hi everyone! new to the board and the life of botanicals. i currently have a very successful reef tank... so i know the time and knowledge it can take to get an end result. i have some ideas in mind... and im in the very begining stages... so if i sound new and dont know what im talking about... its because i am. :) i am designing a house for me in the future (next couple of years) and would like to add a 15x30' solarium to the design of it. i would like to have a figure 8 walk way through out it so that you can visit every square inch of the solarium. in the two holes of the figure 8 i want to have round 200-400 gallon koi ponds. and a sitting/eating table/area in the very middle between the two ponds. i would also like to grow the following... please tell me if it is at all possible.... Tropical flowers fresh herbs orchids lilies (and water lilies and lotuses in the koi ponds) basically as many brightly colored flowers as possible. i would also probably have many kinds of green vegeation... no clue what kind... but its not my main concern now. am i completely off track?
Sounds exciting! Have you thought out who would carry out maintenance of the whole thing, as I imagine it would take time and knowledge of the koi, ponds, and plants, not to mention temperature, humidity controls, and lighting (wish I could win that lottery :-). I would, however, not depend on tips from the internet to learn about an installation like that, but first speak to various solarium companies, and water garden (re the koi) experts, then compare what they advise with the info. you get regarding the plants, the only odd one out which would seem to be the herbs (and they may also work, but don't necessarily thrive in a 'tropical' environment). Orchids come in 3 types (thousands of varieties within those) - 'warm' growing, neutral (house-plant temp. compatible) and 'cool' growing, the range from 85 F. to 50 F. (o-nite), and lighting requirements range from very high - needing expensive supplementation, to fairly low. Orchids can definitely be demanding in other ways and require ongoing attention, though you could have a couple of e.g. phalaenopsis on an 'indoor' sill that's not facing SW without a lot of trouble. Unfortunately you say green veg. is not your main concern, but it will end up becoming so, as plants don't wait for you to learn their needs when they come home, but need you to immediately know what to do for each one. The idea is terrific, but do some real research as you may be biting off a lot more than you're ready for.
that is why i am on this message board. like i said in my first post, this is the VERY BEGINING stage of "brainstorming" so i do plenty of research. and i honestly find i find more reputable people on the internet to learn from. "knowledge" is not something i need to go to a local garden store for. but i surely will just to look at live plants... and of course always ask questions. but please dont try and discourage me from asking questions on this board. i plan on also doing a vivarium in the future which is a tank with tropical flowers (such as orchids) and poison dart frogs, so if i cant have the orchids in the solarium, its not a big deal, as they will be in another attraction somewhere in the house. i plan on putting specific kinds of flowers into separate areas: i.e. the herbs would not be in the same dirt as the flowers. and i will probably separate each flower section as needed. does anyone know of any websites/forums specifically for home solariums in the 15x30 general size area?
I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to discourage you from the forum(s), but help you understand that you need a lot of professional advice for what you're planning, and while the boards have lots of good, knowledgable people, there are also plenty who sound very confident, but unfortunately don't necessarily know what they're talking about all the time. It's not enough to depend on them alone.
My husband and I are designing the same in Coastal SC. we plan on the koi pond and all. We also want to add citrus trees, banana's and herbs! we will keep checking your forum for information.
it's a wonderful plan and is workable! i would love to do something like that as well - i just love the idea of having a tropical room like a conservatory/solarium! i'd say you should do a lot of research and start getting a few of the plants you'd like to grow in the spot. basically, do as much book-learning beforehand and get as much hands-on experience as you can. both will serve you very, very well. there's one member here (steve aka photopro) who keeps lots of aroids and other tropicals (and some koi, too, i think) in an atrium at his house - he also had a similar set-up at his previous home. i've no doubt he'll post and give you some tips. he's going out of town so may not post for a week or so... in the mean time, please check out his website exotic rainforest. he's got an absolute TON of info there (and it's generally spot-on accurate as he confers with the experts regularly) so you will learn a lot about a variety of plants...most of what he's got on the site is what he's growing in his atrium.
