My Orchid Terrarium

[jacaranda_boy]

Hi. This is my orchid terrarium. Its been in the works now for about six months. I will make comments as I go, but fire away with questions.


This is the cabinet, a snake case I was lucky to get for $80 on ebay.


I started by painting the interior with 4 coats of pond liner paint to waterproof it.


I then began arranging cork and pots. As the wood was thick, I was able to nail the cork back to the wall to keep it in place.


Next came adding the expanding foam. I got a little heavy handed and added a lot at once, only to find it expanded a lot more than I thought it would. I should have added a little at a time, letting it set before adding more. Once it was set, I was able to cut the foam to shape.

 

[jacaranda_boy]

I used a beige silicone to cover the foam, cut into rock-like shapes. I then mushed a mix of 50% coarse pink sand, and 50% peat into it to give the illusion of rocks. I also drilled 2 x 2 inch wide holes in the bottom and siliconed plastic tubing into them for drains running to a bucket. Sorry, no pics.. I will take some.

 

[jacaranda_boy]

Lighting came with 6 x 12 volt high output caravan LEDs at 6500K. I ran 4 along the top and two down the front near the door. Air movement is from 1 x 12v waterproof, high flow computer fan on updraft.

 

[jacaranda_boy]

The media on the base is coarse hard orchid bark, over which the mosses have been layed. I have found it drains well enough in most places, except the very front. I have chosen plants that can take a lot of moisture for this area.

I treated all my collected moss with a medium pink mixture of Condys Crystals, dipping them for 1 minute and then letting them drain before placing the moss onto the bark, fake rocks or bark base.

The plants have been slowly added. Here are some pics as I added plants.

 

[jacaranda_boy]

I will post new pics soon

 

[DragonsEye]

Very nice!
How big is the terr?


What are "Condys Crystals" and what function do they serve?

Is the hub where all you lights come together a one piece 4 socket unit? Have never seen such, if that is the case.

Is the fan in the ceiling of the terr.?

Does your pump recirculate the water?

 

[Cactusdan]

That's beautiful j_b!

Do you have a list of species in the tank?

 

[jacaranda_boy]

Very nice! Thanks.. I am happy with its progress.
How big is the terr? The case it self is 100cm tall, and about 70cm x 70cm (take that loosely as it is hexagonal. The cabinet it sits on is 75cm tall.


What are "Condys Crystals" and what function do they serve? = Potassium permanganate, a treatment for tinea you can buy at the chemist. It kills snails, their eggs, and other insects that may inhabit moss. You add a tiny amount to a bucket of water to get a mid pink coloured solution and dip the moss in in for 30 seconds or so. Wear gloves or you will have pink to brown hands.

Is the hub where all you lights come together a one piece 4 socket unit? Have never seen such, if that is the case. I wired the lights myself to a 12v power source that was able to handle the Amps needed by all the lights. I bought it an an electronics supply store where they were able to look at my lights and say how many Amps the power source needed to give out to run them. I like 12v as it is safe in humid environments like this. Its not going to burn down the house if a light fails one day.

Is the fan in the ceiling of the terr.? The fan is mounted 1.5 inches away from the ceiling blowing up, so it sucks the air up from the bottom of the case and circulates it around the case. I will try to take a video of it later. It does not exit the case. The case is largely sealed apart from a few small wholes and I was not able to perfectly fit the door, so some air gets in that way, or when I open it to water daily..

Does your pump recirculate the water? There is no pump. Unless you mean the humidifier, in which case no. It has a reservior that I must fill daily.

.

 

[jacaranda_boy]

That's beautiful j_b!

Do you have a list of species in the tank?

These are the species I have in the case

Porroglossum dalstroemii, Trisetella triaristella, a Lepanthes keiki (its possibly gargoyla), Diplocaulobium chrycotropsis, Dracula hirsuta, Paphiopedilum barbigerum, Macroclinium manibinum, Amesiella monticola, Restrepia sp. Trichoceros onaensis x Telipogon thomasii, Trichosalpinx chamaelepanthes, Ceratocentron fesseli, and Thrixspermum merguense, Schoenorchis seidenfadenii, Paphiopedilum tranlienianum (seedling), a Comparettia sp (possibly macroplectron), Bulbophyllum pardalotum, Dendrobium cuthbertsonii (seedling), Trias picta, Dryadella aurea, Trichoceros antanifera, Epidendrum escobarianum (seedling), Restrepiella monetalis, Mexipedium xerophyticum, Paphiopedilum sangii, Dendrobium Aussie Hilo (3 seedlings), Scaphosepalum rapax, Paphiopedilum godefroyae, Paphiopedilum thaianum, Paphiopedilum argus, Zootrophion hirtzii, Phymatidium falcifolium, Paphiopedilum tonsum, Dracula bella 'Mount Ranier' AM/AOS, Haraella (Gastrochilus) retrocalla, Aerangis fastuosa, Lepanthes manibina, Barbosella cogniauxiana, Dracula hirziiI 'Blackie', Dracula vampira 'RT', Specklinia lanceola, Pleurothallis truncata, Paphiopedilum sp - not sure what it is until I bloom it, Trichosalpinx orbicularis, Anoectochilus formsanus, Anoectochilus roxburghii, Sarcochilus olivaceous, Maxillaria sophronitis, a Dracula hirtzii 'xanthina' seedling, Lepanthes telipoginiflora, Lepanthes sp (? wrong ID on flask, so waiting to ID it when it grows larger and blooms), Masdevallia ingridiana, Lepanthes felix and a Masdevallia sp. I have lost the tag for. I think I can still fit more in there

Non-orchids are Primulina tamiana, Tillandsia (Racinaea) dyeriana, Dionea muscipula 'Bristletooth' ,Dionea muscipula 'Freak/Cross Tooth' - Venus fly traps (not doing so well, may remove them), as well as Drosera burmanii and Drosera spatulatata (Sundews) catch any gnats from the moss. I have one Nepenthes sp. I cant recall what it is.. Will ask the friend who gave it to me.

My plant wish list - I need seed of Petrocosmea sp (looking for seeds). I think they will do well as the Primulina love it. Orchids,well I am looking at miniatures mostly as then I can get more in there. I am also wondering how a Cephalotus follicularis would do in there. Temps range from 18c night to 22c day at the moment. No idea how summer will take it, but our days rarely are over 32c where I live and it is cooler inside

 

[hcarlton]

I have always liked the look of planted terrariums....that one is a level above most though.

 

[jacaranda_boy]

I have always liked the look of planted terrariums....that one is a level above most though.

Thanks.. I also have a converted refrigerator that I keep at 11c night and 23c day for my cold growers and acting as a wardian case of sorts. I will take new pics as these are really old and the cases are full now, and make its own post.


My other case is an converted display cabinet for intermediate growers and runs about 19c night and 26c day with no heating or cooling.. I hope in summer it doesnt get too much warmer.. I was cooling it with a water chiller, fan radiator set up, but the chiller died. I plan to replace it with a fridge or make a fridge myself eventually. Money money money LOL.. Never enough. I will take new pics as these are really old and the cases are full now, and make its own post

 

[jacaranda_boy]

Here are some new photos of the terrarium

 

[jacaranda_boy]

A video of the fogger in action.

 

[bluemax]

Really gorgeous builds. It is nice to see how the plants have grown from the earlier photos.

I wasn't able to see the videos. Maybe the problem is in my browser.

 

[jacaranda_boy]

It seems Photobucket.com is not working well for me with videos.. I will try to find some other way to upload them.

Please try the new link above and see if that works