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

[Fishkeeper]

I'm gathering information and supplies to use in a terrarium I'm setting up. It's going to be a 12x12x18 Exo Terra (or similar), set up for orchids that like to be warm and wet. It'll have a fan for internal circulation, and ventilation to the outside, but should stay pretty moist at all times.

I'm still figuring out how much actual ground I'm going to have, but I'm probably going to have at least some dirt. Are there suitable mini non-epiphytes for this sort of terrarium? I know micro-mini sinningias exist, in fact I have some, but they need to dry out a little when they're resting. Unless people have successfully kept them damp at all times? I'd like to hear about it, if so.

I'm reading that a lot of the mini bulbos like to have their roots pretty much constantly wet. Has anyone ever tried to grow them in leaf litter? I'm curious if just placing one on the ground would work.

What are some plants that people keep with micro-mini orchids? I've seen an assortment of small ferns. Any suggestions in particular?

Can anyone tell me anything from personal experience about Begonia scutifolia/vankerckhovenii? All I can find is Glass Box Tropicals saying they like to be warm and moist. That, and pictures of some very cute little plants.

[estación seca]

How much light? What about Dichondra?

[borneotransplant]

Why not Jewel orchids?

[Draikan]

I've had good results from what are generally considered to be "aquarium plants" in the wetter sections of the tank. Most of these plants are actually emergent growers that might grow in a riverbank where they have wet roots but their leaves are in the air. They will be perfectly happy with conditions that are way too soggy for other plants, and would love to get sprayed many times daily. Most of them don't need very bright light by terrarium standards.

I particularly like cryptocorynes like wendtii or parva. I have also grown lots of hydrocotle tripartita, which will grow like crazy anywhere it is wet, but mostly won't leave the wet areas. You can often find these plants in tissue culture cups at the local aquarium shop.

[Fishkeeper]

I'm honestly not sure on lighting, I'd have to work that out based on what I want to keep. Probably moderate-low, it looks like the micro-minis I'm interested in don't like much light. Really, it looks like most micro-minis don't like much light.

I looked up Dichondra, and that stuff is growing in my yard. It's mostly in the wet spots, but, still- I live in Texas. I wouldn't have expected a terrarium plant outdoors here.

Are there small jewel orchids? The only type I'm aware of is Ludisia discolor, which takes up a lot of space. It'd fill the bottom of the tank up, fast.

Ooh, right, aquarium plants! I've seen anubias in terrariums, I should go with that. The hydrocotle is cool, and I used to have some (submerged) red crypts I liked. I'm thinking of having a pool in the bottom of the tank, and it could be fun to have a few things along the edge, see if they spread faster into or away from the water.

---------- Post added at 12:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:53 AM ----------

Anyone ever try this?
Syngonium 'Teeny Tiny'-TP-STT
It's a miniature syngonium. I had some years ago that I killed due to not watering anything for a month (untreated low blood pressure = mega fatigue), and it really does stay that small.

Do syngoniums in general work in terrariums? I've ordered one of the above plants either way, since it's neat and I want one again, but will keep it as a houseplant if it won't do well in a wet terrarium.

[estación seca]

Syngoniums love high humidity. Dichondra grows everywhere there's water.

[harpspiel]

I have kept mini Sinningias wet constantly for more than a year. The muscicola is going nuts, pusilla not dying but not as vigorous.

There are lots of smaller jewel orchids, I think Anoectochilus roxburghii stays small but mine is still young so I’m not certain.

[Fishkeeper]

Good to know about the sinningias. I'll have to see if I can get any muscicola. I know I've seen it in terrarium threads before. Seems to reseed really reliably- even found a picture of a volunteer one in a pot of cactus seedlings.

I might have to try some dichronda. What's the pest risk if I go outside, pick up a few rootless, dirtless cuttings, and bring them in? Maybe I'll put them in the dirt-floored bowl my current sinningia pots are set in.

[Jmbaum]

Hi, so I have a really productive intermediate cloudforest setup in a 20 gallon. I took advantage of the thermal properties of water keeping half the “floor” about 2-3” of water with a small aquarium heater and sonic mister that I use to bath the plants in between waterings so I run for about an hour a day.
The rest is bog. So there’s many marginal aquatic plants, Cryptocoryne and Anubias are great, out of the water they keep fairly low in height, I’ve mixed dark and golden leave varieties. I’d avoid anything that wants to reach to the light since trimming them is a pain... elodia, water wisteria, lobelia. So the bog area are great for sundews (mounding types) if you are providing good light, they also keep down the flying pest and look positively alien. So that brings me to water and fertilizing. I found that fertilizing sparingly is best, I switched after adding the sundews, since it will harm them. But the plants have done better for it, when I do, I use half strength dynagrow. Makes sense to me because the terrarium is a closed system for the most part. Until the plant uses those chemicals, they aren’t going anywhere and can accumulate to toxic levels. I ONLY use distilled water, surprisingly very little, about a gallon every three weeks.

So orchid on the bottom, you can add micro minis to inorganic surfaces (lava rock, terracotta) above water surface. I’m sure a number of bulbophyllum would love this, a number of them don’t require the same air flow closer to the top. Also a number of lepanthes and pluerothallis, really so many. In my experience terrestrial orchids are a pain. Alternatively you could do all rock on the bottom, large lava rocks would be beautiful. I just would warn against having wood or pots with sphag mix too close to the bottom, as they’ll just wick up water (the only orchid I lost was due to this) . Anyways I could go on for ages in detail. Let me know if you need species recommendation or equipment recommendations.

Planning and flexibility are key. Honestly though it has been pretty simple, and most everything flowers and grows nonstop.

[Draikan]

Jmbaum can you post pictures of that setup somewhere? It sounds amazing!