exoterra small orchid tank
 

hi all, finally decided to post a current pic of the terrarium and a plant list. its been going since may, and ive moved a few in and out, gone thru a fan or two, and the super cheap plastic hygrometer i bought and then never replaced it when it died. also had a tube putting mist in there in the mornings, but i pretty quickly stopped that, so that was sort of a waste of money. care is spray most of them each morning, with a total soaking and ferts on most weekend. occasionally i need to pull water out if it’s fertilize and flush week. otherwise, im just letting it go. I have a light about a foot above, with a bunch of plates on top of the tank giving shade. i cut some plastic cabinet liner to put over the screen and reduce water loss, seems to be working good so far.

most of them seemed fairly established if they’ve made it by now, but i just put the phal speciosum in there yesterday, so we’ll see how that does there. the lava burst did give me flowers, which were cool but i didn’t get pics. long lasting, about 8, and more orange than the pics online usually are. otherwise, there is a spike developing here and there, so hopefully i will follow up with some bloom photos.

list:
aerangis ellisii
bulbophylum catanulatum
barbosella handroi
dendro linguiforme
dendrophylax lindenii
diplopora truncata
chelostele maxima reginae
chilochista pusilla
dendro tetragoium giganteum
haraella retrocalla
how. lava burst
phal speciosum
sedirea japonica
tuberolabium kotoense

so that’s the current lineup on the field.

Beautiful!

thanks es! ive never had what i felt was the right spot in here for the braceana, otherwise it would have been in that pic. you’ve inspired me with how nice yours always looks. :bowing

just wait till you see my janky light and cover set up! prepare to be impressed :rofl:

ok, i edited in the glam shots for ya

ah, and this is why i need a notebook, im now thinking its sade whos always posting that braceana, no? or is that you, es? dang, yeah, i need to start writing crap down....

like i should have jept a list of the 4 or 5 orchids that died in this tank and where they were so i dont make the same mistake twice!!

I am the one with the Braceana.. hahaha
your tank looks good, definitely the lighting form out of space.

What is your lighting measurement in the tank, near the phals ?

light measurement in the tank?! :rofl:

that’s way above my pay grade for the terrarium. honestly after the first month i have no data on temp or humidity. and the little gauge i had never actually measured temp, as im pretty sure it wasn’t 70 f at all times. so honestly, i really have no clue what any of the levels are inside.

i do have access to a decent lux meter from the lab at work and i should sneak it out one night just to check.

pretty much straight away it was obvious i had gotten waaaaay too big a light fixture. the plants were all shrinking away. so, in cake the plates to provide some shade and after tinkering with it finally everything started getting happy again. but, soon the girl is gonna want that table ware back again, so at that point ill probly get serious about figuring out the light situation.

Ummm Ok then, you are the one complaining about not getting any blooms!

haha, absolutely true. but, there are several reasons behind my joke above. one is that the terrarium is sorta my own special thing, and so i need to be a bit more conscious of the funds i throw at it. so ive always intended to buy a nice digital system for it, but i need to save my own funds for such things! and also, ive actually gotten more blooms from the tank than we have outta the main house orchids, per capita. so far 4 of the species in the tank have bloomed since they have established. they weren’t great in 2 of the cases, but the others were nice flowers. so, im actually sort of chuffed at the success ive had with it just by going on my own senses....now it’s sort of become a personal joke/challenge. and, because im an idiot and inexperienced, i obvs need a new light. baby steps :biggrin:

ahh ok!! I thought the plants that didn't bloom for you were in there. If you have it under control you don't really need anything extra. A few of the best tanks I've seen and follow progress, are very basics with nothing sophisticated and the owners spray every day manually.

Keep it up with the saving! I should do the same....

yeah, its the house orchids that im trying to dial in a bit more on. patience is my problem...and perhaps a bump in temps, or at least cutting down on the drafts. i had a lepanthes, the only one of that species that was doing great in the tank and flowered wonderfully from a couple spikes. then our vaca came and our plant sitter admittedly forgot to spray the tank for nearly the whole 2 weeks. i lost that lepanthes from that...pretty much dead when i got home, and a mini paph with purple leaves. wasnt hiss fault, but he admitted it and felt bad and offered to replace the plants, but i said nah, i only want really tough things in there anyway so its like survival of the fittest up in there. might get another lepanthes tho one day