed bank. I don't know what is involved in mailing seed from the US to Europe, but packets of dust-like seed easily travel in letter envelopes. Perhaps there is also a European society. Just remember, before ordering too many packets, Gesneriads are remarkably easy from seed....

Both the wall and the terrarium are very cool.

In your recent post, the one with three pictures (img3408), there is a small fern growing near the orchid. Do you happen to know the name of the fern? I've been growing a new batch of moss from some old Folius dry moss mix and little ferns just like that one in your picture have started to grow.

Beautiful tank, btw. I have been thinking of trying something similar myself, but I just keep putting it off till I retire. :)

That's why I only got one. Hoping I don't have to go all Agent Orange on all possible seedlings.
These are rather popular around here as well, and there are societies and facebook groups in abundance.
Strangely, many of the members seem to coincide with orchid groups... odd :biggrin:

Thanks!
I have no idea what fern it is... yet. But it's highly prolific, on that 50x50 cm plate there are hundreds of them sprouting, so there'll have to be some pruning soon.

It doesn't take that much time to build a tank, especially when there are plug & play options regarding both tank, tech and background/substrate.
My advise is: go big. In a small tank like this, everything larger than a strawberry feels like a bull in a china shop.