Orchids for terrarium

Hello:

Has anyone any suggestions for orchids suitable for a medium-high humidity terrarium, with possibly medium-high light intensity?

Thanks!

are you looking for terrestrials or are you going to mount them? If mounting, on cork or tree fern or? And will you have night temperature drops, or will the terr be about the same temp day and night?

Ki
how do make make the temp drop at night in a terr???

LOL!

Terrariums in windows will often drop in temps. Others put.. umm... ice packs in there at night. Yes, I'm not kidding.....

Oh man I was hoping for something more, hmmm, automatic! LOL.

oh, and the other thing is, how big can the plant be?

there's such a huge selection of potential orchids......

Sorry, didn't check this for a few days. The max in the terrarium will be 80-85, and the low will be 65-70 at night. Misted twice a day, in the early morning and late afternoon. If mounting, it's going to be tree fern fiber. Going to have coco bedding at the bottom, with a little water feature. Will be air movement too. Thoughts?

that sounds like PERFECT conditions for a LOT of things. Check out jlorchids.com, andysorchids.com and tropicalorchidfarm.com for an intermediate one that's small. I've bought from all three so dmail if you more questions.

For the species, you can then check orchidspecies.com for more info - mostly accurate but it is a big site and individually put together. Be sure to check the length of the flower spike and flower spurs, as these can be substantially longer than the plant. I would shy away from anything that needs to dry between waterings, as your humidity level sounds like it will be too high.

If you like to shop locally, Al's Orchid Exchange in Leesburg has some masdevallias and a pleurothallis or two, Woodstream Orchids south of DC may still have some minis from Panama, and I bet there will be some vendors with minis at the NCOS fall show (columbus day weekend at the arboretum).

keep us posted on what you decide to try out and do take photos!

Two more sources and some thoughts.

Lyn at pleurothallids.com is another source - for pleurothallid alliance plants. Many of these would work well.

Oakhillgardens has some as well, though they don't specialize in minis. Hoosier orchids also, but they specialize in hard to find ones.

Pleuros and some of the small angraecoids might work very well. So might many others, heh....

Ki

Which orchids do you grow? I have to say that I am much more familliar w/ cymbidiums- that's what my grandfather grew- not easy to grow in all areas, but in southern Cal they are a piece of cake.

Thanks Keyring, I appreciated the comments, and will do my research based on the links you shared. Very familiar with Al's, and that's not a bad idea.

I have been growing orchids in normal household conditions (no growth light, no fancy gadgets) and they have been fine. I thought I would try unfamiliar species in a terarrium as my next project. Going to build this one after I got my tank. So pictures will be awhile. I do have pics of my other "household" orchids. They are overtaking my house!

lol april - what orchids do I grow? I love cattleya types but don't have enough space or sun for most of them, so I grow a bit as much as I can that is medium light and intermediate temps. I have managed to accumulate a fair number of minis as well. Hmmmm..... currently an Oberonia is putting out a spike. I've got miniature dendrobiums, bulbophyllum, masdevallia, pleurothallis, stelis, phragmipedium, paphiopedilum, paraphalaenopsis, phalaenopsis, leptotes, and the list goes on..... heh heh, total orchid-head here.... Orchids first, gessies second, hoyas next (this is a new thing....), then the rest of the plants....

I have a dwarf cymb. that is supposed to be super floriforous- well in the right conditions, not mine, but still is a nice plant and makes me think of my grandfather, yellow elf. Then my 2 paphiopedilum. That's it for me as far as orchids grow. I only have them for sentimental reasons.

BlackJungle.com sells animals (poison dart frogs*, etc.) and plants for terrariums and their Orchids are on sale. I bought two from New Guinea, One was another species Goodyera. I have the Goodyera that grows wild here. The only problem is that the flower spike has to snake along the cover. These are mostly grown for the leaf pattern.

*Takes a liicking and keeps on ticking.

I have seen them in photos but don't know much about them. Thanks.
So how many poison dart frogs did you buy? LOL

Only bought two Orchids and a Sarracennia. No plans for licking frogs. I don't even know if they are downers such as cannabinoids (hops/beer/marijuana) or uppers like cocaine/lidocaine.

If I order from any of the places listed above, when is the best time to accept a shipment? Our last freeze is normally around May15th but I work so I can't be home to bring in a package during the day. I guess what I'm asking is how tough are these plants? Flip side of the coin is that I don't want to order in summer so they could sit out on the stoop baking in a box?

summer is probably best avoided, unless you can have it held at the post office or UPS/fedex location.

As for winter shipping, it's safe to ship even when the temps are pretty cold (because of a heat pack plus the newpaper/cardboard acts as insulation), but freezing temps are probably not good. Wet and cold is very bad.

Lows in the 40s are usually fine for orchids (not for gesneriads which are mostly more cold-sensitive). Many sellers are good at judging shipping times, and will find a window of warm weather to ship. (Well, actually, it has to be two windows that match up - one for them and one for you.) Some sellers are great at winter shipping - others not so much. Then there is always the situation that the box gets delayed somewhere or re-routed. I'd say it's riskier to order from Hawaii or Florida or even Cal in the winter, both because of the distance but also because they aren't used to dealing with cold weather.

Having said all that, I received a box from Oak Hill (Chicago) today. Today, our temp was around 50 I think, with a low tonight in the 40s. Yesterday was 42/23 and the day before 37/30. Oak Hill shipped the box on Wed, when their weather was 35/28. I've ordered from Oak Hill a number of times in the winter and they've always been good. But I'm also lucky in that the front desk will keep all packages inside until we get home.

We're rural and our PO is only open until 3:30 pm and I'm still at work by then. They'd probably hold it for me but it would have to sit there until Saturday when I could get there. I see what you mean about not ordering from the south though. I'm also glad to know these aren't totally cold sensitive.