Orchidarium Update April 2008

[dizz]

Ross....awesome...where would one go to get the inserts ....did you have all this custom made or can you simply order a "tank".I am shifting to terrarium gardening and have been aquiring used fish tanks,fans and miniature plants but need to focus on the layout....have you been successful in growing moss for ground cover?

Originally Posted by Ross

Here is my Orchidarium (the "tank") this month. The pics show the latest aquisitions that I have posted about in other posts as well as the emptiness "that needs to be filled"! I'm sure my Orchidboard Enabling friends will help me here!



For those that haven't been following my frequequent postings on this project, the tank runs approx 92-99% humidity except during 3-4 hours at night when I run a through-wall fan to clear out stale air, etc. It never drops below 80% even during that period. You can see the mist on the tank walls. I "water" the orchids with fertilizer 2-3 times a week (whether they need it or not ) and rarely do anything except monitor the pots in the upper left section for dryness. This is the hi-light section. The lamps provide 12-14 hours (varied over the year) at 5500K color temperature. I read 1800-1900 foot-candles (18,000-19,000 lux) at the top of tank and 700-800 foot-candles (7000-8000 lux) at bottom of tank.

There is a 3.25" DC fan running 24/7 at the left corner of the tank (part of the reason the stuff in the left dries out quickly). I just reposition plants that don't want the dryness away from that fan.