Ground plants and misc. non-orchids for moist terrarium?

[Jmbaum]

Yeah, follow your instincts with the light.
My Lepanthes telipogoniflora is very much in the open but that’s not to say it wouldn’t perform even better in a nook, I’d loose mine though if it were all the way on back wall. After all this talk, now I want to update mine now as my next project.

Originally Posted by Fishkeeper

That two-bulb fixture is cool, and the flexibility seems good, but some of the reviews make me a little nervous. I know any electronic thing can fail, but after my dad having a laptop battery explode in the charger and set our house slightly on fire, I'm not a fan of electronics that aren't sturdily built.

Spectral Designs is pricier, but I think that's where I'm going. I'll have to see how the MistKing winds up positioned. It says on their site that they can do customs- I wonder if they could make a light that has a couple holes through it for the nozzles.
Doesn't need to ramp up or down, I have an aquarium light in the room doing that already. I'll just plug it into a light timer.

I'll keep the sphagnum away from the water. Mostly plan to use it to fill the gaps between chunks of bark, and hide whatever I end up using to fix the cork together. Probably silicone. I would like to position things so that sprawling orchids grow across sphagnum frequently, since that would make them much easier to prune than if they could fix their roots to cork bark.

Lepanthes telipogoniflora is another I really want to grow. From what I'm reading, it doesn't like much air movement, so I'll have to give it a little pocket somewhere with reduced air flow. Or maybe it's just that they really need high humidity? Either way, it's getting a pocket, to help keep a little extra humidity around it even if the rest of the tank starts to dry out.

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[Fishkeeper]

I guess I'm just paranoid about it drying out. Sounds like L. telipogoniflora can't handle dryness at all, and I'd hate to accidentally fry mine. That's the downside of these perfect little micro-minis, I guess.

Time to stare obsessively at the tracking information for my terrarium! I got the Zilla 12x12x20, because it has a single front-opening door rather than the double on the Exo Terra. The package will also include substrate (some sort of good-quality terrarium mix, and those clay expanded balls that some people use for false bottoms), a package of small cork bark pieces, a cork tube/branch, and the mister. Lots of goodies to play around with, but not getting here until the 12th. I miss being able to go to stores- you can get things right away, and you can look at it and fiddle with it before you buy it.

[Jmbaum]

I’ve has zero issues in mine with anything approaching low humidity. I originally had the fogger attached to the sensor to run if the humidity went down and never did it, not once, I find even exposed to the air flow I water it every two days and it gets an hour or so a day. I
Let it go a bit longer before and the leaves will slightly curl if it is in need.

Originally Posted by Fishkeeper

I guess I'm just paranoid about it drying out. Sounds like L. telipogoniflora can't handle dryness at all, and I'd hate to accidentally fry mine. That's the downside of these perfect little micro-minis, I guess.

Time to stare obsessively at the tracking information for my terrarium! I got the Zilla 12x12x20, because it has a single front-opening door rather than the double on the Exo Terra. The package will also include substrate (some sort of good-quality terrarium mix, and those clay expanded balls that some people use for false bottoms), a package of small cork bark pieces, a cork tube/branch, and the mister. Lots of goodies to play around with, but not getting here until the 12th. I miss being able to go to stores- you can get things right away, and you can look at it and fiddle with it before you buy it.

[Fishkeeper]

How about Bucephalandras? They're apparently one of the plants that's technically a marginal, but can be grown underwater. The "Dark Skeleton King" variant is really neat.

Anyone know how aggressive the Fissidens moss species are? I'd like to get some to put it in some of the really wet spots, I love the texture. And I know most (if not all) mosses should be kept out from directly around micro-minis, since they'll clamber over the top. But is Fissidens particularly bad about that? Or, alternately, it one of the mosses that needs a ton of moisture and would probably grow best immediately around any water?

I see there are different species of Fissidens available, and I'm having a hard time finding much information about the different species in terrariums. I just found a picture somewhere (and promptly lost it) that had a really pretty bowl terrarium with a particularly fern-like Fissidens growing in the bottom. Also a swarm of L. telipogoniflora blooms all over the wood.

---------- Post added at 06:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:46 PM ----------

Oh, any info on Begonia Vankerckhovenii? I found a seller with exactly 1 in stock, and had to grab it. I like the funny little flowers, and I've seen it recommended for terrariums. It sounds like the biggest difficulty is that they don't like water on their leaves, which might be a bit tricky in this setup. I guess I'll have to make sure I put it somewhere out of the direct range of the mister, but where its substrate will still wick up water.
Looks like these might be one that will eventually start to grow into a big clump and need some good pruning, but, hey! Free cuttings.