Tag: terrarium insects

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The Madagascar BiOrbAir Terrarium

Welcome to the thirteenth part of my Madagascar BiOrbAir Terrarium Trial – growing epiphytic orchids, which are endemic to Madagascar, inside the BiOrbAir terrarium.  I first planted this Madagascar BiOrbAir Terrarium in March 2017.  So, at the time of writing, in August 2019, this Madagascar BiOrbAir Terrarium is now two and a half years old.  In this update, it’s a pleasure to show you a few of the twinkling, crystalline flowers of Aerangis hyaloides, alongside the beauty of the snow-white, pendent blooms of Aerangis citrata, as they fade. 

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Controlling sciarid flies around houseplants and inside terrariums, on plants grown inside our homes, conservatories, and glasshouses What are sciarid flies?

Sciarid flies are teeny, tiny flies, from the family Sciaridae, they’re also known as fungus gnats, or by their genera’s scientific names of Bradysia or Lycoriella.  Although sciarid flies live outdoors, as the flies are so minute in size, you’re unlikely to notice these insignificant little flies outside. 

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Rainforest Terrarium Update

In March 2018, I commissioned Rich, from Rainforestvivs (now The Rich Rainforest), to build this fabulous, custom built Rainforest Terrarium for me.  I designed my Rainforest Terrarium to fulfil my requirements: I needed to provide an enclosure that would house as large a number of orchids as possible from my National Collection of Miniature Aerangis and Angraecum Species and my National Collection of Miniature Phalaenopsis Species, within the limited space I had available. 

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Rainforest Terrarium Update

In this my first update, you can discover how the Aerangis, Amesiella, and Angraecum orchids that are housed inside my Rainforest Terrarium have grown and developed over the past eleven months – from April 2018 to March 2019.  Discover which plants have died and which orchids have thrived during this time frame, in my first plant update for this custom built terrarium. 

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Miniature Orchid Trial BiOrbAir Terrarium

Welcome to the twenty-first part of my BiOrbAir Review – Growing Miniature Orchids in the BiOrbAir!  Since my last update, I’ve re-arranged the planting, introduced some new plants, and replaced the moss inside this Miniature Orchid Trial BiOrbAir Terrarium.  In this update, I’ve got some gorgeous Ceratostylis philippinensis, Phalaenopsis ‘Purple Princess’, Lepanthopsis astrophora ‘Stalky’, and Restrepia seketii flowers to show you! 

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Welcome to the twelfth part of my White Orchid BiOrbAir Terrarium Trial.  This update focuses on the enormity of the disastrous effects and the simply catastrophic results of my overwatering earlier this year.  You can see which orchids have survived, which plants are still battling and which plants have lost their battle.  Sadly, there is no chance of any orchid flowers in this update, just orchid winners and losers. 

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Welcome to the twentieth part of my BiOrbAir Review – Growing Miniature Orchids in the BiOrbAir!  The BiOrbAir is a specialised, automated terrarium, which was designed by Barry Reynolds from BiOrb.  I first planted this Miniature Orchid Trial BiOrbAir Terrarium in August 2015, so at the time of writing – in August 2018, this BiOrbAir terrarium is three years old! 

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In the early part of 2017, (which as I am writing to you, was over eighteen months ago now) I decided to create an Orchidarium: an enclosure complete with an automated misting unit, LED lights, and fans, to house some of my miniature and small sized orchids and provide them with automatic care.  I chose to create this orchidarium as a functional terrarium, the planting and style of this Orchidarium is not designed, or intended, to be naturalistic or beautiful, instead this Orchidarium allows me the opportunity of growing a greater number of plants, all mounted individually, so the plants can easily be removed or rearranged as I wish. 

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In March 2017, I created an Orchidarium, complete with an automated misting unit, LED lights, and fans, to house some of my miniature orchids and provide them with automatic care.  In this update you can see how these automated features have performed over the past year, and you can also discover how the plants inside this Orchidarium have grown and developed. 

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Welcome to the tenth part of my White Orchid BiOrbAir Terrarium Trial.  In this update it is a real pleasure to share with you the flowers of Amesiella minor before they fade, the sparkling blooms of Hymenorchis javanica as they twinkle, and the magnificent flowering of Amesiella philippinensis, as these glamorous flowers finally finish developing and open at last!

However despite all this sparkle, it’s not quite as glitzy or glamorous inside this terrarium as you might think – at least one type of spider mite is currently affecting the plants inside this White Orchid Trial BiOrbAir Terrarium. 

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A long-term review of the BiOrbAir (part three)

The BiOrbAir is a specialised, automated terrarium, which was designed by Barry Reynolds.  I planted up my BiOrbAir terrarium on the 25th September 2014.  As this was the first time I had planted a BiOrbAir terrarium; I chose a variety of different plants and ferns to trial and see how they each would grow inside the controlled environment of this terrarium, with the constant conditions the BiOrbAir provides.

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Growing Miniature Orchids in the BiOrbAir

A year has passed since I set up my first BiOrbAir, an automated, specialised terrarium, which was designed by Barry Reynolds.  I have loved and appreciated this special terrarium every day, and I will continue to do so.

Now, thanks to a wonderful and very generous, special gift, from my family and friends, who all enjoy seeing my first BiOrbAir terrarium, and have appreciated watching the plants inside develop and grow.  

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A long-term review of the BiOrbAir (part two)

The BiOrbAir is a specialised terrarium, which was designed by Barry Reynolds.  I planted up my BiOrbAir terrarium on 25th September 2014.  As this was the first time I had planted a BiOrbAir terrarium; I chose a variety of different plants and ferns to see how they would grow inside the controlled environment of this terrarium.

terrarium

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A terrarium or bottle garden can be a beautiful feature in your home.  Terrariums can look spectacular when planted with your favourite plants that are suited to growing in a humid environment, and often need no adornment, but you may wish to enhance your planting using a piece of wood or bark, some decorative stones or crystals, or even a specially chosen ornament.

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A Long Term Review of the BiOrbAir

I am reviewing and trialling the BiOrbAir, a specialised terrarium from BiOrb.  I’ll be updating this page each month with a photograph of my BiOrbAir and an update of how the plants are growing and how well the BiOrbAir is working.  

This is the first part of my long-term BiOrbAir review, it starts after planting in September 2014, and continues through until April 2015.