Thinking of converting to terrarium growing?

[DesignerofBeauty]

Hello All,

I'm interested in creating terrariums to house my orchids. I have a few simple terrariums now, but they aren't the "fish tank" type, but instead rely on sunlight and are small in size.

I see on the sticky posts that there are particular orchids that are more suitable to terrariums. Of course, the orchids I have don't seem to be on that list. I have been dabbling on some artificial lighting. I finally resorted to a LED bulb setup, but after some thinking it seems that a terrarium might be more aesthetically pleasing. Plus, I'd like to expand my terrarium collection, and maintain a "true" terrarium that contains artificial lighting.

I have three cattleyas (Slc. Crystelle Smith 'Aileen' AM/AOS, Lc.Tropical Chip 'Andromeda' and Ottara Hwa Yuan Bay 'She Shu' AM/OSROC). I also have 2 NOID Phals, a Schoenorchis Fragrans and dendrobium aggregatum. Of course, I will expand my collection with time too. I would LOVE to have a terrarium filled with miniature orchids.

From what I understand, most orchids that grow in a terrarium are low light orchids (like phals). I understand cattleya orchids require much more light. That being said, is this a doable setup?

Here's some information I'm guessing might be helpful: I'm thinking of using fluorescent lighting (or the LED tubes that look similar). The wall in my bedroom juts out near the bottom of my window, essentially creating a shelf. The "shelf" is about 3/4 of a foot wide. I'd like to have two tanks, one on each side of the window. I'd be okay with two tanks about 2 to 2.5 feet long. The temperature in my room ranges from 72-65 during the winter months, I haven't measured the summertime temperature.

If anyone has suggestions/advice, I would be very grateful!

[estación seca]

It's always possible to provide more light, so don't let that stop you. You can put plants needing less light farther from the lights. Size is another issue; your Catts are small ones.

Enclosed terraria in the sun quickly turn into solar ovens. That is not a good idea. Even a topless terrarium would get quite hot with direct sun.

It's best to keep plants with similar temperature / humidity / watering requirements together. Dendrobium aggregatum would not be a good candidate to mix with the others. It needs a very cool, dry and sunny winter to flower. Some of the other plants might not survive the low winter night temperatures needed to get this Dendrobium to bloom.

[DesignerofBeauty]

Thanks for your help! From what I can gather (my catts have yet to bloom under my care), my phals are the tallest orchids I have. So, I'd probably be best to put them by the windowsill (with the dendrobium), and put the catts and miniatures in one tank (with the miniatures toward the bottom). Or, separating the two into two tanks.

Since lighting would be consistent, I'm estimating I would maybe need a constant output of 2000 fc for a pant that requires 4000 fc?

[estación seca]

Let's back up... What is your aim in having a terrarium? Most people grow in terraria because those plants need higher humidity than the growers could otherwise provide. Some grow in terraria for aesthetic reasons, to create an object of art. Terraria are often a lot more trouble than windowsill growing.

The plants you mentioned do well on many people's windowsills during the growing season. Supplemental lighting, and heat associated with sunlight or electric lighting, is harder to manage in a terrarium.

If your goal is to create a beautiful, self-enclosed terrarium to appreciate, then certainly go ahead. But I'm not sure a terrarium would necessarily make your plants easier to care for.

[DesignerofBeauty]

The humidity in my house is usually around 30%-40%. I mist my orchids about 3 times daily, but I'm not entirely positive that is helping much. The only orchid I have in a "terrarium" is my S. Fragrans, which is sitting in a shallow vase-like enclosure. This is to increase humidity.

I know orchids prefer humidity levels that are higher. I live in New England, so during the winter the heat is always on and in the summer the AC is always on. Humidity in the household is pretty low.

I would really like the aesthetic look of having terraria in my household and the added humidity. From what I'm gathering, it seems like you're gently stating it might be something that's too difficult for a newcomer to handle?

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by DesignerofBeauty

The humidity in my house is usually around 30%-40%..... during the winter the heat is always on and in the summer the AC is always on. Humidity in the household is pretty low.

I would really like the aesthetic look of having terraria in my household and the added humidity. From what I'm gathering, it seems like you're gently stating it might be something that's too difficult for a newcomer to handle?

I'm sorry! I didn't mean to suggest that - only to say that a terrarium is somewhat more work. Beginners do fine with terraria!

There is a whole forum here on Orchid Board devoted to terraria. You can learn a lot reading through how other people built theirs. I might suggest starting simply. It is easier to maintain constant conditions in a larger terrarium than a smaller one, but a smaller one is much easier and less expensive to set up and maintain.

I have three low-tech terraria right now. One is a 20-gallon aquarium with CFLs suspended over it, for Vanda seedlings sitting in glass jars. I have a piece of glass over the top. Next to that is a very large vase for three mounted plants: Lepanthes manabina, Masdevallia floribunda and Octomeria sp. In bright shade in my sunroom is a 30-gallon aquarium, also with a glass top, for high-humidity seedlings and other plants. None of these are objects of art, but the plants seem to like them.

I bought a case of my CFL bulbs some years ago. I will use them until they are worn out. But if I were starting now I would use LED lighting, unless I needed the extra heat T5 flourescents provide.

[stever_sl]

Originally Posted by estación seca

I have three low-tech terraria right now. One is a 20-gallon aquarium with CFLs suspended over it, for Vanda seedlings sitting in glass jars. I have a piece of glass over the top. Next to that is a very large vase for three mounted plants: Lepanthes manabina, Masdevallia floribunda and Octomeria sp. In bright shade in my sunroom is a 30-gallon aquarium, also with a glass top, for high-humidity seedlings and other plants. None of these are objects of art, but the plants seem to like them.

Can a newcomer jump in here with a follow-up question? I have a couple of low-tech former aquariums myself, now housing orchids, but I've deliberately avoided adding the glass top because so many people have warned me about the need to maintain air flow around the plants. I have a ceiling fan in that room and it provides a gentle flow all day and all night, at the expense, I'm sure, of some humidity in the tanks. When you say "glass top" do you mean one that more or less seals the container, or is there a gap or something to allow airflow?

[DesignerofBeauty]

Originally Posted by estación seca

I'm sorry! I didn't mean to suggest that - only to say that a terrarium is somewhat more work. Beginners do fine with terraria!

No worries at all! I just wanted to make sure I wasn't opening a can of worms .

I will continue my search for an adequate tanks. Thanks for your help as always!

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by stever_sl

Can a newcomer jump in here with a follow-up question?

Always, at any time.

I have a couple of low-tech former aquariums myself, now housing orchids, but I've deliberately avoided adding the glass top because so many people have warned me about the need to maintain air flow around the plants. I have a ceiling fan in that room and it provides a gentle flow all day and all night, at the expense, I'm sure, of some humidity in the tanks. When you say "glass top" do you mean one that more or less seals the container, or is there a gap or something to allow airflow?

Everything depends on the surrounding conditions. I live in Phoenix. Ambient relative humidity in that room is seldom above 30% when there are no plants, and can be below 10% during much of early summer. You have high summer humidity, but your home might be arid when you use heat or air conditioning.

My Vanda tank has a well-fitting glass top that I had cut to use when it was an aquarium. The glass extends all the way, edge to edge, from left to right, but has a gap in the front to back dimension just wide enough to accommodate standard aquarium air tubing. I had air tubing entering in several places along the long side (sponge filter and several air stones) so that is where I left the gap. If I were having the glass cut for orchids I would put the gap on one short side, not on a long side, to limit air exchange. I take the top off every 1-2 days to take plants out and water. During warm weather I water every day. When we have summer monsoon conditions and ambient humidity goes over 40% I leave the top off and open the room to outside. I had a hygrometer in there; it was between 60%-80% if I had a layer of water on the bottom, 50%-60% without the water.



The large vase next to the Vanda tank is covered with a salad plate that fits quite snugly. Relative humidity in there with the top closed is 80%-90%. I watch closely. I open it and take the plants out for watering every 2-4 days.

The bigger tank in the sunroom has a crossbrace at the center of the top, so it needs two pieces of glass to cover. I bought it as a very old, tired, used tank. The crossbrace sags and the glass does not fit tightly. There is a big enough gap to provide some air. The ambient sunroom humidity is never below 40% and usually above 60%. The tank is more humid. I don't open it every day.

Air flow is more important for plants growing in higher humidity than they expect, or for stressed and sick plants. Unless my aim in having a terrarium were to create an object of art, I wouldn't put plants into a terrarium unless they needed higher than ambient humidity or temperature, and I wouldn't put plants that expect lower humidity in with plants that demand 80%-90%.

Healthy plants can usually fight off fungus if their ambient conditions are good. The key is keeping plants as healthy as possible. Struggling plants are very susceptible to fungus. Brief periods of lower humidity do wonders for preventing fungus. Many people worry a lot about saprophytic fungus - fungus growing on dead material around their orchids. Saprophytic fungus lives on dead tissue and will not infect living plants. This is commonly seen as cottony white fungus threads on dead roots or wood.

[stever_sl]

Thanks for the detailed reply! Here in St Louis the summers are hot and humid outside, and even inside our house the humidity is usually around 50% or a bit more. But in winter, with our gas heat, it plunges to 20% or under. So that's why I started keeping the orchids in old fish tanks where I could boost humidity in the winter. I find that I can keep it around 55-60% with no top on the tank using a couple of glasses of water sitting here and there among the pots. I had tried the trick of putting individual plants on trays of pebbles in water but that didn't seem to work very well. I guess it's all a process of trying this and that until something clicks. A couple of years ago I went to the local orchid show and asked one of the club members for advice about culture. He explained very patiently what he'd found worked and what didn't. When he was done, another member chimed in with completely different experiences and advice. There seems to be room for a LOT of variation here!