Hi. I have a terrarium about 1 foot deep x 2 foot wide x 2.5 or so feet tall and it has some potted plants in it right now but I was hoping to transform it into a more natural terrarium with drainage and a water apparatus and some things planted. The light I have in it is some small fluorescent tube from osh but I think my pinguicula and frail trigger plant are light defficient! I have been looking at different light fixtures with T5 HO fluorescents in them and I am not sure just how much light I need. would a 4 foot 2 bulb fixture have enough light for high light orchids at the top and low light things at the bottom (4 foot for room outside the terr for other plants)? or would I need to go with a 4 bulb apparatus?

also, will feather mosses I collected native to far-northern california grow in a terrarium that is between 60 and 90 degrees all year? I think it might require a season that gets down into constant 40s and occasional 30s, though I think the summers there are pretty close to tropical with all the heavy fog except for no rain. I have the moss I collected right now in plastic bags in the shade and they are actually growing quickly.

How do you water phalaenopsis or other orchids that like to be watered heavily then left dry if they are in a terrarium? spray roots with water bottle?

If I were to put something that requires low temps at night could I cool the terrarium by putting ice in whatever reservoir the ultrasonic fogger is using?

Also if anybody has any suggestions for my terrarium making or anything like that, I am going to put some lavarock and charcoal layers at the bottom with something to keep the dirt up then dirt, and I think a pump in the rocks at bottom to go to top where I will have a water feature with an ultrasonic fogger in the water feature.

thanks

here is a picture of the terrarium right now with a few plants in it.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us