260 gallon Vivarium/orchidarium

You'll have to post some pic in a year or so to show how its progressed!

 

hahaha nice to see your here too JB

 

Hallo from Czech Republic.
Your vivarium It´s amazing job. How many plant species are inside? Is it possible to generate and insert here simple list of species?
I had five years similar paludarium, my idea was to mimic the Ecuador tropical rainforest habitat. But it´s not easy to buy origin species of moss, ferns , climbing vines in our country in the middle of Europe. So, from time to time i must add non southamerican specie, especialy from southeast Asia. From asiatic ferns it´ s for example genus Drynaria, or climbing vines like Dischidia. It´s always a compromise.
Sorry for so many questions and my insert into your thread.

 

View attachment 15306

 

Yes, of course....here are some today snapshots.




Dischidia platyphylla show it´s flower.


Only botanic specie Monstera I had ever got was Monstera dubia, but It´s since striking root at propagation place. (This is my cool bedroom, and also wintering place for carnivorous plants, tillandsias, other bromeliad and few Dendrobium orchids).


Can I ask you, what´s your favorite place to buy botanic specie for your setup?
See you Roman R.

 

Maybe it is not seem, but several species of orchids are inside. The space inside is not big enough for a vigorous large species of orchids, or it should not look good too, so I have tried to cultivate mini orchids only, since the beginning of existence paludarium . I was placed in at the first year- Pollardia pterocarpa (Encyclia pterocarpa) - blooms each year; Hormidium pygmaeum (Epidendrum pygmaeum) - grows luxuriantly, but not flower until today, it needs drier and cooler period; Bulbophyllum lasiochilum - bloom irregularly; Brassavola flagellaris-I had got a little part with only two bulbs , so I must wait it will grows enough .
.... Today Brassavola has eight pseudobulbs, so i am trying get bloom outside the glass terarium on the south windowsill .

Bulbophyllum lasiochilum


Hormidium pygmaeum


Pollardia pterocarpa

The second year I added two types of Rodriguezia, one no ID Stelis , and one no ID species of Nanodes sp. from Ecuador, Pleurothalis subulifolia and next noID Hexadesmia sp.Gran Sabana from Venezuela.
Rodriguezia doesn´t like water in rosettes, this information came to me unfortunately too late , both plants could not be saved. Unknown Nanodes sp.Ecuador has got another guy Nanodes porpax. This is my latest orchid i bought to paludarium.

Pleurothalis subulifolia


Hexadesmia sp.Gran Sabana and Stelis sp.Ecuador


Hexadesmia sp.Gran Sabana and Nanodes sp.Rio Verde, Ecuador

Every orchids grows well in the jungle, but some of them needs regular cooler and drier resting period to bloom, so it is necessary take out them from jungle to the windowsill to achieve lower night temperatures then in the glass jungle.
It ´s sometimes a big problem, because their roots naturally grow beyond their own bark base.
Now my jungle is much thickened inside- especially Anthurium scandens and Peperomia with heart leaves are very vigorous and invasive. So I had to improve air circulation, I also separated the light from the interior by weak glasses to prevent space under the lights from overheating. I have also installed automatic spray system, but sometimes do more harm than good job, and manual spraying is definitely more safety, cause this metod allows me to choose which plant will be wet more or less .
I wonder how you manage to keep the right all year conditions, it seems your orchids bloomed all year round . Costa Rica and Panama have a relatively stable climate by my opinion, so I would like to ask you- do you hold the same watering cycle all year, or your orchids like a some drier period to bloom?
Today I regret I did not built higher glass terarium, it could be easier to deploy plants according to their terms and conditions........, but this idea would require the much stronger and power light source.

Off topic ... some look at the windowsill. It is Dendrobium parishii and Dendrobium chapaense.




Sorry for my incorrect English language I think you understand me , I don´t speak english so often for last 20 years.
R.R.

 

Awesome! JB, did you build the tank yourself? A few years ago I built a 240 out of half inch acrylic, but the desire of the acrylic to warp was greater than my noob welds. Been looking for a nice one in glass.

 

Heh... First post in five years!

 

Can I ask what the name of the company is? Thanks, Dan