# I entered the flower show at the county fair!



## fishmommy (Dec 23, 2006)

I like to grow high-humidity plants in dishes inside old aquariums. Jewel orchids in particular love the high humidity environment it provides and using dishes instead of planting a traditional terrarium bottom allows me to contain/separate plant growth
and as a side benefit, I can pull them out and enter them in shows!
Here are the results of my very first show that took place Friday:

First, this plant won first prize in the Foliage cagegory at the county fair:










It's a Begonia Rex (miniature) 'Little Keepsake' I grew in a bonsai dish with some Hemianthus micranthemoides (baby tears....normally grown aquatic unless you're an experimenter like me) as ground cover. Both these plants grow fantastic in a traditional vivarium.

Second, this plant won first prize in the Dish Garden cagegory:










Pictures never do this one any justice...the veins on the leaves are sparkly like lightning bolts and the leaves are velvety. It's a jewel orchid Macodes petola in a bowl with Vesicularia dubyana (Java moss...another aquatic refugee). There's actually a second jewel orchid in the back of the dish that is chocolate brown with gold veins, but it's still very small. I hope to develop this dish into a half brown/half green sort of yin-yang deal. The brown orchid is a close relative of the green (it's also a Macodes -- iowii) so it makes an interesting contrast. It goes without saying that all of these are fantastic vivarium plants that are quite popular.

And just for fun, here's my one and only Phal, currently in bloom in my living room










I got 12 blooms on 2 spikes off this plant...a personal best for me.


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## Elphaba (Aug 26, 2007)

That's one of the nicest Macodes petola I've ever seen! I love the way you've got the groundcover growing with them too -- absolutely superb. Any chance we could get a picture of your setup for these? In particular, I'd be interested to know what lights you use -- I'd love to get some of my jewel orchids going like that one!

Best,
Ash


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## fishmommy (Dec 23, 2006)

The setup is:
30 gallon fish tank
110 watts of compact fluorescent lighting at a color temp of 10,000K
Lights are about 3 inches above the top glass of the tank

Substrate in the dish is a 50/50 mix of coco coir and sphagnum moss

I keep the aquarium mostly covered, so the humidity varies from 100% at night to about 60% at it's lowest point during the day
Temps go from 72 minimum at night to about 80-85F in the daytime

No forced ventilation

I water every two days using distilled water with a tiny bit of Dyna-gro (mix percent same as on the bottle)


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## fishmommy (Dec 23, 2006)

I should mention that the moss seems to stop the jewel from creeping. So, when I want it to grow in a direction I cut back the moss in that area to expose the soil.
Once the show ends on Sunday and I reclaim the plants I intend to hack much of the moss away and allow for more spreading growth of the macodes.


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## pet-teez (Oct 3, 2007)

1) that begonia tray looks *amazing*!
2) I never really liked the jewel orchids but yours look fantastic in there!
3) I love your use of the HM, looks great in there


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## MJ (Jun 16, 2005)

AWESOME stuff! I love the rex and the macodes! 8)


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## candm519 (Oct 15, 2006)

Congratulations on your wins, Jen! And for your first time entering in a contest, too. Outstanding work.
I remember you posted a photo of that begonia long ago when it was just a baby, and it already looked impressive.


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