Cutting Costs: Dorm Greenhouse
 

I'm going back to school in the fall and would like to bring some of my orchids (the rest will continued to be cared for at home). Since I'll be living in a dorm, the room humidity probably won't be great, so I would like to have a micro-greenhouse set-up. Right now my orchids are on the indoor greenhouse-shelf thing. I'd like something like a small exo terra tank with a basic mist king system, but I feel that that's more than I would like to spend. Does anyone have recommendations for cutting costs? Thank you!

That sounds like a lot of unnecessary hardware. How many orchids will you have, and what kind? Then it might be possible to make some suggestions.

I grow Lepanthes and some other high humidity plants in little greenhouses I bought from World Market:

Glass House Terrariums | World Market

They hold the humidity in well enough that I haven't needed to do anything extra to add humidity. All of the mini orchids are mounted in these so I use small plastic food containers to hold them upright.

A five gallon aquarium with a clear cover would work well, too, and probably be cheaper. It is important to leave a little room between the plants, though, so as not to have trouble with fungus/mold issues.

---------- Post added at 10:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:53 PM ----------

I probably should have asked what you were growing, too. I just assumed you were growing high humidity orchids when you were mentioning a misting system.

Thanks! That's really helpful. I'd like to bring Laelia alaorii, Dendrophylax lindenii, Mexipedium xeropyticum, Ascocentrum pumilum, Dendrobium cuthbertsonii, Aerangis punctata, and Aerangis ugandensis. They're all growing in high humidity right now in the shelf-greenhouse I mentioned originally.

I'd hit up craigslist and eBay; the shopping list:
1. 10 gallon aquarium
2. Hood for aquarium; either incandescent (use screw in daylight LEDs or acintic white CFLs) or inflorescent, preferably with a pane of glass between tank and lights
3. 2 cpu fans w/ molex & ac/dc adapter; if you can find scythe fans, nab them; they're economical, durable and silent
4. Aquarium air pump & tubing
5. Aquarium air stone and back flow check valve
6. GFI power strip, preferably with a 10-12" cord & surge suppression
7. 24 hour 2 channel timer
You'll also need some 18 guage ss/galvanized wire and a pair of pliers--raid dad/moms tool kit

That should get you started; if you look around cl I'd bet you can grab a tank/hood cheapo
Please let us know if you need more suggestions...
Adam


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If your school has some sort of "for sale/trade" mailing list or system, it might be a good place to look for aquarium gear, as people leave and don't want the hassle of moving it.

(I sadly gave up on fish after leaving behind setups in three states....)

These are all mature plants you are growing together?

I would never have thought Mexipedium (often hot, dry) would grow in the same habitat as D. lindenii (very humid and hot/warm), but if it has been working for you - why not.

Ya, the Mexipedium is the odd one out there. From what I understand, it can tolerate a low humidity, but that would involve a closer eye as for when to water, etc. and in the wild I guess it tends to get humid at night for it. They're both growing just fine together, fortunately. Sometimes I'll bring the Mexipedium out of the greenhouse for the winter, and that's been working well, too. It seems like a pretty tolerant plant overall.


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