Springtails needed in orchid terrarium??

[orion141]

Hi all,

I have been doing some reading over at dendroboard (in addition to here) regarding my terrarium setup.

I see a number of comments regarding springtails being necessary to help keep the terrarium healthy (by eating mold/fungus/etc).

From an orchid perspective I have always considered these insects to be a pest and something I would not want on the rest of my plants that grow under lights.

Is it wise to use these in a terrarium that is solely for orchids?

Thanks!!

[Swimmingorchids]

springtails have never done any harm but I've honestly never had any benefit from them either.
I think they are annoying with their jumping all over the place and if you introduce them you can't get rid of them.

I can see the benefit in them eating mould and like the idea of it but there are simpler ways.

I mean those people will convince you you need an aquaponics system with several goldfish next to give the plants the perfect nutrients. Again nutients in a bottle is fine for the hobbyist.

Also mould has been the least of my problems growinig orchids so far. Root rot is not caused by mould and is the main problem for orchid growers. Spring tails won't even help if a plant gets soggy. Mould if anything is a useful indicator something is going wrong. I'd rather see that than all the evidence eaten by a bunch of jumping fleas.

[Ray]

Everyone sit down, or at least hold onto something. I agree with Mr. Swim.

The folks keeping dendrobates likely have more soil-like, if not soil-based media, which are going to need more help with molds, not to mention less free air flow. Plus, if we screw up, we can apply fungicides with impunity. Little frogs just don't like them.

One more piece of advice: the folks at dendroboard are really nice and quite knowledgeable, but I wouldn't rely too much on their orchid-growing expertise.