Terrarium is finally finished! - Page 4 - Orchid Board

Kimbubbley · #31 08-05-2011, 11:44 AM

Hi Paul! Love ur setup

I've been putting a little project tank together too ur info with both ups and downs has been really informative! Plus it's nice to know that their ARE challenges along the way, but working them out and being proud of ur achievements makes the whole experience very rewarding!

My latest pause for thought was getting the tank to the point I could check out the temp/light/humidity.... And finding the tank's too hot! LOL. But another scout round the internet and I found a solution I think... Glass between to isolate lights from plants, then maybe an inch or so's gap and a house fan on the outside to shift the heat.... I need to drop 4degC when the light is on in the summer. In winter I'm gonna need the lights to keep it warm I think?? We'll see!!

Anywho!.... LOVE the tank it's inspiring

i planned aerangis fastuosa as my first plant to mount when my specs have settled, how is urs getting along?? Can we have update pics as the tank starts to fill out?

Kim

Paul Mc · #32 08-06-2011, 09:08 AM

Thanks Kim! Best of luck to you and your project, and yes, I believe you are on the right track with using a fan between your light source and the actual top of the tank to shift the heat. I've seen this done in many cool growing terrarium models. I got lucky because the room it's in tends to be one of the cooler rooms on the floor so that was not an issue for me. But we'll see what happens comes winter, lol...

As for the progress, there really isn't much going on other than root growth and new leaf production at the moment. Most of the orchids I put in there are not known for creating huge masses quickly. Perhaps in another year or so it will look vastly different, but for now it's pretty much the same.

The dendrobium that I have in there is still trying to bloom, but it just hasn't quite opened up yet. Other orchids are budding, but nothing is opening yet. I'll post once they do.

stefpix · #33 10-22-2011, 03:16 PM

Paul, any updates on the terrarium? I thought about making a small one.

I have a couple of mounted Tolumnia species that were suffering and drying and i stuck one end of a stick in a tall glass vase and i partly covered the top and finally started to make new growth,.

So I am wondering if a small terrarium may be good.

I have some questions:

doesn't the high humidity affect the fan? Is it still working? DO you have a photo where you placed it?

- I also would like to see the photo of teh 45 W bulb. Is it above the terrarium? Is it enough to make your orchids bloom? I have not seen any 45 W bulbs at the HDs near me.

- Is the water pump just for the little pond?

I think if you want to prevent mold / fungus it is good to put some Hydrogen Peroxide in the bottom. Also some horticultural charcoal.

Also how is the Sphag holding in high humidity? would be nice to have some live one.

DO you have any gnats in the terrarium?

Paul Mc · #34 10-24-2011, 08:18 AM

I don't know about my terrarium set up in relation to Tolumnia's. The main reason being that I use a fogger twice a day and Tolumnia's need to be completely dry by bed-time. I have tolumnia's in clay pots with just a bit of horticultural charcoal in there and water every morning when it's hot and occasionally every other day when it's a bit cooler (although I still try to be consistent and go off of how it looks inside the small clay pot (dry or not).

The fan is still working, although there is some mold growth on it. I need to clean it up a bit, lol... It is located way up at the top, tilted a bit so the air flow hits the back of the terrarium. It's in the back of it so as to hide it a bit better. I'll have to take some pictures later and post.

As for the 45 watt bulb, it's one of those energy saving bulbs actually as opposed to the standard bulb. It's in a light fixture I bought from Home Depot for lights, then the stand is one I bought from PetSmart from the reptile area. Again, I'll have to take pictures.

The light has been enough to make 4 of the 11 plants bloom thus far, and one has a huge nub on it starting. That one though is supposed to bloom sometime during late winter/early spring though so it will be a while. So time will tell yet, but I'm fairly sure that they are getting enough light based on my light meter measurements.

The pump is just for the little pond, although the running water helps to keep algea growth down and promotes humidity. I did place some fish tank charcoal in with the pump, but again I really need to get in there and clean it out and replace the bag.

The sphag for the most part is holding up nicely, however the area where the fogger blows down has become slimy. My goal is to get rid of the sphag there come early next year once the orchid there has rooted itself on good. I think it may almost be there now though, lol... Roots everywhere!!!

I did have gnats in the terrarium for a while, then I bought two carnivorous plants. For a while, the population dwindled but then the plants died. So, now I use the bits offered by RePotme.com in my water sprayers and the population has pretty much disappeared. There were also several types of bugs in there (tiny little critters), and they also appear to be gone as well.

stefpix · #35 10-24-2011, 12:22 PM

What carnivorous plants did you try?
I wonder if the fertilizer killed them. Although at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden I see various CP in the aquatic house with mangroves and Orchids and they seem to do fine, the curator told me the area gets fertilized. I wonder if you try to grow live sphagnum probably it would not get slimy, but there is the fertilizer issue... But still at the Votanic Garden I saw some live moss growing in orchid pots and looks nice. I wonder if there are any mosses that can take fertilizer. I was given 2 small pieces of Tolumnia urophylla and T. leitze.
Again I saw a clumping Tolumnia at the Botanic Garden and it was hanging on some mangrove branch under the leaves and close to the water of the pond. By looking that I put my mounted sticks in a tall Ikea vase and that is when I started seeing new growth.

I would probably interested in a terrarium a little simpler and dryer than yours (no lake/ no water pump) could be good for some small orchids.

For gnats I find Mexican Pinguiculas work great. Maybe you could use some for a while, and keep tehm in a separate pot... Although Pinguiculas are usually watered from the bottom, I wonder if the misting system could be what killed them. Would be great to see photos of your terrarium update!

Paul Mc · #36 10-24-2011, 06:58 PM

I honestly don't remember which two I tried, although I knew one would not make it. The other should have done great in there based upon my research but alas it did not, lol... I'm not sure if it ate all it's food and then starved or if it was fertilizer run off as you say. I never did figure it out but the problem has disappeared.

I'm personally not familiar with those two Tolumnia's, but generally they all want to be dry by bedtime. Yes, you will have to tailor your terrarium to closely match the environment of the orchids you put in there. In my case, I built it because I had two orchids from the Ande's mountains that were dying. I built it as a place to save them and bought others that were in similar environments to add later.

I will have to get some updated pics here soon, but honestly, other than roots, slime and mold growth, not much has happened. The flowers on the few things that were in flower were so small that I could not get good pictures of them.

Goods14 · #37 03-20-2012, 01:18 PM

How is the terrarium going? Is the cuthbertsonii still doing well?

Paul Mc · #38 03-20-2012, 01:21 PM

It's going great actually, thanks for asking! The cutherbertsonii is still doing good, but two others are questionable at the moment. I've moved them into more light to see if it will help. Hopefully I'll get around to cleaning it soon and taking pics of it again.

Paul Mc · #39 02-04-2013, 05:39 PM

Well, sad news. Almost everything croaked on me. There was a lot of black mold growing through everything. I was able to save 2 and replace one.

After having done some more reading, it appears that Im not the only one who has issues when a mold or contagion gets in. In fact, it has lead several people to not even consider the traditional terrarium style.

I'm not saying I'm giving up, just that I need to learn more before attempting again. So in the meanwhile, I changed the set up restocked.

Here ya go!

Ferns Daddy · #40 02-04-2013, 08:22 PM

Very nice, it makes me think of what I could do with a 20 gal long tank thats just sitting in my basement