Orchidarium Experiments #1
I finally collected most of the junk I need to set up my orchid terrarium.
I’ve been slowly (lazily) gathering pieces and researching how to do this for about 2 years.
Actually, my biggest problem has been futzing around and being confused about what kind of lights to get. If I had more initiative I would have finished this a while ago.
Most of the forum posts I’ve read that discuss/argue over what kind of lights to grow under basically just look like, “blah blah blah SOME NUMBERS AND LETTERS blah blah,” to me.
Anyhow, today I consider the official ‘setting up’ day.
Equipment:
- Exo Terra Glass Terrarium (PT-2612 - 24"W x 18"D x 24"H) (oo it's so pretty. and the bottom 4" are sealed/waterproof, which is perfect.)
- 1 Exo Terra Compact Fluorescent Terrarium Canopy (PT-2227 - 23.6" x 3.5" x 7.8")
- 3 Sun Glo Neodymium Daylight Lamp/Bulbs - 25W
- AquaLight Cooling Fan Kit - 3.125" - 12V
- Acu-Rite 00891 Digital Hygrometer/Thermometer
- Hydrofarm Digital Light Meter (measures in footcandles, thankfully.)
- a whole lot of Terra-Lite substrate (a type of light expanded clay aggregate - LECA)
The first thing I did was figure out how the top fit onto the terrarium. It just sits on top. So easy. I need to get a piece of glass to fit into the existing screen top since the bulb fixture can’t be exposed to any water/humidity.
I put the bulbs in (the top holds three), turned it on. It works. Super.
Light test: FAIL. The brightest the light gets (1” under the bulb) is about 150 footcandles (fc). At the bottom of the tank is about 11 fc.
The minimum light requirement for low-light orchids starts around 1000 fc.
I’m mostly going to be growing low-medium light/high humidity miniature orchids in the terrarium.
I need much brighter bulbs!! I may have to try compact fluorescent bulbs and get a heating pad, in addition to another light canopy.
I left the hygrometer sitting under the bulbs for about 20 minutes and the temperature didn’t exceeded 72 degrees F. It needs to be closer to 80 when the lights are on.
Hmm. More work to do.
Here’s an informative forum post on light requirements: http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/orchids/2003011119000930.html
This is the place that I get a lot of terrarium junk from:
http://www.blackjungle.com/
I’ve traveled out to the store (it’s in Western Mass). They sell and collect poison dart frogs. When one walks into the store, there is about 100 or so tanks (their personal collection) full of froggies in all stages of growth from eggs sitting on a leaf to full adults. So Cute!
I’ve been slowly (lazily) gathering pieces and researching how to do this for about 2 years.
Actually, my biggest problem has been futzing around and being confused about what kind of lights to get. If I had more initiative I would have finished this a while ago.
Most of the forum posts I’ve read that discuss/argue over what kind of lights to grow under basically just look like, “blah blah blah SOME NUMBERS AND LETTERS blah blah,” to me.
Anyhow, today I consider the official ‘setting up’ day.
Equipment:
- Exo Terra Glass Terrarium (PT-2612 - 24"W x 18"D x 24"H) (oo it's so pretty. and the bottom 4" are sealed/waterproof, which is perfect.)
- 1 Exo Terra Compact Fluorescent Terrarium Canopy (PT-2227 - 23.6" x 3.5" x 7.8")
- 3 Sun Glo Neodymium Daylight Lamp/Bulbs - 25W
- AquaLight Cooling Fan Kit - 3.125" - 12V
- Acu-Rite 00891 Digital Hygrometer/Thermometer
- Hydrofarm Digital Light Meter (measures in footcandles, thankfully.)
- a whole lot of Terra-Lite substrate (a type of light expanded clay aggregate - LECA)
The first thing I did was figure out how the top fit onto the terrarium. It just sits on top. So easy. I need to get a piece of glass to fit into the existing screen top since the bulb fixture can’t be exposed to any water/humidity.
I put the bulbs in (the top holds three), turned it on. It works. Super.
Light test: FAIL. The brightest the light gets (1” under the bulb) is about 150 footcandles (fc). At the bottom of the tank is about 11 fc.
The minimum light requirement for low-light orchids starts around 1000 fc.
I’m mostly going to be growing low-medium light/high humidity miniature orchids in the terrarium.
I need much brighter bulbs!! I may have to try compact fluorescent bulbs and get a heating pad, in addition to another light canopy.
I left the hygrometer sitting under the bulbs for about 20 minutes and the temperature didn’t exceeded 72 degrees F. It needs to be closer to 80 when the lights are on.
Hmm. More work to do.
Here’s an informative forum post on light requirements: http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/orchids/2003011119000930.html
This is the place that I get a lot of terrarium junk from:
http://www.blackjungle.com/
I’ve traveled out to the store (it’s in Western Mass). They sell and collect poison dart frogs. When one walks into the store, there is about 100 or so tanks (their personal collection) full of froggies in all stages of growth from eggs sitting on a leaf to full adults. So Cute!