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orchidarium building

Discussion in 'Growing Areas' started by Bronze, Jan 25, 2016.

  1. Bronze

    Bronze Member

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    I have an opportunity to get a 36 x 18 x 36 for a good price cabinet too. But i want to use my t5 4 bulb 2 foot fixture. And figured it was too wide to light sufficiently. And yes I know the 36 is tricky but next lowest is 24 and I want it taller. If I have problems I could sorta raise the floor some anyway.
     
  2. Dave The Scientist

    Dave The Scientist Active Member

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    If the tank is humidified with an evaporative cooler or humidifier as you mentioned, you will like only need to water every few days so you could get away with just a hand sprayer. Thats what I do in my tank.
     
  3. Bronze

    Bronze Member

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    The small terrarium I have now I have to mist 3 to 5 times a day...it drys so fast from the fan. And most likely it won't have a cooler since I'm not making the tank.
     
  4. goods

    goods Well-Known Member Supporting Member

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    I'm currently growing in a 36x18x36 (It's an ExoTerra base with a 40 breeder aquarium flipped upside down for the top.). I light it via a 4' 2 bulb T5HO and two LED bars across the front. Light to the bottom is fine...You just can't grow Cattleya and such. Since the top is an aquarium, it is totally sealed besides the vent at the base. I run a fan inside and keep the ceiling fan in the room running for air circulation. I water ~3 times a week and humidity is well-maintained and barely reach dryness before its time to water again. This is my 6th growing case over the years, and this set up is by far my most successful.
     
  5. Bronze

    Bronze Member

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    Do you mind grabbing me a picture or two of your setup. The setup I might still be able to get is a exo terra screen top, glass everything else 36 x 18 x 36 I would probably put a piece of glass on top but leave a gap for some air to get in better. Another thing I've been thinking about is I dont have many orchids to put in it and do I want a giant sitting around with basically nothing in it Lol.
     
  6. Dave The Scientist

    Dave The Scientist Active Member

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    As for your smaller tank, it sounds like you have a lot more air movement than you need. Does your fan run constantly and do you have speed controller for it? I would recommend putting it on a timer or adding a speed controller and turning down the speed or both. I run my fan on a 1/2 hour on, hour off cycle with it at a fairly low speed and it works fine for me.
     
  7. Bronze

    Bronze Member

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    Well I have the door off because things were getting fungal spots on leaves from moisture. And I put a small computer fan wired with a phone charger 5 to 8 volts so the fan speed is pretty slow. It's non adjustable. I leave it on when the lights are on. The spots stopped but now I have to water it all the time!
     
  8. Dave The Scientist

    Dave The Scientist Active Member

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    You can buy fan speed controllers for a few bucks on computer parts sites. You just wire them in between the power source and the fan. The reason you have having to water so much is that you don't have a door on it so it's basically at the ambient room humidity. The point of a tank is to hold in humidity, almost like a greenhouse in miniature. I would put the door back on and just cut back on the watering to control fungus rather than killing the humidity.
     
  9. Bronze

    Bronze Member

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    I couldn't stop it with the door on it was very aggresive. It does have a pool of water in the tank for humidity aswell. I just need to go get a smaller fan to put inside the tank with door back on. I stopped messing with it quite a bit because the background came out like shit. I will probably cut the back out sometime when I get a wild hair and put cork on the back, maybe it will make me happy and make me want to mess with the tank again.