"Michael Sandven" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> spaketh thusly: >Anyway, my reason for posting; after my wife saw the cool >growing pleurothalids on display in cases form Andy's (what >a great display!), and the Pleurothild Alliance, I have >been granted the task of building a climate controlled case >for her so she can grow some of these miniature jewels. > >Does anyone know where I can find details for building a >DIY case suitable for these types of orchids? I have >googled some pieces of info on the net but not really >enough to begin a project. I have finished some wood >working projects for the home, have tools, and I'm >generally pretty handy. I could build some sort of plain >display case now but I'm not sure about the details of >maintaining temps and humididity. Also could use >suggestions on automation.
The easiest and most straightforward starting place is to purchase an aquarium. Sometimes inexpensive ones may be found used in the classified ads, under "pet supplies," or on web venues such as www.freecycle.com and www.craigslist.com. Combine that with some high intensity illumination normally reserved (once again) for aquaria, and you're set. Temperature and humidity factors may be adjusted by allowing more or less air to get in. Obviously, this doesn't work well for cool-growing species when your house is warm and the lights heat it up. To adjust for that, more intensive engineering is required. Heat exchangers using a pump and a dorm refrigerator replete with copper coils can work; Peltier chillers (check eBay) can bring the temperatures down a bit; homebrew evaporative coolers can knock down the temperature somewhat. Or throw a small bin of crushed ice into a poorly insulated container inside the chamber once or twice a day. Custom chambers may be produced using glass (1/4" tempered plate is good) and silicone sealant (GE 50 year stuff is wonderful). Make jigs out of 2x4 lumber with 1/4" channels cut in it at 45 degrees (two of them) for the top rim, and seal with a bead of silicone. Plastic (Lexan, acrylic, etc.) is easier to work with and very hard to shatter, but suffers from issues with scratching- more a consideration with aquarium gravel than plants, of course. However, layup work with Lexan is more demanding- you only get one good shot with methylene chloride solvent welding. I personally prefer to purchase aquaria and modify them; although custom systems can be very attractive, it is difficult to make sure the lighting systems jibe with custom dimensions. The array of lighting products is bewildering, and I hit MEGO (my eyes glaze over) stage quickly, and I wonder what must torture engineer's souls so badly that they found there simply weren't enough types and sizes of tubes such that they had to invent a new one. T12! T8! T5! Ubend! Circlines! Biax! RDC or medium bipin! High output or very high output! T6 single pin or T12 bipin! Then there's the compacts! G23, or GX23! Or, heck- GX23-2, G24q-1, 2GX-7, 2G11, 2G10, GX24q-4, or G24q-3! And if that's not enough, there's always the dope gro-, er, horticultural specialty tubes, including metal halide, HPS, sodium vapor, mercury vapor, kryptonite-clad spun Kevlar plutonium-doped thermonuclear f-element Susan B. Anthony BBQ BYOB USAMRIID ASAP... words fail me. Wait five years- if that- and the LED illumination systems will surpass traditional systems in scope and intensity. Right now, the only thing in which they excel is the rate at which they decimate a bank account. Cheers, -AJHicks Chandler, AZ _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
