Orchid Karma :: An orchid blog » nano build

Minor adjustments

Karma — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 11:51:43 +0000

I have been debating weather I need to add some ventilation to the nano orchidarium… Most of the time RH is right at 100% and I am afraid I might get a problem with mold in the future. Right now the 80mm fan is set for 12V and is doing a great job, but [...]

An EPI(c) new plan

Karma — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:30:45 +0000

So I am a little disappointed over the functionality of the clay pipe actually… In my estimation it did not leech out a whole lot of water for the orchids, and what little did was promptly dried up by the fan. I turned the 80mm computer fan up to 12V since I saw that [...]

Light trouble oh yeah…

Karma — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 18:56:39 +0000

This is kind of funny actually… at least now in retrospect.

The whole orchidarium build has been fairly simple really. But now there is this one teeny tiny detail – the mood light – that is giving us so much trouble and that it is threatening to cost as much as the entire build [...]

Day 12: Planning the nano…

Karma — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:29:49 +0000

Now the fun begins… the planning of the orchidarium. Naturally the size is very limited so I will have to study up on mini orchids. Fun fun.

I was looking at warm growing mini-masdevallias: Masdevallia lata, m. naranjapatae, m. pelecaniceps, m. weberbaueri, m. collina, m. cuprea, . guerrieroi, m. gutierrezii, m. guttulata, m. kuhniorum, [...]

Day 11: The nano-inspired orchidarium is done!!

Karma — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:18:55 +0000

Ok. Here are a few notes on the build… I have had requests for a detailed outline for how to build this so I hope this will suffice.

All in all… you can buy a beautiful nano vivarium from Dusk, so unless you are pretty dedicated and is willing to put in a lot [...]

Day 10: aaahhh the circles are done!

Karma — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:14:57 +0000

After a few days of collecting my energy, the circles are now cut and done! It wasn’t really that bad, 1 hour of consistent sawing with a fine-toothed metal cutting saw. It turned out pretty good actually.

Yes! It will work.

Day 7: Back to hell …making circles

Karma — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:50:45 +0000

It seems it will be a rather costly ordeal to get circles cut by a professional… so I am thinking I will have to do it myself after all. What a bitch!

I think that the thinner 1,5 mm thick PVC I used for the tube is too thin to support for the lid/bottom [...]

Day 6: Sealing the clay pipe

Karma — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:24:50 +0000

I decided that I needed to seal the clay pipe on the bottom so I can take out the pipe without creating a swimming pool in my livingroom (somewhat of an overstatement but you get the idea). The best solution seemed to simply glue a clay plant saucer to the bottom with some constructuion [...]

Day 5: Carving circles in hell

Karma — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:58:11 +0000

Let me tell you one thing about PVC. It is freaking hard as hell and still the most brittle material you ever saw!! I admit it. I capitulate. I will pay someone to cut the darn circles or it will near kill me, and still not look very good. I just need a bottom [...]

Day 4: Oops, and the more you learn the less you know

Karma — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:58:13 +0000

Another trip out to the local hardware store to replace my original type of silicone for one made specifically for aquariums – apparently, the regular stuff would not have stuck to the PVC material I am using since it contains oil. You learn something new every day.

On the upside. I found a real [...]