Dendrobium christyanum

Dendrobium christyanum is from Thailand, Vietnam and China and has huge flowers for the size of the plant.  My plant is about 5 cm tall and the flowers are about the same size.  It belongs to the group of Dendrobiums known as nigrohirsute Dendrobiums, referring to the black hairs with which the plant is covered and it is sometimes found under the older name, Dendrobium margaritaceum  It blooms in the summer and is temperature tolerant.  The flowers are fragrant.

Dendrobium cuthbertsonii

This is another clone of Dendrobium cuthbertsonii which comes in a rainbow of colors.  This clone is not only a very vivid pink but has very large flowers for the species.  The plant is only a couple of centimeters tall and the 3 cm flowers dwarf the plant.  It is cool growing and comes from the highlands of New Guinea.

Pleurothallis pterophora

This attractive species not only has an abundance of fragrant, white flowers, but has beautiful spotted foliage as well, and it blooms repeatedly from the same growths. The plant is 15 cm tall and the individual flowers are less than 1 cm, blooming in the spring. It is from Brazil and belongs to the Specklinia section of the genus, Pleurothallis.

Promenaea xanthina

Promenaea xanthina is small species from Brazil that belong to a small genus of similar-looking plants. This plant is only 6-8 cm tall with small flattened pseudobulbs and soft, pale green foliage. The plant prefers cool temepratures, good humidity, a lot of moisture and lower light and when happy produces an abundance of flowers in the late spring and early summer. The flowers are 4-5 cm in size and make a good display.

Masdevallia filaria

This Masdevallia is from the section Saltatrices, a group of Masdevallias with tubular flowers and a "belly" at the base of the flowers.  With their unusual coloration and shape these flowers have been compared to seahorses.  Whatever they look like the they bloom nearly year-around for me with a flush of new flowers late in the spring.  The plant is 10 cm and the flowers 5 cm.  The species is from Colombia.

Dendrobium hellwigianum

Dendrobium hellwigianum is a high-altitude species from New Guinea and is reputed to be difficult to grow.  I have no difficulty growing it or flowering it with cool temperatures and high humidity.  It is an attractive plant with thick, narrow leaves that look a bit like chives to me and the unusually colored flowers come in pairs among the leaves and at the top of the pseudobulbs.  The plant is 10cm tall and the flowers 3cm.  I grow the plant mounted on a small slab of cedar with a pad of moss around the roots of the plant.

Rebuilt Orchidarium

The last couple of days, I took my orchidarium apart and rebuilt it.  There were several things I was unhappy with and I used the opportunity to make some changes as well.  One thing that needed to be changed was the back.  I had originally used a masonite panel with a finished surface, but that had begun to deteriorate and I needed to replace it.  This time I used 3/16 inch glass.  I was also not happy with the sliding doors which were of plexiglass but which always bowed with changes in temperature and humidity and which even a rigid brace had not kept straight.  I replaced those also with 3/16 inch glass panels provided by my son.

The biggest change, however, was with in the height.  I built it with a growing area of 30 x 52 x 30 inches (75 x 130 x 75 cm), and had never been happy with the height which I felt was cramped and which did not give me enough opportunity to move plants further from the lights.  In fact, I was using only four T5 HO lamps in a fixture that held eight and thought that more space would give me opportunity to use all the lights.  In rebuilding the case I added a foot to the height so that the growing area is now 42 inches (105 cm) and the additional space is proving to be a real bonus and makes working in the case and watering very much easier.

Older posts about this orchidarium can be found at these links:
 http://orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2011/12/orchidarium-changes.html
http://orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2010/07/my-orchidarium.html
These links show the first orchidarium I built many years ago, as well as the original version of this one and give considerable information about the building of these different orchid homes.