The photograph above is old. It was taken in the Fall of 2019, when I had started my indoor garden for the first time. Compared to how I grow now, it seems relatively painstaking, neatly wrought, and more elaborate. I’ve really put up all the mylar carefully, I’ve maximized my grow space with three lights in one area, I’ve got the humidifer running, I’ve even got a wall to contain humidity and light. The gallon jug with the pink cap looks brownish, signs that I’ve used it for diluted fertilizer—Neptune’s harvest fish/seaweed extract. My climate control was not bad. It had been pretty cool, but with relatively high humidity, at around 40-60%.
Since then, I’ve had more casualties to spider mites, due to the transport of soil from the outdoors in, and I haven’t been using mylar. I’ve shifted my focus away from growing edible plants to growing orchids.
Last summer I bought a Repti-zoo 40 gallon terrarium. This summer I bought a 20 gallon aquarium (used), another wire shelving unit in the form of a garment rack, 16-gauge vinyl fabric for that shelving unit, and LEXAN polycarbonate to make covers for the terrarium and aquarium. In the ventilation department, I bought three fans: an 80 mm AC Infinity USB fan, and two IP67-rated (water-resistant) fans by Coolerguys in 80 mm and 120 mm. For hydration, I bought a MistKing starter system and a Dewalt drill in order to make the hole in the reservoir. This MistKing system is wonderful and it is a pleasure to observe it function. And I bought two more humidity-temperature sensors by Govee and Inkbird, connected to my phone via bluetooth for data collection. I prefer the Govee, as it’s smaller, and the app is better.
Today, I bought 18-gauge, 14-gauge, and No. 2 braided picture-hanging wire and a linesman’s plier for hanging my newer Ecuadorian orchids in the vinyl house. I bought net pots and octagonal baskets from Kelley’s Korner, and a 1lb slab of cork bark for mounting. Wire bending technique isn’t all that straightforward, but I found this article helpful in at least identifying what gauges to buy and what the hangers should look like. It looks like I’ll need to use the drill-and-clamp technique to straighten the wire. The cork can simply be snapped by hand, as that produces a more natural shape.
This is a non-exhaustive list, insufficiently descriptive, perhaps… I may update this post with more commentary in the future, but for now I’m too exhausted with the temperature upkeep.
8/09/21
I decided to get a wine cooler, after a coincidence in the library. I had gone to Mann to read books on orchids and orchid culture. In a book on Dracula culture, someone had left their business card. The card gave the name of “Alfonso Doucette,” with a picture of a masdevallia on it, a Cornell email address, a phone number, and an apartment address. I decided to Google “Alfonso Doucette,” and found his Instagram, which revealed him to be a pretty intensive grower of orchids with a doctorate in botany. One of his posts was of a mini wine cooler that he had made for miniature cool-growing species. He included in the photoset a list of all the supplies that he had used and their cost; surprisingly, he hadn’t had to drill any holes or make any physical modifications to the cooler: he just put a long aquarium light sideways, near the front corner, and was able to insert a fan. I looked at wine coolers in the library on Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Target, and vigorously compared dimensions, settings, features, prices, power consumption, delivery availability. It turns out that power consumption for wine coolers isn’t that bad, especially in comparison to air conditioners—this was enough to convince me that it would be the better option. So I settled on one for about 300 USD (open box condition, Insignia brand) and it will arrive on Thursday. Then I went home and researched lighting and fan options; decided to get an AC infinity 120 mm with pretty low CFM, and a Finnex Planted+ ALC light. If only I had known that I’d be growing orchids more so than edible plants indoors! I could’ve bought fairly nice long LEDs instead of quantum boards, they would’ve been more versatile. I might sell my “extra” quantum board, the SpiderFarmer-1000, if this persists.
The main question I have is whether or not the light should and will be set up on the top of the enclosure or vertically. I chose the 16" option, which should fit, but if I don’t think it’s enough light, I could exchange it for the 20" or 24" version. And I need to make a visit to Lowe’s to get egg crate materials for the bottom, as I don’t really want to fill it with Leca pebbles, which would need to be contained from rolling out.
8/10/21
I would say the following hardware run was induced by a certain degree of boredom and mental drift, but it was necessary enough: I needed a false bottom material for my incoming seedlings' “crib.” So I went to Lowe’s by bike this evening, and walked home a large 4’x2' piece of “egg crate,” or louvered ceiling light panel. I also picked up new drill bits for making drainage holes in plastic containers, a long-nose plier, some clamps, and some terracotta pots. The pots are for the Trichopilia and for the Bulbophyllum burfordiense, and maybe for phalaenopsis or other plants down the line. I like terracotta a lot in the summer, it’s just not ideal for cooler weather on warm-growing plants.
I’m considering buying shade cloth at some point, so that I can put my seedlings on the shelf closer to the lights without burning them. But I don’t think I can buy a small amount, and it might look unappealing.