Advice on Chiloschista in a terrarium

[OrchKid]

Hi, folks!

Not 100% sure if this is a terrarium question or a Chiloschista question...

We went to Longwood Gardens last week, where we found a Chiloschista parishii 'Kanachanaburi' and a Chiloschista viridiflava var. Ratchaburi for 60% off. And woot! - they were mine. (Had been looking at them a couple weeks back so it was only about an 80% blind purchase. :-D)

They're currently sharing a glass cylinder with a Leptotes bicolor (which likely will hate the increased humidity pretty soon). There is a layer of rocks and a layer of live sphagnum on the bottom. I've been misting them 2x / day, and soaking with the other orchids once a week. There are some bends in the roots, and maybe a little bit of shock, but the roots are still very green overall.

However - not sure yet that humidity isn't a problem now, and it definitely will be once we start going into winter.

Now, the terrarium part: I've had an Exoterra for about 18 months; overall that's been going well for the 13 orchids, 1 butterwort, and container of live sphagnum in it. It, however, is just eggshell crate, with a mister, a light, and a fan.

I'd like to put the Chiloschistas in a planted terrarium. Am considering a Biorb (it will be the fastest thing to set up and get the high humidity under control), but there are a few things I'm not getting.

• My understanding is that Chiloschista like to be humid but also like to dry out between misting. How would that happen in 80-90% humidity?

• Can I put them into a tank by themselves and keep the humidity at the correct level? (Just had a problem with that with different miniatures in a glass globe.)

• Would a Maxillaria schunkeana tolerate the same environment? I have heard so many conflicting things about their culture I'm about to give up and play it by ear - though it's doing okay in what might be a bit too much sunlight.

Fingers crossed that someone can give provide some help and input. These are initial thoughts; I'm not wedded to anything beyond keeping the orchids healthy. I'm learning a lot, and I also don't want to kill any (more) orchids!

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[Ray]

The chiloschista I have grown were all mounted on ~1” diameter sticks. There were watered at least twice a day via a Mist King system inside a saturated-humidity chamber.

[DeaC]

The 2 I have are mounted on a hard, plastic perforated plaque. Got them hanging under growlights and I spray them down about twice per day. Blooms are done but new roots are forming.

[OrchKid]

Originally Posted by Ray

The chiloschista I have grown were all mounted on ~1” diameter sticks. There were watered at least twice a day via a Mist King system inside a saturated-humidity chamber.

Thanks for the input, Ray. That sounds like what I've been thinking of - but I'm not finding much in Google about saturated-humidity chambers for plants. Can you say a little more about what makes it saturated? Is it something that can be replicated in any terrarium?

Originally Posted by DeaC

The 2 I have are mounted on a hard, plastic perforated plaque. Got them hanging under growlights and I spray them down about twice per day. Blooms are done but new roots are forming.

Thanks, DeaC! One of mine is on a perforated plaque; the other is on a grooved plastic plaque (which it's grown into quite well). No grow lights so far. I'm spraying them by hand twice a day, but definitely not sure it's enough.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by OrchKid

Thanks for the input, Ray. That sounds like what I've been thinking of - but I'm not finding much in Google about saturated-humidity chambers for plants. Can you say a little more about what makes it saturated? Is it something that can be replicated in any terrarium?

That was simply my way of stating the it was as close to 100% humidity as possible.

Mine was my “orchid nursery”, which was a 6’x3’ ebb and flow tray to which I had added foil-faced insulating foam walls and top, making it 3’ tall. One long face carried full-length sliding glass doors.

It contained LED lighting, there were seedling heat mats under the top sheet of non-woven polyester mats (think floor scrubber pads) I used as the floor, the tray created a standing 1” reservoir under the mats, and there were a couple of small muffin fans used to provide air circulation.

A Mist King system fogged the entire chamber for two minutes at 5 am, and for 30 seconds twice more each day.