terrarium basics- or cookie jar terrarium

[RSS]

Can someone point me toward some terrarium basics. I've got a few books on request at the library.

I had a phaleonopsis orchid and a dendrobium orchid (not minis) on the verge of death on my dining room table. So I bought a big glass cookie jar,stuck them in there, with a bunch of fresh orchid bark, added a small amount of water and closed the lid. The lid is clear glass. The house has lots of windows so the dining room gets tons of natural light.
I open the cookie jar once a day to let in some fresh air.
The orchid plants almost immediately perked up, greened up, and the dendrobium has put out quite a few new leaves.

Then I got excited, ordered a few mini orchids, bought another cookie jar and stuck them all in. So far so good.
You can see them at the end of this blog post.

Can it really be this simple? Will they bloom next winter? When the big ones bloom will I be able to acclimate the plants to an open lid environment for a few months?

I'm also now hooked on the idea of making a more complicated environment. Would I really need lights and if the enclosure was all glass? Do I need a fan if it gets opened up once a day? What's the minimum I can do technologically to get an aesthetically beautiful environment with water, 2 or 3 orchids, and moss?


Click here to vew full article on OrchidBoard.com ...