Thinking of orchidarium build/setup.

[garysan]

Ok, so having had a big argument with the wife on Sunday about my 4 orchids in the kitchen and one in the bedroom, I've moved forward (time-wise) my thinking of having a orchidarium/terrarium to house them in as obviously 5 potted plants on windowsills is such a bloody eyesore...

I'd been mulling over using one of Exo-Terra's large & x-tall vivariums as a basis and having the matching hood with 4 lamps in it (pretty much identical to what this guy has done over at theorchidforum:

http://www.orchidforum.eu/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=6776

The vivarium itself is 90h x 90w x 45d and has glass all round except for lid which is mesh and virtually the entire front opens out (double doors) for ease of access.

I was planning on setting it up with the lamps and seeing what sort of temps I was getting before anything else (the OP in the above link describes the CFL bulbs he uses as hardly giving off any heat). I would imagine the temp in there would be perhaps 2-3 degrees C more than the room it is in with RH being controlled by daily misting and the opening/closing of the remaining top section of mesh which I intend to have a removable cover for. For airflow, I'll have two 14cm waterproof fans going, powered by a six fan variable controller I've got my eye on (this also covers for future expansion (please see below)).

At present I have a couple of Phrags (but intend to get a few more) and most likely some Paphs too at some point in the future. I also have a couple of supermarket Phals which will likely stay out and about on windowsills whilst in bloom but will likely go in the orchidarium for periods when there's no flowers on them and something that *is* in bloom will come out for 'display purposes'.

I'd be interested to hear peoples' thoughts/suggestions on anything I may have missed or should be mindful of going forward with this project.

What she doesn't know is that if I put this together and it works well, I'll know exactly what I need to buy another one to go above it when the time comes around :evil:

 

[Justin]

looks like a great option but i would not keep mass produced phals in an enclosed environmemt with any more valuable orchids as they have a reputation for carrying virus.

keep us posted!

 

[Ray]

I built a "seedling nursery" in my basement using a hydroponic ebb & flow tray (3' x 6'), and some foil-faced foam insulation board (to save weight), held together with duct tape. If I was to move it elsewhere in the home, I'd have painted it and used plastic profiles for the corners to "pretty it up". I bought some plastic slides and plate glass for the window/doors.

Lighting is provided by two Philips Production Modules, red/blue LED strips and several of my white LED lamps. There is a Mist-King fogger to moisten the plants first thing in the morning, and boost the humidity a couple times a day, and I fertilize manually with a pump up sprayer.

I am considering expanding it vertically, adding a 400W LED lamp, and moving a lot of mini's into it.

 

[NYEric]

Ok, so having had a big argument with the wife on Sunday about my 4 orchids in the kitchen and one in the bedroom...

Why, does she hate houseplants?

 

[phraggy]

I think phrags may get a little too large for this type of set-up.

Ed

 

[naoki]

Don't you have enough humidity in Lincolnshire? If not (and if your main goal is to raise humidity), grow tents are one of the cheaper ways (other than making enclosures like Ray) to get a bigger space than glass enclosures. Or aquarium vertical conversion is cheaper than ExoTerra in general.

 

[garysan]

I think phrags may get a little too large for this type of set-up.

Ed

I did think about this but how high do they generally get when in spike? I've measured my Ainsworthii which is on its 5th or 6th bloom and it's at 58cm from bottom of pot to tip of newest bud - so at least another 20cm to go (allowing for a 10cm substrate/suspended egg crate base thingy). Or did you mean large as in leaf volume/area?

Don't you have enough humidity in Lincolnshire? If not (and if your main goal is to raise humidity), grow tents are one of the cheaper ways (other than making enclosures like Ray) to get a bigger space than glass enclosures. Or aquarium vertical conversion is cheaper than ExoTerra in general.

It's not humidity I'm after as such, that's more of a by-product. I need somewhere I can keep my orchids. The Exo-Terra is pretty attractive when compared to a grow tent and doesn't look too out of place in a spare room. Potentially takes up less space too.

I'd like to have a look at what 'Ray' has done - can you provide a linky? Thanks

 

[garysan]

Why, does she hate houseplants?

She likes houseplants, she just doesn't like three or four of them lined up in the kitchen window. Plus she is well aware of my modus operandi.... Three or four is very unlikely to be the end of it...

 

[cnycharles]

Ah; she has read the tea leaves in the bottom of your cup, and sees lots more (orchid) leaves in the very near future

 

[naoki]

Here is Ray's enclosure:
https://www.orchidsforum.com/threads/basement-incubator.13893/

 

[NYEric]

Get a light set-up in a separate room, i.e. domestic bliss!

 

[garysan]

Get a light set-up in a separate room, i.e. domestic bliss!

It needs to be a self-contained unit really... It might 'grow' into using most of a room in the future but for the time being, it needs to be tidy

 

[Ozpaph]

Get a light set-up in a separate room, i.e. domestic bliss!

or a new wife................................:rollhappy:

 

[NYEric]

Wouldn't be the first time!

 

[garysan]

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[garysan]

I'm about ready to order the terrarium itself and have sorted the fans out to keep the air fresh and moving within. The lid is mesh but I'll most likely remove this to give very best light output from the CFL canopy and have a sliding acrylic part to adjust the ventilation (canopy only takes up one half of the viv's lid space).

I was planning on ordering Ecozone CFL Daylight bulbs for the canopy (holds 4 of them) and was wondering is there anything else I should be looking at as an alternative?

I want to use CFL's as that's what the Exo Terra fitted canopy uses and because of neatness, that's the canopy I'm going to use. I realise there are other 'Daylight' CFL bulbs, some more expensive than others (in particular the Exo Terra Daylight ones) but would be keen to hear of other people's experience/knowledge of bulbs. I believe the Ecozone Biobulbs I'm planning on getting are 25w (canopy max is 26w). Cost is a bit secondary to 'best for the plants' if you know what I mean.

I plan to change them each year as per this thread:

http://www.orchidforum.eu/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=6776

This guy is using pretty much the same setup as I've been putting together actually...