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Post by nygreg on Sept 6, 2009 10:26:34 GMT -10
Hey looking for some advice here. I've been housing some young Nepenthes outdoors for the Summer. Changes are a coming and I plan on moving this outdoor setup indoors within the next month or so due to the weather. i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab155/gerg200/DSC01054-1.jpgi859.photobucket.com/albums/ab155/gerg200/DSC01081-1.jpgWhen moved inside, I plan on fully enclosing this setup in the clear vinyl provided with the greenhouse. I plan on using a small fan at the bottom to provide air circulation throughout, and I am going to place a large plastic pan on the bottom tier as well, fill it with water and use a submersible aquarium heater to provide necessary humidity (To me, this setup sounds like it will work, your thoughts?). This will definintely have to be tweaked because, unfortunately, I have a mix of temperate and some highland Nepenthes. I will post species soon as I get them together. Final thing to overcome is lighting. I found this which I think I plan to use due to the limited width of my setup : www.exo-terra.com/en/products/compact_top.php --model pt2227. I plan on suspending one below one of the shelves and placing my Nepenthes directly below it, hopefully using only one shelf, but 2 if it is overcrowded. Should I line this setup with mylar? Again, your thoughts, ideas? Lastly, and most importantly, what kind of CFL's should I be purchasing? i researched around a little and seem to have come up with 40w Daylights being the best option for my setup. Am I correct with this? your feedback on all of my ideas is greatly appreciated. Thanks! |
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Post by leilani on Sept 6, 2009 21:51:34 GMT -10
Somebody help this man before he loses his plants, money and girlfriend!  |
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bobh
Insignes
Posts: 52
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Post by bobh on Sept 7, 2009 7:52:49 GMT -10
I am not trying to pretend to be an expert, but I will offer this advice:
Keep it simple. I would recommend starting with easy hybrids or species that can manage well at room temperature. I would not make a system to increase humidity (you may well end up with a moldy mess). Most hardy plants can get by with less humidity than people think. I would keep your plants uncovered, you will enjoy them more. You will need supplemental light unless they get a lot of sunlight in the location you grow them. I have no specific recommendations, but what you are looking at should work. Be careful about fire and electric shock working with water and closed spaces.
If you choose easy to grow plants they are not hard to keep as houseplants. Providing light is the main issue, but I have many plants doing well on windowsills with sunlight only. With any luck, you are going to outgrow your setup soon anyway.
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Post by nygreg on Sept 7, 2009 14:27:37 GMT -10
Heres an off-hand list of what I will be growing in this setup: N. ventricosa (I believe - no label store bought from Lowes) N. sanguinea (I believe - again store bought from Lowes) N. orange sanguinea N. burkei N. talangensis x veitchii N. sibuyanensis x hamata Being a beginner at this, I think I screwed up in my setup by buying a mix between lowland and highland plants. What I plan on doing is getting this indoor setup up and running and overcoming the temperature barrier later. I just want to get the temperature and humidity stable at like an intermediate zone with everything I have. Looking into lighting, I was looking at daylight CFL's straight from Lowes rated at 75W putting out a 6500K color temperature and a color rendering index of 82. Would three of these be good lighting for my setup? www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=88959-371-60058&lpage=noneI then went through the site where I am getting my lighting enclosure from, exo terra, and found these bulbs www.exo-terra.com/en/products/compact_fluorescent_bulbs.phpLooking at specifically getting (3) Repti Glo 26W 2.0 CF's. Again, me being new to this venture, having never used artificial lighting, I am in great need of direction here picking out the right type of lighting. Appreciate feedback. Thanks |
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Post by nepsaroundthehouse on Sept 9, 2009 15:40:15 GMT -10
Nygreg,
I recently set up an indoor grow chamber similar to yours that you have outdoors. Essentially it was this mini greenhouse I got at a nursery that has four shelves (I only use 2 shelves for the plants) about 3 to 4 foot wide and a little over 5 foot tall with this clear plastic cover with two zippers on the front. What I did was put two fluorescent fixtures, one mounted above the top shelf, and another mounted hanging from the middle shelf. This provided light to my upper Neps and my light from the middle light to my neps on the bottom shelf. My fixtures are 24" from Lowe's on the cheap. They hold 2 24" tubes each. Basically shop lights. I bought plant lights at Lowe's for like 8.00 each. Nothing fancy. With the fixtures inside of the plastic, those transformers raise the temperature to nice lowland conditions and the plastic does a nice job of keeping it steamy in my bedroom. (Okay, I know I set myself up for girlfriend jokes with the steamy bedroom reference.) The plants are doing fine and pitchering up nicely. If I had your plant rack, I'd find a way to do something similar until you can trick it out later if you desire. Maybe you can get some clear heavy plastic and use velcro to use as a "door" for getting into the enclosure. You could easily mount the fluorescent fixtures to the underside of a shelf and hang one on the top portion. The problem will be your plants. I believe ventricosa and burkeii and sibuyanensis x hamata can take warmer temperatures over time. While I have never grown them at hotter temps, I do know they stress in highland conditions. Veitchii can grow warmer too but with the talangensis it may be pushing it. But I think it can hang in there for a while. Sanguinea I have no clue. It grows great for me as a highlander and I have heard that some warm climate growers have struggled with sanguinea. Maybe you can make a trade with someone for some lowlander or something. Anyway, hope that advice gives you something to go on.
Good luck,
Joel
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Post by nygreg on Sept 9, 2009 18:37:48 GMT -10
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Post by nygreg on Sept 9, 2009 18:45:26 GMT -10
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Post by nepplants123 on Dec 29, 2009 4:54:30 GMT -10
i would buy a nepenthes miranda (maxima X(northianaXmaxima) it dosent require high humidity, but it would still thrive in a set up like that. And when it gets big it can do fine outside of the mini greenhouse
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kain
Insignes
Posts: 144
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Post by kain on Dec 31, 2009 18:30:26 GMT -10
I suggest you go to CPJungle.com and check out their "Nepenthes University" section. They have some good ideas about small Nepenthes enclosures.
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