A Jungle for a Living Room

[Dimorphodon]

After moving to northern Kentucky in September 2015, I found that our winters were long and cold compared to South Carolina (not bad compared to, say, Minnesota, but I felt that SC was cold enough already, and the Ohio river valley seems frequently gray and overcast). So, I decided that we needed some plants and bright lights in our living room to cheer us up during our long, dismal winters. Instead of just growing orchids in pots, I decided to build a paludarium (like an aquarium/terrarium combination, with both water and land portions). The project mushroomed into a riverbank paludarium (you could also call it a riparium, although there are some differences between the two) with a waterfall, two sub-irrigated planters, and a small aquarium, complete with metal halide lights, a humidifier, a reverse osmosis filter, and an automated rain system. I visited Papua New Guinea years ago, and thought it was one of the most fascinating places on Earth anthropologically, linguistically, botanically, zoologically, tectonically, and in many other ways. So, all the plants and animals I got for our exhibit are from mainland New Guinea (the second-largest island on earth) or the surrounding islands (e.g. Solomon Islands). This album chronicles the process of building and growing the paludarium: Flickr

[wisdomseeker]

Very creative, and definitely some very nice 'eye candy'.

[Diane56Victor]

A lot of work but it looks great. Well done!

[Afid]

Dang, Now I want one.

[neophyte]

wow!!

[camille1585]

That look absolutely stunning!!
As I was reading your post (before opening the photo to full size) I was imagining something rather small, more like a table top paludarium. But it's actually even more wonderful than that! How much time did it take you to design, build and fill up?

I also really love the idea of sticking to plants/animals which all come from the same region, which you could realistically expect to find growing together. It's like having your own private slice of a real life ecosystem.

[Dimorphodon]

Originally Posted by camille1585

That look absolutely stunning!!
As I was reading your post (before opening the photo to full size) I was imagining something rather small, more like a table top paludarium. But it's actually even more wonderful than that! How much time did it take you to design, build and fill up?

I also really love the idea of sticking to plants/animals which all come from the same region, which you could realistically expect to find growing together. It's like having your own private slice of a real life ecosystem.

It took about 5-6 months of design and building before we got water in it, but I've made frequent changes since then...I like to tinker. It is a fun challenge to find orchids from the same area (at least the same general area...all my plants could not be found together on any one spot in New Guinea), and feels more realistic to me. That's why I went entirely with mounted orchids; I wanted to have a reasonably realistic picture of what I could actually see in PNG.

---------- Post added at 05:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:57 PM ----------

Originally Posted by rbarata

How do you deal with humidity and flying insects?

I have a couple dehumidifiers in the basement. In the winter when it's very dry, I actually run an ultrasonic humidifier. Flying insects have never really been a problem, aside from an episode with fungus gnats. I have carnivorous plants and a jumping spider now and then that may eat some of them.

---------- Post added at 06:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:59 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Roberta

That is spectacular. I am reminded of a business trip, many years ago, that took me to North Canton, Ohio in February - where everything outside was cold and gray or brown. The facility that i was visiting had an atrium with tropical plants (lit with grow-light floodlights) and I was so drawn to it to get my "green fix" . You have brought that concept into your house to create an oasis. Enjoy!

This was exactly what inspired our living room. Our first winter after moving north was miserable, and we so enjoyed a visit to Cincinnati's Krohn Conservatory that we decided to try to replicate the feeling. It's therapeutic.

[Dollythehun]

That is beyond amazing.

[DirtyCoconuts]

Masterfully done. I can’t wait to visit with the making of album.

Too cool. I too was expecting maybe a 100-300 gallon operation, this is a room!!

What a great escape!

[rbarata]

How do you deal with humidity and flying insects?