"Rob" wrote in message
...
Susan Erickson wrote:
On Tue, 09 Aug 2005 18:17:05 -0400, Steve
wrote:


Oh my, that was longer than I thought. I hope it is viewable for
everyone.
Anyway, that is my pearcei in a 4 inch pot. I just ran outside (where
most of the orchids are enjoying their summer camp) and measured with a
ruler to make sure I wouldn't exaggerate the smallness. The highest leaf
is 6 inches above the medium and the two spikes (now flowerless) are 9
and 11 inches tall. I consider that to be a very small Phrag.
By the way, there are two different Phrag pearcei. The little one that I
own and another that is at least 3 times as big. At least. The little one
seems to need to form a small clump before it will start blooming. I have
seen the big one blooming from a single fan of leaves.
I'm not sure if I'm a splitter or a lumper but I think, even though the
flowers appear to be identical, I would split pearcei into two species.
Fortunately, that's not my job.

Steve


Liked your pearcei. How about Paphs? Paph fairrieanum is often
ignored. But is a lovely small thing and Paphs are generally
lower light plants. We grow both Paphs and Phrags in Semi/Hydro
so I am sure the drainage problems could be licked. It is the
air movement I would worry about.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php


Most terraria I've seen aren't much more than 18" high. When your pearcei
and fairrieanums bloom, you will push the top off, even if you are
planting them on the very bottom. Figure 3-4" for substrate, plant 6"
tall, and the spike 8-12" tall (at least that is how my pearcei bloom...).
I appreciate pearcei and some of the other phrags are smaller than, say,
longifolium... But even a small phrag is a lot of space in a small box.
If nothing else, it would be out of scale with the rest of the vegetation.

I'm a slipper nut, I'd really like to do it... But I'd pick Paph.
barbigerum as my terrarium slipper. Cute, and diminutive. Charlesworthii
might be another good choice. Or, find an old phonebooth and put a few
rothschildianum and kolopakingii in it. *grin*

If anybody wants to play with terraria, I have about, oh... 300 million
Masdevallia floribunda that I don't particularly want to hold on to.
Cheap... OK, maybe not that many, but it is a weed. Now that would be a
nice plant for a dart frog enclosure.

I'm putting together a terrarium with orchids. Are you serious about selling
a few of these? They would be perfect for the foreground of my project.