Phals in vivarium with automated misting - Orchid Board

borneotransplant · #1 07-25-2021, 10:06 AM

I see pictures of small orchids like Pleurothallis, Bulbophyllums, Scaposephalums, Paphiopedillums, Dendrobium etc and these are all soaking wet and are living their best life in enclosures.

Can this work for Phals, or Vandas? I feel like they would just rot. Or are vivariums and enclosures suitable for the small orchids that needs constant moisture only?

If you want to keep Phals inside a viv together with the other orchids mentioned above, what would you need to do?

I imagine the wild Phals would accidentally get their crown wet. How are they still alive?

SADE2020 · #2 07-25-2021, 10:34 AM

I have a terrarium with a bunch of Phals, but mini species that require more moisture than normals hybrids. Also, the way the Phals are set; with roots in the open air without medium allows them to dry fast and adapt to the humidity level. I'll say that almost all orchids adapt at the end..made them flowering is more challenging due to the light source and temperature. Just need Phals closer to the lights.

I don't have Vandas in a tank.

Go for it. Is fun.

Shadeflower · #3 07-25-2021, 11:42 AM

It should work for phals but vanda's probably not.
Phals in the wild grow sideways hanging so water runs out of the crown. You'd have to replicate this by attaching the phal to a clay mount so it hangs with the crown facing downwards. It needs to be a fast drying mount.

One important thing to note though is that the reason orchids in a terrarium always look freshly watered is because most likely they have. If someone takes a picture, they will water their orchids at the same time. It just makes sense to do it at that time so they will always look wet on the picture but they will dry out in between.

borneotransplant · #4 07-25-2021, 01:56 PM

Why can't it work with Vandas?

If you attach Vandas bare root on a branch, won't that work?

Shadeflower · #5 07-25-2021, 02:19 PM

Vanda's are the trickiest to keep happy in my experience but I am sure it can be done.

Vanda's like a big soak and then lots of air to dry off the roots so that is why I think it might be tricky for Vanda's but I don't know enough about them, all I know is their roots are easier to lose than on a dendrobium for example if you don't get it right. Just dunking and drying off is fairly simple and that works so if it works like that , sometimes its best to leave the plant with what it likes but again that just my opinion more than anything when it comes to vanda's. There are posts mentioning vanda'ss suffering from too much rain. It can happen easily with vanda's probably more so than a lot of other orchids that you mentioned so for vanda's getting sprayed too much will add no benefit and in my opinion could be detrimental.

Mr.Fakename · #6 07-25-2021, 03:17 PM

Regarding Phal, let's keep in mind that they (almost) all live in monsoon forests, with humidity above 80% all year round. They get wet, and they stay wet.

Last year when I was trying plant probiotics for the first time, I made a test with some Phal venosa seedlings.
They were in closed jars with 100% humidity and no air movement, just opening the caps for a few minutes daily.
They never ever dried, and were very happy about that.

Beneficial fungi and bacteria were very important to avoid root rot though; plants that were treated pulled through the experiment better than untreated ones.