# My "Orchidarium"



## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

Not sure if "orchidarum" is actually a real word, never the less, here's some pictures of it


















_Bulbophyllum purpurascens_









_Rhododendron sp. _


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## Dendroguy (Dec 4, 2010)

Nice! May I ask how long have you been into orchids?

D


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## Jeff R (Jul 1, 2005)

Whats the story with the rhody?


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

Dendroguy said:


> Nice! May I ask how long have you been into orchids?
> 
> D


Thanks!
Not that long, I've been intrested for like two years or so, but I bought most of my miniatures this summer.





Jeff R said:


> Whats the story with the rhody?


Not sure what you want to know?
Most people think of rhododendrons as garden plants, thought there are many tropical species (mostly epiphytes) from SE Asia/Austraila that will thrive in a vivarium.
This one is from south china I think, not sure if it will work long term, bur I thought I'd give it a try.


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## ICS523 (Mar 10, 2012)

I was gonna ask about that too. I have that in my Minneapolis garden outside, its neat because its an evergreen and it has leaves as soon as the snow melts. don't think its tropical, but it would be cool to get a rodedendron that was.


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

_Bulbophyllum cernuum_









_Bulbophyllum makoyanum_









_Bulbophyllum sp._?


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Beautiful!!

Do you have fans or something for air circulation? If not, I think the orchids would appreciate it. They like it humid but nice and airy


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

Thanks man
Yes, I have a small computer fan that's running all day. But i'm considering running it like 20 minutes every three or four hours or something like that, i just have to get another timer.

Not only is it good for the plants, it also makes it possible to look inside the tank (takes away condensation on the doors)


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## skanderson (Aug 25, 2011)

the tropical rhododendrons are in section Vireya. the spelling may be off on that. most of them seem to grow to about 6 to 12 feet tall, so that may get a bit big. i have been tempted to try a smaller variety in my viv. they also differ in theyre temperature tolerance so you need to research a bit to get a variety that will work well.


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## Giga (Mar 31, 2011)

whered you get Bulbophyllum purpurascens I like that orchid


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## Dendroguy (Dec 4, 2010)

Glad to see another 'Orchid person' on the boards, if you have any questions about them id be happy to answer them!

D


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

skanderson said:


> the tropical rhododendrons are in section Vireya. the spelling may be off on that. most of them seem to grow to about 6 to 12 feet tall, so that may get a bit big. i have been tempted to try a smaller variety in my viv. they also differ in theyre temperature tolerance so you need to research a bit to get a variety that will work well.


Yes they can get pretty big, but they don't grow very fast and should be easy to to keep in manageable size by regular pruning. This is a first for me though so I guess time will tell.



Giga said:


> whered you get Bulbophyllum purpurascens I like that orchid


I got it from a place here in Sweden, not much help to you i'm afraid


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

Dendroguy said:


> Glad to see another 'Orchid person' on the boards, if you have any questions about them id be happy to answer them!
> 
> D


Thanks man! That's a very kind offer, i'll be sure to take you up on that
In fact, I have a question for you right now.
One thing I've been wondering about is the light, when I read about my bulbos I see that many of them grow in shade, but I'm pretty sure that there's a big difference in shade from the sun and shade from a cfl? I've been hesitant to place any orchids in the upper 1/3 of the tank, thinking it might be too bright for them.

I guess what I'm asking is, how much light can they take? (I understand this differs from spicies to spicies, but there might be some general advice?)


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## dneafse (Nov 1, 2006)

Sammie,

That tropical Rhododendron sp. bears a very strong resemblance to Japanese pachysandra, a common shady groundcover in temperate regions:

Pachysandra terminalis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Are you sure the ID is correct on that one?

Dan


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

dneafse said:


> Sammie,
> 
> That tropical Rhododendron sp. bears a very strong resemblance to Japanese pachysandra, a common shady groundcover in temperate regions:
> 
> ...


I got the cutting from a friend who said it was a rhododendron, I didn't question it. But you're right, it looks like _Pachysandra terminalis_.
Bummer, I was really happy to get it
Thanks though.


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## drutt (Oct 4, 2011)

Tack för länken ja fick av dig, mycket inspererande bygge han gör Illustrador..man vill bara bygga om sitt terrarium hela tiden när man sett hans.. Maste säga att ditt bygge e riktigt bra. Jag har sett fler svenskar här o alla e riktigt duktiga..


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## Mantellaprince20 (Aug 25, 2004)

Sammie said:


> One thing I've been wondering about is the light, when I read about my bulbos I see that many of them grow in shade, but I'm pretty sure that there's a big difference in shade from the sun and shade from a cfl? I've been hesitant to place any orchids in the upper 1/3 of the tank, thinking it might be too bright for them.
> 
> I guess what I'm asking is, how much light can they take? (I understand this differs from spicies to spicies, but there might be some general advice?)


The term "shade" growing is very misleading. I usually go to orchidspecies.com for my culture, which for Bublo cernuum, it says partial shade. For me, that typically means anywhere from 600 + foot candles, which is about what you will get 3-4 inches under your CF's (unless you are running higher wattage). I typically run 2 bulb T5HO lights for my orchids and have found that from 1-6" is where higher light loving orchids grow best, 6-10 inches is my "partial shade" growers, and 8-16" is my "full shade" growers like most of the zootrophions, several pleurothallids and lepanthes, etc. So I would place pretty much any bulbophyllum in the upper strata of your viv, however the purpurascens is listed as a full shade plant, so I would keep that one a little lower.

The other misleading thing about "shade" is that in a viv, you really don't want to provide shading for these plants, so make sure they have an unobstructed view of the lights . If you notice the leaves starting to bleach out a little or produce a lot of red pigmentation, then they are probably getting a little too much light.

ed


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

This is such a nice little setup.



Sammie said:


>


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## Styx (Oct 25, 2008)

I have a couple of questions for you.

First, how do you have that little fan set up to circulate the air in the tank? Second, is that tree fern you're using for your background?


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

Styx said:


> I have a couple of questions for you.
> 
> First, how do you have that little fan set up to circulate the air in the tank? Second, is that tree fern you're using for your background?


The fan is mounted on the inside of the tank, using magnets to hold it in place. Basically it's just hanging from the "ceiling", it's not verry pretty, but it works great.

The background is tree fern, yes


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

*Bulbophyllum auratum*


















I already posted these in another thread, but i was so happy with the pictures so i decided to post them here aswell. 
This is the first time a bulbo blooms for me, and it really feels special.
It's a pretty wonderful thing, that such a small flower can give me so much happiness.


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## Styx (Oct 25, 2008)

Sammie said:


> The fan is mounted on the inside of the tank, using magnets to hold it in place. Basically it's just hanging from the "ceiling", it's not verry pretty, but it works great.
> 
> The background is tree fern, yes


That's a great idea, the magnents. Thanks.

It looks like your orchids really love that tree fern. I kind of regret using cork bark and sphagnum on my background now. haha


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

Time for a small update. 
A month or so ago the "tree" crumbled from decomposition, since then I havent really done much with the tank untill last week.
I liked the vertical planting space the tree provided so I wanted to do something similar, this is what I came up with.









It looks a little bare right now, unfortunately some of the pants on the background died from silicone fumes when I had to do some work on the top. Hopefully I will get a few more plants next week.

Hope you like it


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## skanderson (Aug 25, 2011)

looks very nice. thanks for the update.


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

_
*Marcgravia sintenisii*_








_
*Bulbophyllum comberi*_








*
Cirrhopetalum miniatum*









*Pyrrosia piloselloides*


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## DJReptile (Mar 9, 2009)

Looking great! Have you had any more blooms since the auratum?


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

Only the _Ludisia discolor_, but im seeing alot of new growth in the tank so I figure it's just a matter of time
I recently changed the lights from cfls to t5, and so far it's looking good.

Edit: Also one of the _N. lilliputiana_ flowered about a week ago.


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)




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## Groundhog (Dec 17, 2006)

Sammie said:


> I got the cutting from a friend who said it was a rhododendron, I didn't question it. But you're right, it looks like _Pachysandra terminalis_.
> Bummer, I was really happy to get it
> Thanks though.


Are you still friends? 

Who's the vandaceous plant, lower middle?


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

Groundhog said:


> Are you still friends?



Haha, since he didn't know better i forgave him
Apparently he took the cutting from a botanical garden, and the sign said Rhododendron, my guess is that the _P. terminalis_ was growing under the rhody




Groundhog said:


> Who's the vandaceous plant, lower middle


I think you're talking about my _Phalaenopsis sp._ from Thailand (Or atleast bought in Thailand, I don't really know it's true origins, species or if it's a hybrid.)

Im sorry the pictures are a little dark, the lighting in the tank is actually pretty decent.
I will try to take some better photos soon.


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

I just noticed that my _Marcgravia sintenisii_ is dropping leaves, anyone have any ideas about why?
Im thinking it might be the cold they were eventually exposed to during shipping, the heatpack was still warm but the plants were cold to the touch.


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

The orchidarium (witch now contains as much other plants as orchids) and its twin sister. I still have some work to do on the sister, but it's turning out great









A few more flowers on the _L. discolor_, pretty cool.


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## toaddrool (Feb 5, 2013)

Hi,

I like your orchidarium. I built one back in '06 and its still running strong. I have been experimenting with_ Rhododenderon_ in that tank since early 2012. I used Vireyas from Bovee's nursery. So far so good. One cutting and few seedlings which I sowed into the tank of the hybrid 'Alisa Nicole'. 

Other than the issue of light, they should do well. But yea that plant you have posted here doesn't look like a Rhodie to me.

Where did you find the_ Marcgravia_??

I'm also trying a Disterigma rimbachii which I also sowed from seed, its been a while, but I have to seedlings with three leaves each. These tropical ericads take forever to grow.


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

I'm thinking about adding frogs to at least one of my tanks, but I'm a little worried that they're too sparsely planted. I've added some plants to the one on the left, but mostly cuttings so no big difference really.
What do you guys think?

Another concern is micro fauna, I haven't added springtails or isopods yet. Would It be okay to add them at the same time as the frogs or do you need to let them establish first?

Normally I wouldn't want to rush this and let the tanks mature, but I noticed that a guy pretty close to me had some frogs for sale and since we cant ship frogs in Sweden I'm thinking that maybe I should take this opportunity.



toaddrool said:


> Where did you find the_ Marcgravia_?


I bought it from Benjamin Schwarz (bensjungle), he has two or three different species I think.


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## Bighurt (Jun 18, 2011)

I think your main issue would be if the colony fails to establish or if the frogs eat all the springtails. Otherwise you should be fine.

I know keepers have killed off colonies through accidental over watering and where able to reestablish them. It's just harder, of course in some cases, they had to start the vivarium over but accidents happen.

IMO if the viv is established the fauna will fall in line.


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## toaddrool (Feb 5, 2013)

dneafse said:


> Sammie,
> 
> That tropical Rhododendron sp. bears a very strong resemblance to Japanese pachysandra, a common shady groundcover in temperate regions:
> 
> ...


It might still be a Rhodie, 
I found this picture I took last spring and the leaves of this Rhodie look very similar to the one in question here

Rhododendron from Planting Fields Arboretum by tindomul1of9, on Flickr


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

Hmm, yes the leaves looks very much alike. 
However it doesn't really matter any more, I moved the cutting from the viv to my garden. I think it died around december when the first snow came

Though I appreciate you efforts
I will try to find me some real vireyas, but the only source I've found wanted 100£ for shipping.


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## toaddrool (Feb 5, 2013)

Try these links:

Vireya Rhododendrons - Where to Buy Vireyas

its part of Vireya information website.


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

Yeah, that's were I found the place that wanted 100£ for shipping alone. 
Maybe I'll order some seeds from the nursery in Hawaii, it seems easy enough.


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## toaddrool (Feb 5, 2013)

Wow, thats insane!!


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## Giga (Mar 31, 2011)

pretty cool!


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

Giga said:


> pretty cool!


Thanks man
It means a lot coming from you. I'm a big fan of your tower tank.

Here's a picture that shows the other tank a little better. I'm starting to see moss growth everywhere, doesn't really show in the picture though.


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## 1moreminute (Feb 5, 2013)

Very beautiful, great work!


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

Thought it was due for another update since I've added plants, wood and leaf litter. Time has done it's part as well

















New growth on my _Hydnophytum formicarium_.


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