Terrarium conditions - avoiding mold

[Ray]

Mold is ubiquitous. The stuff on the wood slab is decomposing the long-since dead tissue.

That said, the high humidity and temperature in the tank are probably the factors supporting the mold growth. As you want to maintain the humidity, creating some air movement might mitigate it somewhat, but probably won’t eliminate it.

A treatment with a disinfectant would likely work, but only temporarily.

This is a total shot in the dark, but have you considered applying a plant probiotic? Some contain bacterial that predate other bacteria and molds, or secrete antibiotics that prevent their growth, so it might be worth trying.

[OrchKid]

Originally Posted by Ray

Mold is ubiquitous. The stuff on the wood slab is decomposing the long-since dead tissue.

That said, the high humidity and temperature in the tank are probably the factors supporting the mold growth. As you want to maintain the humidity, creating some air movement might mitigate it somewhat, but probably won’t eliminate it.

A treatment with a disinfectant would likely work, but only temporarily.

This is a total shot in the dark, but have you considered applying a plant probiotic? Some contain bacterial that predate other bacteria and molds, or secrete antibiotics that prevent their growth, so it might be worth trying.

Thanks for the quick response, Ray!

The isolation tank actually has a fan, but because it's much smaller than the terrarium and the mister is a human the conditions are definitely not well-controlled.

So it sounds like the possibilities are
1 - probiotics, and/or
2 - putting the Dendrochillum in its own environment (not a biggie; still have glass containers from pre-Exoterra experiments). I can nab the secondary fan I'm using in the isolation tank, so just have to figure out a good way to raise the humidity and rig decent lighting.
OR
3 - taking the 'chillum off the mount and remounting it on something new. THAT (at least, unmounting) is the basic reason I lost the first one!!!

If I put it into it's own environment:
- can I use live sphagnum in the container (I'm getting some for a separate experiment, likely this month)?
- will the mold eventually "grow itself out" - as in one day I can put the Dendrochillum into the terrarium with no worries?

And what do I look for in a probiotic? (P.S. - just found the probiotics article on your website, so reading it now. )

===============

Just to add - this is a bit of a disappointment, as part of reason for the second Dendrochillum was to see if the terrarium would fix what I did wrong before.