My new Orchidarium

[Magnus A]

I have just finish building my Orchidarium. It is scratch built from acrylic sheets that is fused together with disolved acrylic (solvent dichloromethane). The lightbox on top is made of MDF board and I use four 54W T5 lights with refectors. The front of the lightbox is attached with hinges and can be swing open for easy access seen in the pictureto the left.



The false bottom is equiped with a fan blowing air over a water tray to humidifie the air. I have some worries of the temperature and humidity in the orchidarium but the future will tell if I have to adjust the construction.

/Magnus

[Ross]

This looks awsum! I mean really something to be admired. Mine is due here in a month and I think I just got some pointers from yours. Give us some specs (sizes) and how do you plan to humidify, other than blowing air over the bottom? I think you have it nailed on the lights.

[HDCochran]

Magnus,

Your workmanship is quite impressive; you've built a beautiful orchidarium. I think your orchids will probably like it if you install one or two muffin fans in the growing area to keep the air moving. And, if you need to raise the humidity further, an inexpensive, electrostatic fogging device will be helpful.

I wish you success with your orchids.

Hank

[Ludisia]

Magnus,
The orchidarium looks very nice. What is that black background?

[Magnus A]

Hi
The cabinet is 125*120*60 cm (w*h*d, 30 cm = 1 ft)
Air circulation is very good inside the cabinet! I have two computer fans, 120 and 90 cm. I also have a fancontroller from a computer, so I can controll the airmovement in a good way. You can see the bigger fan in the top of the cabinet.
Humidity, I had 96% relative humidity in the cabinet this morning..... though the ventilation to the outside is more or less nonexisting at the moment. Have to look into this later. In my masterplan I have a mistingsystem like the ones mistking sells, but that will have to wait.
Biggest problem now is the heat radiation from the lights. I have to monitor the temperature for a couple of days to see that everything is Ok for my orchids. I probably have to install same fans in the lightbox.
The background is built of teak and one piece of epiweb. The inventor of this material is a member of our orchidsociety, and I have seen what he grows on it and I am impressed! Niether the background or the false bottom is permanent fixed to the cabinet so I can just lift it out.

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[bert]

Have you considered putting sheets of acrylic on top of your case, but between the lights and the case??
I just built a large orchidarium myself and read somewhere about putting plastic sheets on top between the case and lights. This cuts down on the heat emitted by the lights Mine seems to be working OK so far.
Bert Birmingham, AL

[Ross]

Originally Posted by bert

Have you considered putting sheets of acrylic on top of your case, but between the lights and the case??
I just built a large orchidarium myself and read somewhere about putting plastic sheets on top between the case and lights. This cuts down on the heat emitted by the lights Mine seems to be working OK so far.
Bert Birmingham, AL

Bert, acrylic is a bad idea. With the high humidity and heat, a sheet that large will warp and bow. I use window glass in my temporary setup and it works well. The heat from a bank of lights like this will increase temps about 18 degrees F without a fan. With a fan blowing through the lights it's a modest 8-10 degrees F.

[Magnus A]

Thanks for the suggestions
In a first step i will install two sheets of isolated windowglas with an airslit between. I hope this will give me room temperature in the orchidarium. As you see in this post http://www.neovita.com/orkideer/bild...817.5.orig.jpg I just love Sophronitis and they are not very happy with 20 degree celsius (78 F) . Therefore the longtime plan is to install active cooling in the orchidarium. This is though still in the idée mode so the timeframe may be 1-2 years..... IF I have the time and money....

[Ross]

Magnus, I really think that with double glass between the lights and the fan, you'll not have to install cooling. If this were my tank, I'd consider installing small D.C. fan to blow room air between panes of glass, say 8cm DC fan (computer fan). I think your problem right now is the fan you have up there is capturing the heat from the T5 bulbs and blowing it down into the tank. Can you change location of fan(s)? Say mount the big fan on outside of tank in corner near top and have an outlet hole same size near bottom on opposite side? This would force room air through tank. Of course, humidity would drop so you'll need additional misting capabilities or some way to have fan blow across water reservoir. I think you've got a great start, just fine-tune it a bit.

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[Ross]

By the way, what did you use for the bottom grate? I like the looks of it a lot.