Calvin, I dabble in growing bromeliads. I have seen broms and orchids growing side by side in Venezuela.

Many Tillandsia species are grown as you describe.
Perhaps, you can find info using these plants as your search target?

Good Luck!

--Stitz--

I think you're looking at an extremely limited pool of interested orchid consumers.

As a windowsill grower, heres whats going through my mind as I read your post:

-How long do I have to sit there holding this basket in this tub of mist? Why am I holding this here when I can just soak it in the sink and leave it alone for an hour?
-Or, how much is the system gonna cost that will dunk my 50 plants into this huge ugly industrial tub thats supposed to fit in my window?
-Or does this go in a greenhouse, in which case if you do this, wouldn't you have wasted thousands of dollars on a greenhouse, whose purpose is to keep humidity up in the first place? Wouldn't it be cheaper to just set up an automatic misting system than it would be to buy gagets and gizmos that dunk THEN create mist baths?

Much as we all love our plants, everyone is looking for the cheap, least laborious way to keep our plants happy and healthy-including the first rule of IPM: get plants that are suited to your environment, not the other way around. Is aeroponics a cheaper and less laborious than a greenhouse? I actually dunno, you tell me :)

Whats easier: Growing a vanda in a vase, or setting up an elaborate and expensive system. Not to mention visual appeal! If this is supposed to be indoors, most windowsill growers (who by your statement I'm assuming is your target audience, correct me if I'm missing the mark) are out since it'd probably look horrible in their living room.

I know zilch about aeroponics, and I'm coming from the vantage point of a windowsill grower who wants his life to be simplified. If aeroponics will do that, yay! But I could also see it taking the personal touch out of the hobby for a lot of people, myself included. I enjoy watering my plants myself rather than having a system for me.

One word, AeroGarden. I just ordered the AG3 to try. Can't wait!

Stitz - I love tillandsia and I have a little one I bought years ago that has now spontaneously split into 3 plants. They hang around my mounted plants and catch all the moisture - I really want some spanish moss but can't find any here in Canada.

Tommyr - these are really neat but always struck me as being too small and overpriced. What is your take on things?

Terpguy - as I said: I like to tinker :) As for watering, to each his own! I really do not enjoy watering at all, and my plants suffer for it. I had automatic misters that I wasn't happy with so now I water daily by hand. It is enjoyable but I'm not organized enough to wake up on time to water and also make it to work at a decent hour. This is life.

Let me clarify a little what this sort of setup would be like. An aeroponics setup wouldn't actually involve dunking. The plants are grown in baskets that are sunken into a mist reservoir. If the mist is set on a timer, then basically you would have mist pumping through every few hours through the roots.

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6o5LTl6GJw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brvJ2fGXusU (under 32 bucks)

As for aesthetics, this is where the fun and creativity comes in...your reservoir could potentially be anything, from a rubber maid tub to a sleek transparent acrylic tank, to a beautiful lined mahogany cabinet. My orchidarium is an ugly thing, but it gets the job done...that said, there are absolutely gorgeous tanks out there. When I have the time and money, I too will get one.

I would love a green house, but living in a townhouse with 0 garden makes that an impossibility - I make do with what I have :)

Anyway, you're completely right in saying that the average windowsill grower will have no use for such a device. Personally I would never suggest actually marketing this in any way. It's the same reason why laminar flow hoods for seed flasking, or ready-built orchidariums are really not very popular at all in the orchid growing world; most people are content with windowsill growing, or can afford the luxury of a greenhouse. But for those of us who just 'have to' grow some plants, alternative innovations are inevitable (try growing draculas in a downtown apartment!) and sometimes when you're bitten by the bug, it's surprising how far a little stretching of the imagination to create the perfect environment can accomplish. This is, of course, the reason that despite the hassle, money and time spent, there is still a huge group of people who enjoy constructing orchidariums, cold-grow boxes, terrariums etc.

Orchids are very adaptive and will grow in almost anything. I believe that they develop roots suited for the environment they find themselves in.

Some examples:

Take a potted plant out of it's pot full of bark and put it in SH. I may well loose all the existing roots and make new ones suited for the new condition.

I have some Cymbidiums which are growing in pots full of rock underneath some mounted plants. The mounted plants and the Cymbidiums by secondary intention, get watered every day. After initially rotting out a bulb or two, the Cymbidiums adapted and despite a completely incorrect way of watering them they look lush and are in spike. They want to live and they want to reproduce so they simply have adapted to the daily watering.

I took a rooted D kingianum out of its 2" pot and put it in a small vase submerging the entire rootball in water. I rotted all the roots out and promptly made new ones. Right now it has healthy new growths and a healthy bunch of roots. It's been growing like a water lily for a year.

I have a couple of larger plants, an Lc with 50 odd pbulbs and an Onc sphacelatum wich is also huge growing in nothing. 2 wires are threaded through the rootball creating a cross then bent upwards to make the hook. The plants are suspended thusly with no mount, basket, pot nor any substrate. The roots get soaked at least once a day and the plants are doing fine.

A few years ago I grew a bunch in pure Horse manure, that worked also. I stopped doing it as the HM tends to disappear and all that's left is some undigested straw.

The whole point of this is that orchids will grow in anything you give them except a pot full of deteriorated bark. Your aeroponic system should work as well as anything else and probably no better. If growing them like that blows your skirt up, go for it.

Which takes us full circle back to basics. Grow your orchids in such a way that is easy for you and turns you on. The plants will adapt and make do.

Nick

Hi
Here's my two cents lol. I'm always amazed at the different methods used to grow plants and the debate of which is best. They all obviously work to some degree so obviously the ONLY choice is what works for you.??
I have found epiphytic orchids very adaptable BUT I also find various methods vary widely in results.
Having tried all different kinds of methods over the years and have several orchids over 20 years old with waxing and waning interest with corresponding care I can compare slightly different methods side by side.
At the shows and local collections you can always spot a well cared for orchid. They have more flowers with higher quality and far more vigorous growth.
The method used was the old standby methods lol.
If there can be such a thing as a "lazy" orchid grower I'm it lol. While I do get growth flowers and so forth there is NO comparison with the ones not two blocks from me ...Invaribly they are using the old stanby methods you can get from any basic book!!
gary

The old standby methods are a successful effort to adapt plants which grow with their roots exposed to air and no substrate of any kind to our growing environment. Roots in a pot full of fresh bark, water once a week etc will make it work.

I have always resisted that and try to think of the plant in their natural environment and then attempt to duplicate this. There are a number of rain forest types in moss, a few terrestrials in bark, the Cymbidiums and others like them (D speciosum, delicatum etc) in rock but the vast majority of my plants are growing like true epiphytes. That's nature's old stand by method and if you have the time to water them often, I think it is (at least in my hands) the best.

True, they are a little difficult to display at shows because of their awkward structure but I never the less have a number of trophies from various shows decorating the mantle above the fireplace. I'm not talking about ribbons which they give you for showing up with a detectable pulse, I have a couple of cubic feet of those, but real awards for well grown plants including a couple of AOS awards

I'm fortunate enough to live in a favorable climate so in no way belittle the efforts necessary to make things work in the frozen North. You guys are facing formidable challenges and I laud your efforts. I'm sure the Aeroponic system will work well.

There was a nursery in Los Osos, now closed, who grew great Vandas with a misting system that gave them a few second blast every 15 minutes. So many different ways to skin a cat!

I remember once buying some plants from James Rose at Cal Orchids and on the way out asking him if this or that method would work. With a wide sweep of his hand he said: "THEY ALL WORK"

Nick

calvin
Another two cents . I think if I had your climate and your interest in epihhtic orchids I'd go the "terrarium route within the house rather than a GH..landscaped of course rather than just a grow area.
I can relate to "tinkering" LOL. What better fodder for that than a completely enclosed grow system using artificial methods ?? I see marvelous setups in the most unlikely of climates . on various websites
Expensive of course but would not only provide a "perfect" grow area would be a work of art??
I recently started one because I happen to have a 2x2x6 foot glass box that will not hold water.
I see YEARS of tinkeering in my future lol. So far I'm think of false bottom with semi hydroponics . Not sure about orchids certainly none of the kinds I have now but maybe some of the "oddball" epiphytes?? good luck with your plan.. gary

Hi Calvin,

I'm currently growing in a situation very similar to what you describe. I have a large terrarium where all my smaller mounted orchids stay, as well as all orchids newly potted into S/H. The fogger attached to the terrarium is on a timer set at intervals frequent enough to keep everything moist. The intervals themselves have to change throughout the year because of changing light/heat levels. This is the first time that I've been able to succeed with mounts. It's very low maintenance....the water reservoir is big enough to last for a few days so I can disappear for a time if I need to. If I'm home, all I do is give everything in there a quick spritz in the morning. About once every two weeks I remove everything to wash the tank down (some algae growth).

I've also found it invaluable when acclimatising orchids to S/H. In the past I've had problems keeping moisture in the top few centimeters of hydroton, and all the new roots were dying as soon as they hit the clay. With this setup, the constant moisture is letting those roots develop until they're long enough to reach down closer to the reservoir.

The only lesson I had to learn was that under no circumstances should there be any organic/water retentive potting mediums in the tank. They stay sopping wet and they won't dry out. I rotted away the first two orchids I put in there.

Tyler

here is my opinion on aeroponics....

For growing orchids with the intent of getting blooms, I would not do it.

Reason #1
The plant is essentially stuck wherever your aeroponics set up is. I doubt any aeroponics setup looks good next to the furniture in your living room. These setups are also not the smallest things

Reason #2
if one plant is virused, any plant that shares the same water will get infected

I have a homemade aeroponics setup, but i use it for rooting cuttings from my garden...and it works GREAT for that. But i wouldnt use it for my orchids

Thanks for the input everyone. I do have 90g and a 70g terrarium setups with fans, misters, light banks..the works. The big problem is keeping humidity up without drenching everything...I can forsee a fogger increasing ambient humidity without 'watering' everything, which is why I am attracted to the idea.

I was merely toying with the notion of an aeroponics system, but all the points and concerns brought up have been very valid. In retrospect, I can see that there are few benefits to be had in an aeroponics system over a terrarium setting.

Tyler - I'd be interested in seeing what kind of fogger you have. It seems there are two camps of people: those who use ultrasonic misting units (those round metal things) and those who actually buy a humidifier unit. I've had mediocre experiences with the ultrasonic unit I got from mainlandmart, and the humidifier unit works well but is old and does not produce much mist (and replacement disks don't fit the old model). Those exoterra foggers are way expensive and overpriced imo, and I can't seem to find a good ultrasonic humidifier brand here in Canada...

I have the Zoo Med Repti Fogger. I bought it about a year ago for around $50 (on sale...I don't know what the original price was). Might have been overpriced, but I don't regret getting it. My mounted orchids love it. I haven't tried an automated misting unit, but I haven't felt the need for one so far with this setup.

I took a look at the insides when I bought it, and it appears to be similar to the metal disk that you were talking about, except that the disk is kept in an external unit. The fog is produced by the disk inside the fogger unit and then piped up into the terrarium through a tube. The obvious benefit over a the disk that you just put into a water reservoir inside the tank is that the fog doesn't just hang out at the bottom of the tank. I can adjust it so that it blows through all my mounted orchids. It also serves to increase air movement...I don't use any additional cpu fans, and haven't had any problems.

It's not problem free however. With winter here and less sunshine, indoor temperatures are lower and the fog inside the unit keeps it even cooler. Temperature in the tank is consistently below 20C...no problems so far, but I'm not sure how some of my warm growing Angs are going to react. On the other hand my Ang sesquipedale is budding for the first time. Looks like it's going to be a big flower...the bud is already an inch across and showing no signs of opening yet :)

Sweet - you'd better post photos!

I know the type of fogger you're talking about and they are fantastic because of the built in fan, which projects the mist from the ultrasonic component. It seems that this type of humidifier unit are regularly available at home depots/walmarts down in the states. The unit I bought from the dude for 5 bucks is the same in that it has a separate reservoir...but as I said, the thing is old an crusty (and ugly). I like how the zoomed one has it's own little hose - the makeshift one that I made for my unit leaks.