Minis for a dorm room living wall - Orchid Board

Fishkeeper · #1 06-14-2017, 05:00 PM

Build thread is here:
Miniature living wall build thread! - Dendroboard

Essentially, it's a living wall made of a type of expanding foam frequently used in dart frog habitats. Over that is Hygrolon, a type of plastic foam designed to wick water. It functions something like an artificial moss. There's a reservoir of water underneath that the mesh dips into, keeping it constantly moist.
I also have a deer skull on which to place plants that like drier roots, but it used to be an aquarium decoration, so it's sealed with acrylic. May as well be a plastic skull for the purposes of the plants. Won't leach anything weird.
The whole setup is 12" across and about 14" high, so it needs very small plants.

The best light I can have over this is a reading lamp with a 100w equivalent LED bulb. It puts out 1680 lumens at 5000K, and I can put it very close to a portion of the wall.

I'm hoping there are a couple of types of small orchid that would grow well on here. Any thoughts?

Requirements:
Likes its roots to be constantly moist, or
Would grow on something inorganic (skull is sealed w/ acrylic) and do well with dry roots and daily misting
Will grow well mounted or 'planted' with its roots wrapped in mesh
Low-light
Doesn't need high ambient humidity
Tolerant of typical household temperatures
Mini (entire plant 4" across or less, or, if clumping, individual pseudobulb+leaf units 3" long or less)
Not a heavy feeder

Cool but not required:
Strange-looking flowers
Mini-mini (entire plant less than 2" across, or individual units 1.5" or less)
Looks like a tiny version of a larger orchid, i.e. recognizable as an orchid by relative laypersons

Also, any suggestions on how to fertilize the plants on this? I'm hoping to find a way that would keep part of the Hygrolon completely fertilizer-free. I'm going to keep a Pinguicula on one part of the wall to eat any potential fungus gnats, and Pings can't stand fertilizers. Maybe liquid orchid fertilizer spritzed around various plants, then a rinse around the Ping to be sure the mesh around it doesn't have anything unpleasant?

Fishkeeper · #2 06-14-2017, 11:16 PM

I've gone to the Andy's Orchids website, which has a really good search feature that lets you filter orchids by things like size, light requirements, and water requirements. After fiddling with the search and doing some Googling, I have a few orchids I'm considering. Can anyone give me some advice on whether they'd be suitable? Or maybe some suggestions?

1: Haraella odorata
2: Ceratostylis pleurothallis (sp. mini Cambodia)
3: Stelis hirtzii
4: Bulbophyllum catenulatum
5: Masdevallia minuta
6: Bulbophyllum alagense large form

rtbaum · #3 06-14-2017, 11:52 PM

Orchids on a deer skull?!......inconceivable! Counter clockwise from upper left Leptotes bicolor, Phal. bellina, Phal. manni, Dendrobium cucumerium....oh, yeah and a Noid Phal in the background (ignore it, it follows me where ever I go). Tolumnia may be an option, if you have enough light in a window.

Fishkeeper · #4 06-17-2017, 02:53 PM

Those are pretty cool, but I think a bit too big.

Anyone else have any suggestions, or any input on the ones I listed?

Fishkeeper · #5 06-19-2017, 08:22 PM

Updated pic with edited Hygrolon structure and added plants! See the build thread (linked in the first post) to get plant info.

The lower part of the wall stays wetter than the upper part, now that I have the water in. The top is just barely damp, and it gets wetter the further down you go. The top will work fairly well for orchids that like to be watered just before they dry out, and the bottom will be good for ones that like having constantly wet roots.

Any input on whether jewel orchids would do well on here?

Any species suggestions?

Input on the species I listed above?