My terrarium

[Salixx]

Many of you that posted pictures of your terrariums got my creative juices flowing, so thank you.

This is my first attempt with growing orchids in a terrarium, so I have my fingers crossed that everything works out!



I went sparse because I like a more or less open look. I have:
Restrepia contorta
Angraecum didieri
Haeralla retrocalla
Aerangis fastuosa
Masdevallia minuta
Masdevallia 'Wild Child'

I also have a variety of mosses and a fern species I don't know the name of... I am pretty sure the ebay seller pluck them from his back yard in Fl though. On the bottom, I have put live sphag. I hope to have it form a carpet and also maybe work on 'waste water cleanup.'

[Pattywack]

It looks very nice and natural. I keep thinking I should try this instead of my countertop greenhouse/terrarium set up. A nice size exo terra with a background, hmm.

I would watch the Tillys, they may rot if kept too damp. Good job with your project!

[Salixx]

Thank you!

I hope the Tillys will be fine. I put both right in front of the fan to try to keep them from staying wet. I lost one already to rot while I was still in the planning stages and of course it was the best one. Oh well... better a Tillandsia than a orchid, right?

[Pattywack]

I have to agree with you, better a Tilly than an orchid. Tillandsia need to be dry before night. They do look nice in a terrarium though especially when in bloom.

[No-Pro-mwa]

It looks wonderful.

[Salixx]

Well, I think it's fair to say that everyone seems happy thus far.

The A. didieri is growing roots like mad. It was also staying wet too long, so I removed the sphag pad it had. It seems to approve!

I was worried about my little A. fastuosa and M. minuta. The fastuosa was staying wet too long with the new set-up so I remove the sphag that it came with from Andy's only to find a lot of root rot/ death had occurred. I remounted it with a bit of super glue and gently super glued a few live pieces of sphag over its roots. A new root is now growing and the new leaf it was producing is now growing much faster. The little minuta had also suffered root rot somewhere along its life, however is now producing new roots... and eight new growths!

However, much to my joy, the other three are planning on flowering for me very soon.

First, the Masd. 'Wild Child'


When I received this plant from Mountain Orchids, it already had a bud and bloomed, however, that quickly faded. Instead, the plant decided to put out 6-7 new leaves. However, after I finished the terrarium and got the humidity up to 80%+, it has now spiked. It's growing quickly, so hopefully I'll have a bloom pic soon!

H. retrocalla


When I bought this little bugger at the first New England Orchid Fest, it had two flower buds but it blasted them shortly after I got it home. One of the spikes died, but the other remained. Now, I new bud forming!

Finally, R. contorta


I also got this guy at the Orchid Fest. I was a little worried at first- I think I shocked it with light as it was green when I bought it but turned purple once in the terrarium. I've read that Restrepias can do this under LED in anticipation of a sunburn that will never come, however. I hope it goes back to green someday. I think it also has another bud/spike but I can just make a hint out of it through the dead sheath around a leaf, so I won't hold my breath.

Anyway, sorry my pics are great, but I had to share the excitement and hope to have some bloom pics soon!

[Tindomul]

Very nice. I like that it looks very naturalistic. Good job with the plants too.