Hi Larry,

Congratulations on the White Sprite. I am always killing or nursing mine - they hate the tiny enclosures I give them. I hope to put them in a bigger terr (about the size of yours, maybe) one of these days. Hope you have figured out the terr issues - I've actually never set one up so I can't be much help. All of mine are really humidity domes/enclosures with pots inside - the "greenhouse" setup. Yours should look great when everything gets going.

very nice.
what are you useing for light?
i recently had my puter upgraded and a processer that came new with a fan was installed.well they didnt use the fan and gave the it to me;about 3/4 inch tall and 3 inch on a side.i instaled it in my terrarium and it works like it was made for it.very small and unintrusive as well.
small box on top is the fan.
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Denny,

I don't see any pictures, just an ad for clubphoto.

Larry

Larry- beautiful plants. I love 'em!

Very delicate and fascinating appearance. I am sure you have a plan that is excellent that keeps the plants thriving. Ok what are your secrets?

Hello,

First of all I want to thank all of you for the kind words that you have given critiquing
the plants that I have put on the forum in the last day or so.

Pistilo, I really don't consider this to be much of a terrarium. When I go onto the terrarium forum I see that what I really have it is a high humidity miniature flowerbed.

I wish that I had a secret weapon for getting a terrarium (high humidity miniature flowerbed) to grow. I really don't know exactly why it is working. What I do know is what wasn't working. I had the idea that there should not be a lot of condensation on the sides of the glass. Because of this idea I kept the soil way too dry. I lost a couple of pusillas in the tank and darn near killed the rest of the plants including the small tree fern that one can see in one of the pictures. It is amazing how much condensation that a terrarium can have on its side's and have the soil be completely dry. Now I don't worry about the condensation and only worry about the soil being moist enough to grow plants. I make sure that it doesn't get waterlogged though.

My biggest problem at the moment is mold growing on the top of the soil. I have had some success with dabbing Tinactin on the soil with a paintbrush and although where the Tinactin touches the mold it kills it on contact, I am having trouble putting down an unbroken layer. I cannot get the can of Tinactin down in the terrarium to spray just the soil and not get anything on the plants. After White Sprite is done blooming I am going to scrape off the mold again and spray the entire top of the soil and plants with Physan so that there is not a break in the soil anywhere for the mold to get a foothold. Physan will discolor the white blooms on the White Sprite, which explains the wait. I am told that it should do the job as long as I scrape off all of the mold first before spraying. It is also a very safe product. It is basically what I put in my wicking saucers to keep them from getting slimy and full of algae. It can safely be put in birdbaths to keep slime from forming and not hurt the birds. Anyway I will keep everyone informed on whether the Physan works for the surface mold.

Larry

still,even without the pics.the fan is ideal.
i wonder how expencive they are.

Denny,

I figured out how to see your pictures. It is a little involved. I put the instructions on your TEST thread on the house plant forum. Your setup looks pretty neat. Did you need a transformer to power it?

Larry

I have read that physan should be used in low concentrations in wicking wells, otherwise it can kill plants. So, be careful with it and don't use too much. As a spray I think it is safe. I have sprayed seedlings with aerosol tinactin and didn't lose the plants but I hesitate to suggest it won't harm foliage. I prefer the aerosol powder form rather than the alcohol spray form of tinactin. Also, it does come in a cheaper generic like Walgreens (I think).

Another way to limit the fungus problems when making up a new terrarium is to cook your soil. I do this for my seed starting mix, of 1-1-1 (peat, perlite, vermiculite), which I wet down and cook in the oven at 170 F for three hours. If cooked long enough it kills all the spores of fungi, algae, liverworts and ferns. Mold still gets in, often from the plants themselves. Dale grows show plants of minis in the open, in New Zealand moss in wicked pots. I have never tried this though. I like the way some of the minis will reseed in a terrarium making a carpet. My Rio Das Pedras seems to reseed very easily in an enclosure.

Jon

yes,i use a transformer.i think 12volt spins too fast but 9v seems just right.
ive heard cooking your soil in the house can smell it up for some time.i dont do it but i guess i dont really have much call too.
good luck

About the smell--that is a good question. I have always heard about the horrible smell. But, the only soil I have ever sterilized is my soiless mix of peat, perlite and vermiculte. That doesn't make a bad smell at all. It just smells like nice warm cozy potting soil. The peat, of course, is Canadian sphagnum peat moss. I would never use the black stuff that they used to sell for gardeners. I haven't seen that stuff in many years but I don't know what they sell in other regions. I use my cooked soil mix mainly for starting seed. Before I did this, the same mix would usually cause problems if the seeds didn't germinate quickly and grow quickly. The mosses, liverworts, and fungi would grow and overwhelm things. Oh, and that awful slimy green algae--ugh. At first I would cook my mix for an hour, but I still got mosses, so I cooked for longer and now, when I start seeds the pots stay clean for months--and note: these pots are enclosed in ziplock bags so stay very moist. Sometimes, I, as is my unfortunate custom, leave seedlings untouched for months. The little gesneriads in that sterile mix will turn totally white, looking like little grains of perlite. Then I finally notice them and give them a weak feeding and they green up and start growing. It is so weird to see those tiny white leaves. But, if my mix weren't sterilized the seedlings would have been killed by whatever else was growing in the mix.

Jon

I started to post about roast dirt a couple days ago, but apparently I got called away before I finished (surprise!)
I just recently baked a bunch of home-mixed potting medium with about 1/3 cypress mulch in it. (Some components laid outside, bagged, but on the ground. I wanted to kill off any sowbug eggs before I used the stuff.) Boy did that smell good! The wood smell completely overpowered any dirt smell.
I think maybe I should throw a few spruce branches in the oven when I put up our (fake) Christmas tree.

Komi,

I looked at this thread again and reread your entry explaining about how you have problems with White Sprite in small enclosures. I also remember having a lot of trouble with the micro minis in small globes. I could never seem to get them to bloom after the first time. They would just slowly disintegrate. Putting them all in this larger area really seems to work better for me. I am looking forward to putting Rio das Pedras in there when they get large enough.

Larry

I am currently trying the white sprite in open top containers... we'll see how this goes. I had them in a larger terr but they still did badly.

I'm harvesting a few Rio seed pods - if anyone wants a few seeds, send me mail with your address.

... spreading the love ; )

I love the pics of your micro minis and their terrarium! It got me thinking of trying it with mine, but keeping them in their own pots. Maybe wick watering too.
Thanks again for the pics.

John

Larry,
Where would someone find those Micro mini Sinningias?
I have had the idea to set up a 30 gal terrarium and was wondering where everyone bought or traded for the minis?
razz