Starting bowl terrarium, have a few questions

[veefour]

I have a 20W but when I was testing it well above a Cattleya it started burning it quickly.

[estación seca]

Do you mean burning or turning red? I can't imagine a 20W LED burning a Cattleya leaf. It shouldn't throw off enough heat.

[veefour]

It was turning really dark purple, but it was really fast so I moved it back to avoid burning. Still tweaking it to get proper distance.

[estación seca]

Dark purple in a Cattleya is good. The more light short of burning the better. I don't think you could actually burn a Cattleya under a smaller LED.

[Leafmite]

I have never tried LED's so I have no opinion on that. I am looking forward to seeing your final set up. I keep many of my mini-mini orchids in small table top greenhouses and need to take them out each time if I want to look at them. I would rather have them set up in a way I can more fully enjoy them (thus my experimental bowl).

Good luck with your project!

[u bada]

Also things depend on the actual fixture, what spectrums of light they put out... would love to know what 20w LED you have that is burning a catt, wow sounds great! i've tried many different (low end) fixtures and none of them have been that strong, even got a rather pricey one recently and can't say it's strong enough to burn a catt... as for 12w, those have been relatively weak, got growth but not many blooms... but again depends on fixture itself- bulbs, number of bulbs, spectrum, etc. Red is really going to be necessary for blooming things well...

Also you're going to have to keep in mind that you won't be able to get the temperature drops and seasonal variation in a terrarium so the focus have got to be on species that don't need variation to grow and bloom. I have to go through your list to tell you what can work from my experience...

[veefour]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

Is the tentative final list to choose from.

Actually after the discussion with estación seca the other night I went back to the 20W(has 12 white and 6 red). It is not burning the catt, just a really deep purple. It seems to be doing well.

[u bada]

Ok, after some I put together notes below on those I have grown before and currently grow in a tank. Hopefully, others can add to this their experiences.

Overall, most should do well for you and many didn't need conditions outside of what your current enclosure should be able to provide.

Aerangis hyaloides- tiny, does well, needs air flow
Aerangis punctata-tiny, does well, but needs air flow, can be tricky
Anoectochilus formanosum- does well, no need for high air flow, needs horizontal room to grow
Brachypeza semiteretifolia- have not tried
Bulbophyllum aestivale- have not tried
Bulbophyllum alagense small- does well for others, not me, but supposedly needs higher light than you'd think, for me, needs decent air flow, keep very evenly moist but not sopping wet
Bulbophyllum ambrosia- a bit big for a small tank like yours, can do well, needs air flow, can flower better if grown with wider temp fluctuations
Bulbophyllum biflorum- a bit big, can do well in a tank, higher lighting for flowering
Bulbophyllum intersitum- does well, not too high air flow, does not like above 85F, can be difficult to flower, may need cool night temps, but not sure
Bulbophyllum lasiochilum- does well, higher light for flowering
Bulbophyllum odoratissumim- have not tried, but a big big for tank
Bulbophyllum pulchellum- have not tried
Bulbophyllum sanguineopunctatum- dont know, but a bit big for tank
Bulbophyllum sikkimense- does well in a small tank
Chiloschista viridiflava- does well, but needs medium air flow, regular waterings, and medium to high light
Dendrobium aberrans- does very well in a small tank
Dendrobium subuliferum- have not tried
Encyclia polybulbon- does well, higher light
Dracula ophioceps- have not tried, but like other dracs, keep cool, temp fluctuations needed. Considered easier of genus to grow
Gastrochilus somai- does well
Goodyera hispida- does well but make sure it won't sit in water at bottom of tank
Haraella retrocalla- does very well
Lepanthes calodictyon- tiny, does very well, but keep humidity steady and high
Lepanthes tentaculata- tiny, does very well, but keep humidity steady and high
Lepanthopsis astrophora- tiny, does very well, but keep humidity steady and high
Leptotes bicolor var alba- not great in a tank, needs air flow and to dry off completely between watering.
Macodes petola- smaller of jewel orchids, does very well, but make sure it won't sit in water at bottom of tank
Macodes sanderiana- smaller of jewel orchids, does very well, but make sure it won't sit in water at bottom of tank
Macroclinium manabinum- does very well, air flow can be better, but ok without much air flow
Masdevallia bennettii- have not tried
Masdevallia ludibundella- don't know
Masdevallia wendlandiania- does very well even at high temps, does not need temp drop to flower like other masdies
Meiracyllium trinasutum- yet to try this one, but supposedly very tricky to grow well, needs cool nights/temps
Neobathiea grandidierana- didn't grow this species, but in general like other angreacoids, does well, needs air flow
Platystele calantha- have not tried, but keep cool
Platystele caudatisepala- have not tried, but keep cool
Platystele densiflora- have not tried, but keep cool
Platystele erectoglossa- does well, but does not like above 85, tall spikes need room
Platystele gyroglossa-have not tried, but keep cool
Platystele johnstonii- have not tried, but keep cool
Platystele umbellata- have not tried, but keep cool
Pleurothallis alata- tiny, does very well,
Pleurothallis flexuosa- does well, some clones are a bit large for a small tank
Pleurothallis grobyi (small)- tinye, does very well, medium light for better blooming
Pleurothallis herpestes- tiny, does very well
Pleurothallis mathildae- have not tried
Pleurothallis pruinosa- small, have not tried, but heard it does very well
Pleurothallis recurva- - have not tried, but heard it does very well, let dry out though
Pleurothallis schiedei/ornata- does well, but doesn't like above 85F at all
Pleurothallis sertularioides- tiny matt forming, does very well, keep evenly moist, doesn't like to dry out but doesn't like to sit in water either
Pleurothallis zephyrina- have not tried
Porroglossum hirtzii- have not tried, but in general, porros don't like temps above 85F
Porroglossum hystrix- have not tred
Porroglossum josei- have not tried
Porroglossum meridionale- does well
Restrepia dodsonii- does very well, some clones can get quite large
Restrepia elegans- does very well, some clones can get quite large
Scaphosepalum breve- does very well
Scaphosepalum digitale- have not tried
Scaphosepalum merinoi- have not tried
Scaphosepalum swertifolium- does very well, but can definitely get a bit big
Schoenorchis fragrans- tiny, keep killing them, but others say it does very well, higher light is best, let dry out
Schoenorchis tixieri- have not tried, but as above
Sigmatostalix graminea- does very well, medium light at least, let dry between waterings, can get rangy in growth
Sophronitis wittigiana- have not tried, but can be tricky, but needs good air flow, cool temps at night to do well, cernua or witt hybrids are much easier
Stelis argentata- does very well, small but can fill up space fast when happy so may be too big
Stelis opercularis- have not tried
Stelis sanchezii- have not tried
Stenia pallida- have not tried, but beautiful species
Trichosalpinx chamaelephanthes- does very well, but give space to grow down and out, does not like above 85F, needs higher light, medium air flow
Trisetella hoeijeri- tiny, does very well, one of my favs, my fav genus
Zootrophion serpentinum- does very well, but grows quite wide and large, keep cool

[veefour]

Wow! Thank you so much for your help! You went above and beyond anything I expected. I will definitely take this into consideration when choosing my species.