Mini Terrarium Almost complete

[jcmiami]

Hello all,

Thank you for all your support over the past couple of weeks. I finally got the right size terrarium for my needs. I will be growing mainly Schoenorchis Fragrans and here is the tank.. its 12" by 18"tall...

I have a 27watt daylight bulb and a 23 watt reddish soft white bulb. The bulbs are CFL's (spirals).

The humidity is at 85%

Temperature has not gone over 80f (the double fans work great... is this too cold or hot ?

I have not been able to find much information on the care of these little guys .... other then not to have water on the leaves to avoid rott and they prefer a humidity/light spray type watering... --- IF ANYONE HAS INFORMATION ON CARE, please share ...

here is the picture ... any thoughts comments opinions and suggestions are welcome as always.

THANK YOU OB!

[Becca]

Wow are all those up close to the light Schoenorchis fragrans? I'm still trying to figure out the lighting for mine, but I get water on mine all the time, leaves and all, and I don't have any problems what so ever with rot!

[jcmiami]

Yes they are... I'm fascinated with them... i don't know if that is too much light for them or not... it's rather difficult to find information on them...

All of mine seemed to just have recently bloomed, however i have read on other forums that they bloom often ... i'm not sure if that's accurate.

[DelawareJim]

JC;

I grow mine in a south facing window sill during the winter and hang it outside on an east facing deck rail in the summer. It gets watered twice a week indoors, once with 125 ppm MSU and once with tap or RO. Outside it gets 3-4 watering per week.

Temps are 60 night to 68 daytime during the winter and ambient air temps the rest of the year when it's either outside or the windows are open.

Being Vandaceous, mine resents being wet too long. I made the mistake of giving mine an MSU soak overnight when I got doing too many things around the house at once and forgot about it. I lost about 2/3 to 3/4 of it within a day or 2. I was just sick about it because it had bloomed for the first time for me about a month earlier and now it's smaller than when I got it.

Cheers.
Jim

[trdyl]

Looking good.

[jcmiami]

Jim,

Thanks for the tips. At least yours already bloomed. You know whatever you were doing was right!!

Do you know how often they are supposed to / can bloom?

[PleuroPal]

Mine has bloomed twice so far in the last year. It's in bloom now and I think the last time was around May or June. The care info that came with it (from Andy's) says they like temps between 60 and 95 degrees F. Mine is in a SE window during the winter and hangs outside on the same side of the house in the summer. I've had no problem watering it completely, leaves and all, and I do it every day.

[jcmiami]

Ray,

Thank you for sharing the conditions of your success. With that information it seems like I am doing everything right so far... all I have to keep an eye on is the lighting .. i hope the 45 watts CFL's are good enough .. maybe i'll double it to 90watts or so if I see a need to ...

[PleuroPal]

JC,

I think you'll do fine. What was it that turned you on to this species in particular? I see you have several of them, and I take it that this little terrarium project is primarily for their benefit.

[jcmiami]

their size... i saw one years ago at the S. Fla Orchid Show... and I decided to do some research and went along with this terrarium project.

I couldn't find where to buy them and since day one the OB has assisted me and I bought them at RF Orchids

I just hope it works with the lighting I have. That has to have been the hardest part. I couldn't find out what was too much or too little especially for a small terrarium like mine.

I have Phals all over the house landscape and other orchids .... I wanted to try something small and have fun with them