My first terrarium with 3 phals... - Orchid Board

Tetra73 · #1 03-31-2015, 10:18 PM

I have been lurking here for a while and just want to post my first post here. About a week ago, I setup my second terrarium with 3 phals. I had my trial run with my first terrarium with a 20g L aquarium tank. That was 3 weeks ago. Made a lot of mistakes (soil being too compacted and wet--using left over dirt from my fish tank, no gas and air exchanges from the outside despite that I have a fan in it and the tank was too small).

With this second one, it is done with a 40g breeder tank, acrylic. It used to be my high tech aquatic planted tank but I decided to grow plants all together, skipped the fish...

Let me know what you think and I have couple of concerns here too.

I have to mist the tank at least twice per day in order to maintain at least 70% RH. If not, the RH can drop down to 60% and the soil surface would look dried up. The tank top is well covered and only two 2" dia openings on both far end of the tank for the air exchanges. I may need to build my own misting system and put it on a timer. The soil consists of largely African violet soil (heavy with peat moss) from Miracle gro, some orchid barks, and very generous amount of perlites. I guess the soil is very airy enough and moisture does not tend to stay for long inside the tank. A 4" big computer fan is placed inside the tank, blowing upward. The airflow is strong enough and moves some leaves on the far end corners of the tank. The orchids are placed in their own little plastic containers and not in contact with the soil at all. So, it is easy to water them outside the tank.

The tank's lighting system is powered by 4 t8 tubes, 4 ft long. 2 65k and 2 40k. Using an egg crates false bottom.

DSC_3482 by vracing, on Flickr

DSC_3481 by vracing, on Flickr

This tank isn't new and there are stains on it, oh well.

terracotta7 · #2 04-01-2015, 08:24 AM

Nicely done!

Joseia · #3 04-01-2015, 01:29 PM

Looks great!

Tetra73 · #4 04-01-2015, 09:22 PM

Thanks....

WhiteRabbit · #5 04-02-2015, 09:02 PM

Looks great!

Tetra73 · #6 04-18-2015, 07:05 PM

Here is an update. Added couple of airplants and spread out 2 4" pots of gold spikemoss. Reduced the fan speed and shading the light because I think my original gold spikemoss from last month has been having problems (melting and browning). Not all of them but only those more exposed to the light and airflow....despite that my RH is always above 70%.

DSC_3515 by vracing, on Flickr

No-Pro-mwa · #7 04-19-2015, 06:36 PM

It looks beautiful.

wintergirl · #8 04-19-2015, 06:46 PM

Really nice! Everything looks wonderful! Good job!

Tetra73 · #9 04-19-2015, 07:08 PM

Thanks.... Well, I just air mounted my Phals.

I would have left them alone but I think they are at the end of the blooming cycles. I am seeing buds withering. One of the smaller phals is growing a side shoot. I have to see how far it would grow and if it would bloom.

Due to the spikemoss needs constant moisture and misting, putting my phals in pots isn't an good idea. Too much accidental water ended up getting to the orchid roots. It turns out it is a pain in the butt to remove them from the terrarium whenever I need to water them. Now, all three of them are being air mounted and suspended by some gardening wire (leaves facing down at an angle and flowers are just hovering above the moss). I used some egg crates to tie the orchids to and along with some spangnum moss.

Untitled by vracing, on Flickr

Tetra73 · #10 04-21-2015, 09:42 PM

New photos and the tank is completed...I think. Just picked up a 6" spread Earth Star Pink at Lowes for a whooping $3. Yes, $3!!!! And a small pot of Pelia Moon Valley.

DSC_3528 by vracing, on Flickr

DSC_3529 by vracing, on Flickr