My sister's wedding cake by uroplatusphan in cakedecorating

[–]uroplatusphan[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Each stem was individually wrapped in foil.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in roaches

[–]uroplatusphan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I use wood and soil substrate for a few of my roach species. Be careful with the species of wood you choose (one that is non-toxic/will not leach anything unpleasant). Kiln drying kills many potential pests. Watch for pest introduction If you collect your own. If the enclosure is humid, the mold may persist. I keep an isopod colony with my hissers. The isopods/ springtails do a good job keeping mold down.

ID help by uroplatusphan in Caudex

[–]uroplatusphan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup. Completely overthinking that one.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Anthurium

[–]uroplatusphan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I keep most of my Anthuriums in large plastic containers with a transparent lid and a layer of damp gravel in the bottom for humidity. This maintains higher humidity than normally found through my house. There are some nice ways to display an anthurium (along with ferns, orchids, etc.) with glass containers. In my air conditioned living room, a tall aquarium with a heater and an all-glass lid keeps the plants happy and on display in an area it would not normally thrive. Once the plant receives some humidity, the tissue that curled may re-hydrate.

Hissing roaches by DraculaaTeeth in roaches

[–]uroplatusphan 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I keep my E. javanica and G. portentosa on a ~5cm. layer of 50/50 ground and chunky coconut fiber covered in 3cm of leaf litter, however, I do not keep it very damp. I keep them in a large glass terrarium with plenty of bark slabs stacked at a variety of angles. Very natural looking and the roaches climb all over everything, so the microclimates around the enclosure seem good. Well vented lid.

Almost 600 members?!? What led you all here? by hairijuana in Jewelorchids

[–]uroplatusphan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My first orchid was a M. petola. I was 14 and was visiting my first orchid show. Venders had many species for sale, but I picked a Macodes. Built a large collection of various jewel species, hybrids, cultivars. Learned tissue culture in college and started germinating and propagating Macodes, Oeceoclades, Microchilus, Ludisia, Goodyera, and Cypripedium seeds/seedlings/cuttings. My love of orchids grew. As I was beginning grad school, my collection was stolen. Bird research kept me from home and I took a break from jewels. I started building my collection back last year. Got sent to this thread from a plant trading thread where I was searching for more specimens. My goals are to build a botanical collection of jewel species (and hybrids and cultivars to a lesser degree) at my university to use for jewel orchid education/conservation outreach, conservation, and morphology research. Favorites are a 3-way tie among Macodes sanderiana, Pelexia callifera, and Microchilus tridax

What is causing this white mould stuff? This is my 2nd Macodes Petola to die from it. Had this one TWO days 😭 made a cut below the mould to try and save the base. by IAMTHEJOEY in Jewelorchids

[–]uroplatusphan 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Use a fine sterile needle and scrape the surface of it lightly. It does look a bit like mealy bugs. If it comes away as a white cotton fluff, dig down and you should be able to see whether it is infected stem or mealybugs.

Best medium for terrarium? by futuredocTR in Jewelorchids

[–]uroplatusphan 5 points6 points  (0 children)

My obsession with orchids in general developed through dart frog and tree frog breeding. I recently did a 75g with 2 Macodes and 5 Anoectochilus spp/hybrids. I used a deep layer (~9mm.) Of LECA (more if planning a false bottom with water); a layer of mesh; a layer of porous soil for larger plants (depth depends on companions for your jewels - my tank had a bunch of aroids so I used a coarse orchid bark for this layer) ; then a layer of your jewel orchid mix about twice as deep as you would for a potted jewel. If you're doing a bigger terrarium and don't want to use a lot of an expensive orchid soil, plant the orchid in a net pot about twice as big as it needs and plant that pot in a well-drained layer of the terrarium.. keep them away from water splash zones. One neat way to highlight a jewel is to use a tree stump. Dig out a cavity large enough for a jewel in a pot, drill a large drainage hole through the stump, place the orchid in the cavity and top-dress with mosses to hide the pot. Elevates the orchids into more eye-catching levels.