Plans for greenhouse as XXL terrarium: feedback please

[tropterrarium]

I am growing orchids in a 90 gal terrarium, but want to supersize that, hence, I ponder the idea of a small greenhouse. I want to create a diorama with some fake rock, some soil/expanded clay, lots of large natural wood branches (not benches, wire racks). Intermediate-warm with pleurothallid alliance emphasis.

- Any recommendation for books, web-sources?

- Location: southern California (32-110F), NW facing, reasonably sunny (not full sun, more than semishade), still on slab of house, adjacent to house, one side along full-height window front (greenhouse will be like giant terrarium to be viewed also from inside of house).
- Freestanding GH from Kit size 9x4' to 9x12' (so rather small). I don't like the idea of very moist environment in direct contact to our wood-frame house, so a lean-to house does not seem right.
- GH source. Santa Barbara Greenhouses Deluxe version (Deluxe Kits. Redwood Greenhouse Kits, Greenhouses for the Home Gardener). Yes, expensive, but wood construction will permit to attach branches etc more flexibly than metal construction. Any opinion on SB GH? Anything else to consider for my purpose?
- Ground insulation: not necessary, because we live in southern California. Correct, or crucial error?
- Water source. Thus far use bottled distilled water, which is not feasible on the larger scale. Thinking about DI-column, or 2/3 step drinking water filter (active carbon +++), run from outdoor water tap. Any thoughts?
- Watering with automated spray (e.g., MistKing). Luckily, there is an outdoor drain right over the spot where I want to put the GH.
- Feeding: manually.
- Humidity control with automatic probe and ultrasonic fogger. Target at 50-80%.
- Temperature control, down: 1) fogger and airflow. 2) small AC unit: any suggestions? how big/strong?
- Temperature control up: ??? something electric, like a space heater. But because of water/moisture either external, or some special construction. Any suggestions?
- Air movement. Need advice on extractor fan vs. internal fans.
- Light: natural light should be enough, if anything too much, so possibly add some shade cloth. Correct?
- Anything I forgot to take into consideration?

Thank you in advance for any feedback and suggestions.

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[johnblagg]

how about a small ro system for the water.If you are going wit automatic mister that would help with preventing clogging tips ect as well as mineral deposits .....internal fans would help with maitaining humidity and temp ...but ocassionaly you do need air exchange so a vent fan would be good on a manual switch.

[Gin]

I would go with a evaporative aka swamp cooler they do a great job of cooling where you are with out drying the air ,cooling will be the main problem I moved here from there and have seen it 109 in the shade . Sounds nice ..

[tropterrarium]

John: RO system is certainly an option. Is it better than a DI column? The drinking water filters are not removing all the mineral content, so that could lead to problems.

Gin: Swamp coolers seem to be able to do the job with lowering Temp to 78F. I get conflicting info on whether misting with good airflow (>1 volume change/minute) would do the same job as a swamp cooler. As I need a mister and a good fan anyway, why add also a swamp cooler? SoCal has pretty dry air in summer. Any experiences, anyone?

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[johnblagg]

I was just looking up di columns and realy did not find much on them yet ...I dont know how well the work compared to r/o actually ....

[tropterrarium]

I know DI column from molecular biology labs. They are used as a pre-filtration before the water goes into a distilling unit. They are cylinders of various sizes/capacity with filled with ion-exchange resin. Water goes in at one end, out the other.
Pros: no waste water, no limit on short-term demand.
Cons: filter quality declines with time, and has to be replaced/exchanged after a while.