Mini Terrarium - Orchid Board

isurus79 · #1 02-19-2012, 09:10 PM

This is a little experiment of mine. I'm growing this plant attached to a tiny clay flower pot. The pot is inverted and placed in a bunch of LECA with a pool of water in the bottom. The water is wicked up to the clay pot, thus feeding the orchid. There is also a small Ghost Orchid (Poly. lindenii) on top and the green 'grass' is live spagnum moss. This might be a good way to grow small species that need high humidity in dry locations. I think I water this guy once a month or so. So far, so good.

Epidendrum schlechterianum by Isurus79, on Flickr

Closeup:

Epidendrum schlechterianum by Isurus79, on Flickr

Epidendrum schlechterianum by Isurus79, on Flickr

I will be doing more experiments in the future using upside down clay flower pots as s/h vessels.

Zoi2 · #2 02-19-2012, 10:39 PM

That's really cool, how big is your terrarium?
Joann

isurus79 · #3 02-19-2012, 10:56 PM

I knew I should have posted the dimensions! lol Its 7.5" tall and 4" wide.

ronaldhanko · #4 02-20-2012, 12:15 AM

Very nice - like to know how it does.

greenbean · #5 02-20-2012, 12:37 AM

Looks like one of those mini terrariums you find carnivorous plants being sold in.

I'll be interested to see how this does.

camille1585 · #6 02-20-2012, 03:13 AM

What a neat experiment! How long did it take for the sphagnum to grow that much? I had started my own experiment 2 years ago trying to grow sphag, but I wasn't too successful.

Discus · #7 02-20-2012, 03:24 AM

Camille - spag seems to relish humidity; I was trying to germinate some Drosera seeds (none but capensis germinated); after about 6 months or so, mosses and liverworts started growing in there; two of them started growing sphag. These were in closed ziplock bags (substrate a mix of (dry) spag, moss peat and perlite).

The other day, I opened the ziplock bag right up and pulled it down the side of the pot, leaving the top totally exposed. The sphag hated this and went crispy and brown on top.

---------- Post added at 10:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:23 AM ----------

I've also read that some people grow damp terrestrials in live sphag - here's an article on growing Disa this way:
Orchids

camille1585 · #8 02-20-2012, 03:26 AM

I had my sphag in transparent boxes so humidity was high. I had a layer of dead sphag at the bottom and planted live sphag cuttings into it, and kept every thing wet with distilled water. But I think the problem was that my cuttings were not very alive, and I was attempting this in the winter, so not enough light.

RosieC · #9 02-20-2012, 06:16 AM

Really cool! Hope it does well for you, great experiment.

isurus79 · #10 02-20-2012, 10:15 AM

Thanks everyone! I will definitely update this thread as things move along. I think my next task will be to 'mow the lawn' and trim back some spag! lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenbean

Looks like one of those mini terrariums you find carnivorous plants being sold in.

You're right on the money with that! I didn't want to throw away such a cool little clear and sturdy box, so I figured I would do something fun with it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by camille1585

What a neat experiment! How long did it take for the sphagnum to grow that much? I had started my own experiment 2 years ago trying to grow sphag, but I wasn't too successful.

This spag has been growing like that for less than 6 months. I didn't start with much, but it has grown like crazy ever since. I think having it under artificial light has helped it grow quite a bit. There are clay LECA balls at the bottom of the terrarium, so I put only live spag down there to get it started. I also did some other experiments with an open topped container and the spag is still alive and growing, but nothing like what you see with this container. High humidity is pretty crucial for the spag.