On building the perfect case
 

Hi all,

I have finally gotten around to setting up a case, and have moved some of my species over into it.

The case is made from an Ikea glass cabinet (which are common these days).

I'd like to ask for recommendations on a generalist environment. That is, if you could pick any culture conditions for the case, what would they be? - to accommodate the widest range of species possible

Now, this might be an unpalatable question for some, as that would depend on what is being grown.

Nevertheless, I have only a small amount of space available to me (no basement), so I need to make the most of it.

Currently, the temp drop is from 74 during the day to 60 at night. And about 80-85% humidity.

The brightest region of the upper case is probably "full shade," but I'm adding another light soon that will increase the available lumens as well as focus light down into the lower part of the case for a more even distribution.

I am quite handy with electronics and control systems. So, almost anything is possible.

-FR

In my opinion, I suggest instead of going for a generalist environment, pick orchids that are miniatures, fairly low light requirement and doesn't require too much temperature drop. Depending on where this ikea case located, there might not be enough temperature drop

Is that a brassavola? If it is, they require high light levels like cattleya. You might not be able to bloom them indoors and it is at the bottom which further away from the light.

Thanks. The temp drop can be as much as 75 to 55 during the winter.

Yes there is one Brassavola there. But I have since added a 40W horticultural pendant LED that triples the amount of light in the lower half of the case. 95W LED total.

I recognize that a generalist case may be difficult to accomplish. Nevertheless right now all the plants inside are doing well. I water once daily with a mister. Three of my plants are currently flowering, however the flowering process has been slow and, I may be wrong, but one seems to have spiked but is hesitant to actually bloom.

That temperature range tracks with "Intermediate" as a description of temperature range. And includes a lot of orchids. If you're into species, take a look at Andy's Orchids and search for Intermediate or Intermediate to Cool. You'll find a lot more orchids than you have room for.... lots to choose from. Have fun!

There's no one set of conditions that will work for everything, but you don't have room for "everything" anyway. So just pick those that will be happy under your conditions. Which is a LOT.