Orchidarium 2

A humidity tray for the bottom and part of the grape wood burl in a temporary position... it is starting to come together! I also have an improved plan for cooling. I thought about using a Peltier cooling plate mounted hot out/cold in but I would prefer to avoid that if possible because it will add clutter and complexity (it would require two radiator heat sinks and two muffin fans, making quite a stack altogether). Instead what I will do is have an additional small muffin fan pointing down into the tray (which is filled with water) and it will be wired to the same thermostat that controls the vent fan. When the temperature gets too high, the vent fan and the tray fan will come on - room air is pulled in and extra humidity is added at the same time. Simple!

If one wanted to do a cool case, the Peltier set up should work - they can pump a lot of heat. The set up isn't all that bulky. Peltier cooling is not very efficient compared to compressor-based coolers but they are quiet and compact so if the cooling demands are modest they are a reasonable choice, and the parts are inexpensive because they are used a lot for computers.

Oh dear, now I am getting the urge to build a cool orchidarium. There are so many little gems I can't grow in the current intermediate case. This hobby is addictive. Lots of orchids grow in "cloud forest", very high in mountains in wet tropical areas. I once visited a cloud forest in Costa Rica and the habitat is strange - never very cold but never warm and very very very wet. Daily downpours in the wet season, and not that much less in the "dry" season, with frequent heavy cool fogs. While I was there, the surface of everything was wet all the time. Not damp - wet. You are best off keeping your camera in a plastic bag with desiccant.

Orchidarium 5/30/2017 - the light at the top left is a reflection from the room.

Orchidarium 1

Apart from the many beautiful flowers for which they are most famous, orchids have other seductive charms compounded of their slow-motion lives, their amazing diversity, and often just plain strangeness. Flowers that look like bees, spiders, flying ducks, monkey faces, ballerinas, corkscrews, kissing slugs, rotting meat, abstract art, a Klein bottle, space aliens, and - my favorite of all - tiny furry toilet bowls (Stelis pilosa, syn. Effusiella amparoana). What more could you ask for?

I have grown a small number of orchids on a windowsill for years but recently began outfitting a Wardian case to grow intermediate temperature orchids that need more humidity. The picture below is the way it looks near the start, with three muffin fans near the top and a few plants sitting on the bottom. Air circulation is enough to make slender spikes and leaves wave gently in the breeze. Humidity is usually well over 80% but in the heat of summer I will have to leave the case open and it may drop to 50% or so at times. Plans include adding a vent fan which will come on when the temperature gets too high and possibly supplemental light when summer ends, as our winters are rather dark here in Seattle.

As parts come together, some plants will be mounted on grape wood burls (Blooms and Branches is a great source) and hung from wire screens. Right now the plants are all small to mini sized, mostly Pleurothallids, including Specklinia, Restrepia, Pleurothallis, and Masdevallia species.

In the future, I will post cultural and natural history information about orchids, including the amazing story of their evolution into epiphytes and their diversity and ingenuity in attracting pollinators.

Orchidarium 5/27/2017

Scaphosepalum breve bud