Orchids on a Wabi Kusa Wall

[Tonio]

I'm working on a plant wish list for this project, feel free to add suggestions/corrections: (bold i already have, and ofcourse not all plants will be used)

Mosses:
riccarida sp Borneo.
Heteroscyphus Zollingeri
vesicularia spp

Ferns:
Microsorum pteropus (aquatic)
Bolbitis heudelotti (aquatic)
Bolbitis heteroclita difformis (semi-aquatic)
Blechnum gibbum
Asplenium x Ebenoides
Polypodium formosanum
Actiniopteris australis

Flowering plants:
Begonia microsperma/ficifolia
Begonia polygonoides
Begonia bipinnatifida
Utricularia graminifolia
Epsicia repans

others:
Philodendron sp Papua New Guinea (epipremnum sp)
Hygrophilla pinnatifida

Orchids:
ceratostylis rubra (always did great in paludariums for me, and i think it has a simple elegance to it)
Zootrophion serpentinum
Scaphosepalum ovulare
Restrepia purpurea
Masdevallia herradurae

to be continued....

[Shadeflower]

It looks like you've given yourself vey little room to work with. What if the water level dips a bit. The webbing seems a bit high up if that happens unless you keep it topped up right to the rim all the time? Or are you using a pump to keep the pads wet?

The water seems fine for mini orchids to me, not too much, rain water is only 30-60ppm so 74 will be fine for mini's even nutrient sensitive ones.

[WaterWitchin]

A couple of little carnivores like Drosera would be fun... especially as they bloom and spit seed around.

[Mr.Fakename]

If you like Drosera intermedia, mine are blooming. You can have the seeds (for free).

[Tonio]

Originally Posted by Shadeflower

It looks like you've given yourself vey little room to work with. What if the water level dips a bit. The webbing seems a bit high up if that happens unless you keep it topped up right to the rim all the time? Or are you using a pump to keep the pads wet?

no pump, just the wicking effect to keep things wet/moist/damp. besides a weekly water change the tank will have to be topped of if it needs to be. That is no difference with other fishtanks. Adding a few liters of clean water is part of the routine. A bigger margin would not be an esthetic compromise

Originally Posted by Shadeflower

The water seems fine for mini orchids to me, not too much, rain water is only 30-60ppm so 74 will be fine for mini's even nutrient sensitive ones.

I might tweak with waterchemistry a bit once I decided on the fertilizer. Plants will need some nitrates, phospates and micronutrients to. Straight from the kation-anion filter tds is 0. So I can mix it up as I want to. Normally I just ad 1 gram of minerals for 10 liters of water. (easy to remember)

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

A couple of little carnivores like Drosera would be fun... especially as they bloom and spit seed around.

yeah, carnivores look very cool, and a representation of a marsh with lots of those might be awesome. I want to make more of a jungle theme here. Nephentes could be an option. But I have no idea if there are dwarf species of those...

[Tonio]

Water is in for a few days now.
and the first plants went in today:


submersed is two varieties of java fern (Microsorum pteropus) and a congo fern (Bolbitis heudelotii)

on the wall I added little moss trimmings to test if they will grow this way. a cutting of the philidendron/epipremnum and actiniopteris. The last one had hardly any roots so I will be surprised if it survives.

around the wood I wrapped terra tape, I don't now what kind of fabric it is, but is a bit bandage like; soft, thin, stretchy. once wet it holds quite allot of water.

the local garden center had blechnum gibbum "silver lady" which is used a lot in the ADA setups, so I went for it. one pot gave me 10 individual plants, so I have a few spare ones... the pitcherplant was on sale so I could not resist it. I feel it is already a bit large, and if it grows it will grow quite fast.. so probably not a permanent addition.

[Tonio]

the mos on the wall is not doing well, the top part is not wet enough and the moss on the lower part has some cynaobacteria growing on it. I think i'll start over and will connect a drip pipe to the filter pump to help keep the wall completely wet this time.

On the wood plants do much better. the blechnum ferns and pitcherplant are growing, the moss on the branches does grow in most places. Just some darker spots that stay behind a bit.

I'll take some pictures soon.

since the plants on the wood seem to do fine I want to start adding some orchids on there.
those are the ones in my shopping cart at the moment:

Bulbophyllum lasiochilum
Cirrhopetalum fascinator
Epidendrum porpax
Mediocalcar pygmaeum
Stelis (Pleurothallis) galeata
Stelis (Pleurothallis) restrepioides

any thoughts on those?

[Leafmite]

Looks like a good start. I hope you will keep us updated.

[Tonio]

first orchids arrived today.

[Tonio]

Epidendrum peperomia, turning a bit purplish..


Cirrhopetalum (bulbophyllum) fascinator


Mediocalcar decoratum. well half of it.