Intermediate-Warm Terrarium Culture Suggestions

[Britton Flash]

Keeping in mind:
My daytime temps range from 24-26C (75-80F); RH on average near 75% (ranging 65-90%)

My nighttime temps drop to about 18C (65F) on average, with RH trending toward the high-end of the aforementioned range.

I am growing under 32 watt 4x4' T5HO (2x6500K+2x2750K) with an initial combined rating of 20,000 lumens (lumina); the bulbs are approaching a year old.

Cutting to the chase:

I have been fascinated by miniatures recently, and have compiled a smorgasbord of species that have grabbed my attention. I am looking for any and all wisdom regarding the following species; whether it be from personal experience growing them or something you have read or picked up along the way.

In no particular order of priority:
Haraella retrocalla
Den. abberans
Den capitulifolium
Appendicula(suggested species?)
Goodyera(suggested species?)
Haraella odorata
Angraecum distichum
Epidendrum porpax
Lepanthes calodictyon
Dend laevifolium
Den. dichaeoides
Dracula lotax (any other warm tolerant pleuro suggestions?)
Drydella zebrina
Diplocaulobium stelliferium
Homalopetalum pumilio
Maxillaria variabilis
Neofinetia falcata
Pleurothallis amparoana
Restripia sanguinea
Sophronitis cernua (i understand this prefers somewhat cooler temps than I can provide in the terrarium; am I too warm?)
Gastrochilus japonicus
Gastrochilus fuscopunctatus

And finally:
I have a lower shelf where I can grow somewhat larger plants under a 4x4' T8 fixture with the same color temps. It stays about 70 during the day with the same approximate night temperatures as the terrarium; the RH is lower because I have no way to amend it, currently. If anyone has any suggestions here, I will gladly accept.

Thanks for your time. I am sort of just throwing out a big net here in hopes to mitigate my indecisiveness.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by Britton Flash

I am growing under 32 watt 4x4' T5HO (2x6500K+2x2750K) with an initial combined rating of 20,000 lumens (lumina); the bulbs are approaching a year old.



Epidendrum porpax
Lepanthes calodictyon

Dracula lotax (any other warm tolerant pleuro suggestions?)

Restripia sanguinea
Sophronitis cernua (i understand this prefers somewhat cooler temps than I can provide in the terrarium; am I too warm?)

Hi Britton,
I have to say that I have a 29 gal orchidarium that has the same conditions you listed above, with the same lighting arrangement. (Here is my build thread: 29gal Orchidarium)

First of all, your temps should be great for Soph. cernua! Also, I have found that the lighting for the plants I list above is actually too strong with 4x4' t5HO bulbs! I pulled out a bulb not too long ago and have found that everything is growing much better. I think my wattage is actually at about 25W each, so your bulbs might be even brighter. With minis it seems that they can be blown away by bright light fairly easily. Any pics of your tank?

[Britton Flash]

Steve, thank you for your quick response,
I have actually looked through your building thread for inspiration on some modifications to my tank. I think you were the inspiration for my conduit light hanger!(thank you thank you!) I would also like to create a tiered system like yours for the for mounts and higher light lovers. I started out growing Begonias, so it currently has soil in the bottom(currently have scapigera, sutherlandii, bipinnatafida, soli-mutata, hydrocotylfolia, and an african hybrid created by Kartuz called 'buttercup' in there). I am planning to grade it toward one site in order to create more distance from the light for some lower light orchid species. I believe I am witnessing some stretching on Bulbophyllum frostii, the two newest leaves are not as stout (increasingly elliptical) relative to others that have grown under this light; I imagine this is a result of the aging bulbs. As better reference to shade lovers, I am also successfully growing to Paphs from section sigmatopetalum with no signs of light damage. At what distance did you witness stress on the species you mentioned would not fare well? From the photos it looks light you have a taller tank than i do. From the tip of Paph wardii, the lights are at 30 cm. The top i have created a vent with corrugated plastic greenhouse panels that the distributor claims it will not filter any intensity or color, although I have not tested this.

[isurus79]

I had plants all the way at the bottom of the tank that were not too happy with the light. Dracula lotax would throw out spikes and blast, while the Mediocalare decoratum was slowly fading away. The Dracula now has buds that are not blasting and the Mediocalare has put out a flush of new growth. I have some mini Bulbos that doing better now too. Everything else that was doing well before is still doing well now. We'll see, but I think the 3 bulbs works really well with the plants I have now, both bright growers and shade lovers.

[Britton Flash]

I am certainly going to take your word for it. Before making any adjustments, I would like to know the distance your light is from the bottom of your terrarium in order to establish a reference; it would also be helpful to know the distance your lotax was that caused bud blast.

On a more positive note, what has done particularly well for you?

[isurus79]

The top of my LECA (which is where the lotax sits) is 18.5" to the bulbs. I would say the lotax sits another 2" closer to the lights because of the pot is in and the leaves are another 3" or so tall. So I would say the bulbs sit 16.5" from the base of the plant and about 13.5" from the top of the leaves. There is also a pane of plexi (which should not cut light) on top of the tank and the bulbs are also about a year old or so, which means they are should be changed soon.

[Britton Flash]

Well my good sir, from your estimations It appears that we have our lights positioned very similarly, and upon further inspection we have identical ballasts. If you bought your tubes form the same distributer as the ballast, I must have been mistaken about the wattage. Which temperature tube did you remove, and why? Did you decide based on the average needs of your plant's vegetative and flowering times (far red for flowering, and blue for veg)? Of course this is very conceptual and not likely to be entirely accurate, but it may be better than not considering it at all.
Even before our discussion I knew this day would come. I have had bud blast on my Phrag besseae as a result of light intensity. As this species is a sequential bloomer, I immediately removed the plant from the terrarium and put it in the only window of the apartment I was living in at the time(due west) in hopes of trying for another flower. It received direct light for about 4 hours a day, and fairly bright light throughout the rest of the day. Temperatures were mild, and not of any apparent concern. It spiked again and blasted! I assume it is the plants response to such an abrubt change.

I tell you this story because i foresee the day that my Paphs flower again(and shade loving plants) and I will need to remove them and hope the same fate doesn't become of them. They flowered outside the terrarium, but they grow so much better inside that I prefer to keep them there. Should i preemptively remove them at the first time of spike? Do have any experience with such a juggling act? After awhile I suppose I will be able to better predict when they flower. How close is too close? How do we eliminate the guesswork other than trial and error? I suppose that is what this forum is all about!

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by Britton Flash

Which temperature tube did you remove, and why?

Hi Britton,
I only buy one type of bulb and that is the grow bulb. My experience tells me that bloom booster fertilizers are a waste of money, so I figure bloom boosting lights are the same! lol

Originally Posted by Britton Flash

Should i preemptively remove them at the first time of spike? Do have any experience with such a juggling act? How close is too close? How do we eliminate the guesswork other than trial and error?

Never move a spiking plant! The plant will either abort or change the orientation of the flower, often causing distorted looking blooms. I would just leave your plants where they are and if they abort on their own, then start to change the conditions. While the plants can be light sensitive, the spikes are not as much. I have a Phrag. that is blooming and its blooms are only inches away from my other 4 bulb t5HO system, with no ill effects.

As for how close is too close? Well I have Phrag. Mem Dick Clements (a besseae hybrid) which was under my other t5 system in s/h and its leaves went a bit too light green to yellow for my taste, so I think your besseae might do the same. It really is trial and error mixed in with a bit knowledge gleaned from other growers!

I also find buying orchids that adapt to my conditions preferable that adapting my conditions to the needs of each species. If they live, great! If not, too bad!! I'll fill that spot with another!

[tropterrarium]

Here are a few comments.

With 1 year old bulbs, you may get about half the original light output. Can be good, can be bad. Be careful when changing bulbs. Change one at a time, or you may seriously light-stress the plants. Give it at least 2 weeks before changing the next bulb.

Haraella retrocalla = odorata: same species. Grew well for me for a while, then died. no idea why.
Appendicula: I have alba in an intermediate GH, needs very shady conditions.
Angraecum distichum: don't water too much, so put in dryer spot of terrarium. Not the fastest grower, but can reward with quite a few blooms. Grows both potted as well as mounted.
Epidendrum propax (= peperomia). Great grower, flowered in intermediate conditions in winter, with cool setting more regularly, so not sure what it will do in Int-warm.
Lepanthes calodictyon: KEEP MOIST and VERY low light.
Dryadella zebrina: rather low light plant, grows better mounted.
Diplocaulobium: I have aratriferum and second species. You know that they only flower for a few hours of one day, one day only! The flowers are great though. aratriferum took over a year until it put out first flower, but I have had up to ten, and now flowers freely every 6 weeks or so. Is at the very top of my terrarium, so gets blasted with light.
Homalopetalum pumilo: killed one :-(
Neofinetia falcata: had two strains for several years, never got a single flower, tried all sorts of positions and regimes. Gave them away eventually.
Pleurothallis amparoana: have it in the int GH. bloomed once in shade. Coolest flowers ever!
Restrepia: had one in the tank, but grew too big. Can flower almost all the time, but flowers are on the UNDERside of the leaves.
Sophronitis cernua: Grew well for several years, then decided to slowly die, one bulb at a time. No idea why.

Other suggestions:
Pleurothallis grobyi and Pleuro brighami are great performers. Grow MUCH better mounted than in pots. Can easily take 2000 fc.
There are lots of other minis: Jaquinelia, Dendrobiums, Macroclinum, Ornithocephalus, Bulbophyllum, Schoenorchis, some Angraecums ...