Finally a new home for my ‘chids. My Orchids, that is. I was finally able to setup my Orchidarium, it was worth the wait!

The orchids I grow are primarily Cattleya relatives. I’ve been struggling with the lack of humidity in my living room and lack of space to grow them in also. I had a 30 gallon aquarium that I turned into an orchidarium of sorts but it proved to be too small. Since they were all crammed in there, and I only had one computer fan running, the air circulation wasn’t so great.

I started looking into wardian cases and things like that but they lacked the conveniences of a case specifically made for orchids – ease of use, cleaning, air circulation, grow lights.

Then I found the Orchidarium Company. Everything I could ever want for my orchids was right there in front of me. They had a few models and I was trying to decide which one was going to suit my needs and my budget.

Then Rusty had a great idea. Why not wait until we received our tax returns to see what we could afford? In the end, we had enough money to purchase the biggest model they had, the Grand Cayman. It’s 48″ wide by 24″ deep by 42″ tall. Much more room than I really needed, but it would give me room to purchase more. The next step up from here is my own greenhouse when we finally buy ourselves a home.

So we waited till we received our tax return, and then I purchased it. I spoke with Robert Jacobs, who was very knowledgable and kind. He helped me with all my questions and always patiently. But then we realized we had nothing to put it on.

Onward, to Gothic Cabinet Craft where we ordered a custom piece of furniture to fit the orchidarium. A friend of mine helped me with the particulars and we ordered the credenza from them.

In the meantime, I attended the New York International Orchid show and bought five new babies! My newest:

Cattleya Maxima from Ecuagenera
Iwanagara Apple Blossom from Hoosier Orchids
Brassavola Nodosa from Cal-Orchids
Darwinara Charm ‘Pink Star’ from Cal-Orchids
Cattleya Luddemanniana from Waldor Orchids

I finally received everything, the orchidarium, the glass delivery and the credenza on Saturday, May 14th. It took Rusty and I a few hours to put it together and I was glad for the help. Some of the pieces would have been very awkward to handle by one person. Here is a photo of all the accessories that came with the unit, and a list below of each piece (clockwise starting from the left):

Two air stones with green tubing
Cleaning cloths and cleaning solution for acrylic back
Steel polish for the fascia
White blocks for propping up a shelf
Mister/fogger system
Drip shelves
6 Outlet power strip
3 warm biaxial fluorescent lamps
3 cool biaxial fluorescent lamps
2 plastic door “handles”
3 outlet strip for the lights
Digital thermometer/hygrometer
All purpose lubricating gel and wheels for the front doors
Adapter for air stones
Two Orchidarium stickers
Electric timer

A few notes on installation… The instructions do not give you the dimensions of the front glass doors and the side glass panels. Since the doors have to be shorter to allow for the wheels, we just figured out which were which through common sense. There are black plastic pieces that fit on the top, bottom, and one side of the glass panels; they are just a little bit too small. But after you put the whole thing together, you can’t see them so that’s ok. And lastly, there is a piece shown in the instruction diagram which they don’t include anymore. It’s a top piece that is more for asthetics than anything else. But since our unit sits low, you can see right over the top. I spoke to Robert Jacobs about it and he said they don’t include it because it was trapping too much heat from the lights. He is going to look into another solution for me, possibly another shelf that is the same dimensions as the whole unit so it will let heat out, but still look nicer than seeing wires and the lights.

Once we finished installing, I plugged everything in and let ‘er rip. The two fans that are recessed into the top are a little loud. Since they’re running all the time (we only shut them off at night), it can get a little annoying when you don’t have other noise to cover the sound. If we’re getting ready to watch a movie, we usually shut off the lights and the fans too.

One power strip is not enough if you want to put the lights, fans, mister, and air stones on timers. Timers are a Godsend and I have tons of them already, so I wanted to use them. But I needed more than one power strip since a timer covers more than one outlet. I only have the lights (using that 3 outlet adapter) and the mister on timers right now. If I can ever figure out how to set my digital timer, I’ll get a 2 outlet adapter for the fans and set them on a schedule too.

There are two separate reservoirs in the bottom of the unit which have rubber liners so you can leave standing water in them. This promotes humidity and allows you to water your plants without taking them out of the unit (the steel base is watertight also so if they overflow slightly, you will not have a wet carpet). The two reservoirs are where the air stones would normally go. I’m taking the stones out because I have found nothing that really touts the big benefits of these things in an orchidarium. Maybe in an aquarium they would promote oxygenation of the water, but the fact is that they add more noise for more electricity and I can find a better use for them elsewhere.

The biggest benefit I have seen so far is the humidity. Even with the fans on and no water in the unit, the humidity is amazing. This is absolutely worth it in the winter for colder climates. The digital thermometer/hygrometer has a setting that lets you see the minimum values and the maximum values of each since the last time you reset it. So you can see how hot/how humid it was at 12pm while you were at work. Typically, the temp is an average of 4-6 degrees above the room temperature. And with the mister on, the humidity gets as high as 95%.

As far as my plants go, it’s only been a week and a half so I haven’t seen a huge difference yet. Although yesterday, I had a problem because I put a Phalenopsis right under the fan and when the humidity got so high, the condensation from the top started dripping on the plants. Right into the crown of the Phal! When I got home, there was a puddle of water in the crown of the Phal. For those novice or non-orchid growers reading this, that is bad. Phals don’t like getting the crown (where the leaves grow from) wet, it promotes rot. So I removed that Phal and put it on top of the unit to dry out from the heat of the fans. I won’t make that mistake again.

So that’s as much as I can tell you right now. Many people I know have come out of the woodwork, looking for details on this unit because they’re considering purchasing them themselves. I would be glad to answer any question, any time. You can post a comment below or you can email me.

*****UPDATE******
December 21st, 2005

It looks like my Neofinetia Falcata is loving the orchidarium. It bloomed for me for the first time since I bought it. I keep it on the small top shelf very close to the light and only water it once a week. Here is a photo of it:

It’s just a little guy right now but I’ve got a new keiki growing out the side of the parent plant since it finished blooming.

My Brassavola Nodosa also has a bloom right now. I probably could have had more if I had kept the watering schedule consistent and fertilized it. I worry about over-fertilizing and salt accumulation so I wind up under-fertilizing instead. And winter is not the time to start changing that habit anyway.

Lastly, Mr. Robert Jacobs kept true to his word and sent me a cover for the top of the orchidarium. It is the same as the white shelving material but it’s dimensions are larger so that you only need one piece for the top. It allows heat to escape and looks a heck of a lot better than the top of the lights. And yes, it was free!

All in all, I’m still very happy with my purchase.

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