I bought this endearing little plant about ten years ago. For me this is a truly charming terrarium plant. I adore Goeppertia micans leaves; their foliage may appear to be lovely, but fairly ordinary plain green, narrow leaves, but when you touch this foliage it’s a delightful surprise to discover that these leaves are sumptuously soft! The undersides of every leaf are smooth and silky, they feel like the softest velvet.
Maxillaria acutifolia is a small and compact orchid species from: Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Leeward Islands, Mexico, Venezula, Trinidad and Tobago. From winter to springtime, mature Maxillaria acutifolia plants produce these very cute yellow-orange coloured flowers, which are fragrant and have a nice scent. The blooms are held low down at the base of the plant, underneath the leaves; however the blooms aren’t completely obscured and the flowers can be easily admired.
Stelis tridentata is a miniature orchid species that grows as an epiphyte – instead of growing in the soil – this orchid grows upon other plants. In the wild, Stelis tridentata plants can be found growing upon trees in the rainforests of Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and Costa Rica. Stelis tridentata grows in cloud forests, where these plants flourish in this humid environment.
Pilea microphylla is a low-growing tender perennial; it’s a native plant of Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and nearby countries. This is a very small-leaved plant with teeny, tiny leaves that measure just 1-2mm (0.04-0.08″) in size. At first glance, Pilea microphylla looks rather similar to mosses or ferns. I am afraid that I am hopelessly in love with Pilea microphylla. This diminutive plant would be an ideal choice for an indoor fairy garden!
Callisia repens is a low growing, tender herbaceous perennial plant from Mexico, North, Central, and South America. Plants thrive in partially shaded conditions, in shallow, free draining, acid soils. This easy-to-grow plant readily adapts to a range of circumstances; tolerating both brighter and more shaded environments, as well as moist, humid, and drier conditions and neutral compost and soils; making Callisia repens a superb houseplant, thats hard to kill!
Porroglossum echidna is a mini miniature sized orchid species, from the cloud forests of Colombia and Venezuela. Plants grow at a range of locations in these mountainous regions, at heights from between 2500m and 3200m above sea level.
This cute little orchid species flourishes in very humid environments; it’s perfectly suited to growing inside a terrarium or bottle garden, or another enclosure where the humidity levels remain at 75%RH and above.
Porroglossum muscosum gets its genus name – Porroglossum – from the Greek for ‘far, far away’ and ‘tongue’ – a reference to these plants flowers’ distinctive lip. While the specific epithet, this plant’s species name – muscosum – means mossy – a reference to the plant’s hairy flowering stems. This is a miniature orchid species that grows both as an epiphytic orchid – on other plants, and as a terrestrial orchid – when it grows on the forest floor, often in leaf litter.
Potatoes can be planted and grown in the soil, but don’t worry, if you don’t have the ground available, you can grow your own successful harvest of potatoes in a container. I have grown potatoes very successfully in various different containers, including an old bin, which worked exceptionally well! Tall containers, like old plastic bins, take up less room and can grow a greater crop than shallower containers like regular garden pots.
Epidendrum porpax is an epiphytic orchid species that originates from Colombia and Venezuela, where this miniature sized plant can be found growing on trees in areas of humid forest. Epidendrum propax has a naturally creeping habit, this orchid forms spreading plant mats, that clothe the areas of the oak and pine trees that this orchid grows upon.
Epidendrum porpax is a fairly tolerant, easy going orchid, however this miniature orchid species favours intermediate to warm temperatures, with bright, filtered, diffused light, and high humidity.
Psygmorchis pusilla is a miniature, epiphytic orchid species, which can be found growing in humid forests in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru, Venezuela, and other exotic locations, where the plant colonises the outer branches of trees.
Psygmorchis pusilla is a delightful, fan shaped, miniature orchid species, which has an attractive appearance even when it’s not in flower. This orchid produces very large, predominantly yellow inflorescences, which have red-maroon markings.
Masdevallia tovarensis is miniature to small sized, epiphytic orchid that is endemic to Venezuela where it grows in cloud forests.
Masdevallia tovarensis produces flower stems each of which can produce a number of beautiful, large, pure white flowers. The flower stems can bloom again and again over extended periods and consequently should only be cut back when they have faded and turned brown.
The word Stelis is taken from the Greek for a small pillar. Stelis muscifera is a miniature epiphytic orchid species that originates from Ecuador and Venezuela, where plants of this species can be found growing at between 800m – 1600m above sea level. Stelis muscifera flowers in spring and summer. During its flowering period, each flower spike is clothed in rows of numerous, tiny mauve coloured flowers – Stelis muscifera is such a pretty orchid species!
Masdevallia rechingeriana is a miniature, cool growing, epiphytic orchid species, which originates from Venezuela. Masdevallia rechingeriana produces a triquetrous inflorescence, which is very tall, and is longer in length than the plant’s leaves.
Masdevallia rechingeriana is growing inside my Miniature Orchid Trial BiOrbAir Terrarium, you can see how well this plant is growing in my BiOrbAir Review – Growing Miniature Orchids in the BiOrbAir (part three).
Found in Venezuela and Colombia, Lepanthopsis astrophora ‘Stalky’ is an epiphytic, miniature orchid species that can be found growing in wet, mountainous forests and cloud forests.
Once Lepanthopsis astrophora ‘Stalky’ has grown to a mature size, this lovely miniature orchid blooms for periods of up to five months at a time, producing glistening, purple coloured, star shaped flowers en masse. You can see Lepanthopsis astrophora ‘Stalky’ in full bloom in this update here.
