Love them!!!! Those are some great shots!

Carolyn

Great plants! Am I remembering correctly that you got the terrarium off of Craig's List? It's fabulous!

Kelly

Great Pictures, I just love Villosa, the leaves are so pretty! I'm so glad your Sp. square is recovering, that's another really nice hoya also. I also love your terrarium...very cool!

Oh! Did you guys see that SRQ has sp. square leaf on sale?! Woohoo! I'm getting one!

Carolyn

Nice photos, Quinn! I got my villosa in April (thanks, Dee!) and it's as beautiful in real life as in photos. It's just starting to put out new growth and seems happy as a lark...
{{gwi:958068}}

I also have sp. 'Square Leaf' on it's way from Thailand. I'm hoping it makes it in good condition because this is one I've been admiring from afar for awhile.

Denise in Omaha

Nice plants, love your terrarium. Your Hoya rigida is my favorite from the group because of the leaves.
That growing case I have is now crammed to capacity with plants and I can barely see inside. LOL

Mike

Haha Carolyn. I ordered a square leaf from SRQ too. ^_~ I was feeling put off by this hoya for a while because I kept reading such troubled postings about it over and over and over again. But how long was that really going to delay me? Apparently not very.

Quinn, your coolness factor just doubled with me - that terrarium is so great. I'd feel like I was living in a natural history museum - any way to fit a buffalo or some toy cowboys in there? Out of curiosity, which room do you keep it in?

Also, I like your anteater. With streps, I am especially partial to the velvety dark ones.

Denise, your villosa looks like it has huge dark leaves! Pretty! I'm waiting for mine to decide to grow. I think it is reserving judgment as to whether or not it likes it here.

Mike, how's the LED panel working out for that case? Any recent pics? My original terrarium is having issues. Mainly, it's those darn snails. Well, not exactly. I have these teeny tiny little pindot shiny black insects crawling around. They seem to appear en masse. At first I thought they were nothing, but now I believe they are juvenile bush snails. I can't say for certain, which is why I say not exactly, but I do notice things start looking crappy after they show up, and then I start seeing a snail or two. I'm pretty sure snails don't just pop up out of nowhere, they have to be baby snails first. They are not, however, in the terrarium in the pics above.

GG, my terrariums (I have three) are in my room. The one pictured above is on top of my dresser. I used to put my makeup and such on top of my dresser, until I realized I always put my makeup on at my desk. And that terrarium needed a home. So up on the dresser it went. It is much easier to care for up there. It used to be on my floor, and that was a huge pain. It was also not set up at all when it was on the floor. Just a place to put some cuttings. I needed a place for my deflasked Aerangis modesta seedlings to graduate to, and this was perfect. (By the way, anyone grow Aerangis species orchids? Need an Aerangis modesta? I have 20!)

Anteater was my first strep. I had a bunch, and then got super busy with work and lost them all. I loved Anteater though, so last year, I got myself a new one. This one took a loooong time to get going, and I actually thought I'd lose this one, but it came back, and is doing alright.

Sorry Kelly, didn't answer your question... I DID get that terrarium off Craigslist. Someone was heading off to college, and no longer had a bearded dragon living in it anyway, so she sold it to me for $90. Great deal, considering it is huge and normally goes for much more than that. It is only missing the fake rock backdrop (which I didn't want anyway) and the lid is warped. I shudder to even think about moving it. I have narrow winding stairs and the space is only just wide enough for it and some of my fingers. It was really tricky getting it up the stairs and I really should have had someone help me, but I did it myself (I was impatient). It was a little scary. It is almost 100% glass, very heavy. I also should've had someone help me put it on the dresser. (Again, impatient.) I won't tempt fate again in the future though.

Quinn I have those pests as well ( not me the plants LOL) from time to time and they are a pain in the butt. If you see longer narrow black bugs that are maybe 2-3mm long suspect thrips and be prepared to take action. Thrips are the WORST. The bugs could also be spring tails because they do very well in moist environments. Thrips leave damaged leaves where they suck sap while spring tails eat only decaying organic matter so they are not really a serious pest.

My LED panels work well but they were just not bright enough for some of my orchids so I use them now to add extra light in areas were it is a bit too dark. The grow case is now lit with a Sun Stick which is a T5 and I use mylar over the top to help reflect the light down. I have moved two white/blue panels over my Apistogramma baenschi tank and the plants have been growing well but so has the algae. I use a red/blue LED panel to root Hoya cuttings and that does work very well. I use a clear Rubbermaid type container with the panel sitting right on the clear lid.

I will try to get a photo of my growing case the next time I clean the walls, it's always got water spots and I have to empty it and wipe it down with vinegar/water to clean it up which is a big undertaking.

Mike

The only bugs I see in that case are fungus gnats on occasion, those little black bugs, and bush snails. The black bugs are about the size of a period, and shiny. They tend to cluster together, and move fairly fast for something so small. Diatomaceous earth seems to take them down for a while. The only problem is that it doesn't work as well when wet, and I tend to need to water my mounted orchids just about every day. Plus it really isn't attractive to have white powder all over everything. Since I spray with the Bayer every now and again, use the diatomaceous earth, and sprinkle BugGeta Plus to get the snails, there are no other insects in my case. So apparently, bush snails and these tiny black insects are a real big pain to get rid of. It does eventually help take their numbers down, but I cringe at having to use all this crap. Luckily, it is an enclosed system, and none of this stuff gets anywhere else. This is why I've come to the decision that nothing in this case is allowed to mingle with any other plants in my collection.

I hear you about the water spots. My acrylic case seems to get it far more often than the glass ones.

On a hoya note: the square leaf cutting inside my terrarium is now fairly rigid leaved. So, now, just waiting for the leaves to plump up a bit more, and some new growth! Also, retusa has apparently decided that it loves the terrarium, and has sent out a vine about a foot long, so that it almost pokes me in the eye each time I open the door to water everything. Good and bad: I'm happy that it is happy, but at this pace, it will definitely take over the terrarium.