Thoughts on moss-covered background

[harpspiel]

Well, after taking severe casualties a few years back (very hot summer followed by cross-country move in winter), I'm finally ready to get my orchid tank up and running again. Here's the old thread:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ure-heavy.html

I'm looking to incorporate a mossy backdrop on at least one wall of the tank. I'm completely in love with this guy's tank, and would like to achieve a similar lush look:
https://www.orchidsforum.com/threads...project.14177/

I'm going to use a base of egg crate so that I can remove the backdrop from the tank when necessary, for ease of maintenance. What I'm wondering is what should I attach to the egg crate?
1. Plain Great Stuff, with orchids on tree fern or cork wired into it. But will moss cover exposed Great Stuff?
2. Great Stuff with Coco fiber glued to it - will that tend to degrade?
3. "Layered and carved" tree fern slabs wired onto the egg crate (as the guy in the above thread did) - sounds like a lot of work

Does anyone have experience getting a wall of moss established? All suggestions are welcome!

[Ray]

When I built my terrarium, I used cork bark slabs as the background, and water trickles down in for about an hour in the middle of the night.

Any moss that got in there was a "hitchhiker" on plants, and after several months, it started growing on the bark, and is looking good.


Ray Barkalow
firstrays.com

[harpspiel]

Thanks for the comment, Ray! I decided to go with something that I could carve to look more naturalistic, so I am just finishing up an eggcrate/Great Stuff backdrop. I have 3 inset areas for terrestrial plants, I'm covering the whole thing with coco fiber, and I just ordered the "Live Moss Slurry" from NEHERP to jump-start moss growth. When I get orchids to place on the background, I intend to leave them mounted on tree fern or cork and wire them onto the background.

[ChrisAZ]

Have you attempted to contact the owner of the tank that inspired you in the link above? I'd go straight to the source if I were you, his tank looks great! I might try to contact him myself, I can think of a lot of questions I'd really like to ask about his set up. Good luck with your current moss slurry experiment.

[Joseia]

Every time I see those amazing terrariums, like the one you referenced, I get the itch to build one myself. But then I start to think about things like:

How much maintenance is required to keep them healthy and clean?

How do you examine the plants for signs of disease and pests? What if you had an infestation of mealys in there? Seems it would be hard to deal with pests. And it seems like any disease that gets a hold in there could spread very quickly before you even notice.

But they do look amazing, and I sure would love to show one off to my friends and family. Maybe when I retire and have more time.

So please build one ASAP, figure out all the solutions and then tell me what to do.