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Any hot climate Highland growers?

hi there! i live in florida and summer is approaching. ive been growing a number of my highland nepenthes and utricularia outside over the winter, but will need to start moving them somewhere cooler.

im looking for ideas from people who live in similar hot climates that struggle to cool their plants. how are you doing it?
 
You hope they'll survive until winter lol. For actual advice I've seen people using icepacks and some fans for cooling. The more obvious but expensive option is AC
 
yeah, im actually looking for used glass door mini fridges right now!

the other option was a grow tent and some form of window AC, but i havent figured out how that will work either...

i was hoping there would be a plethora of ideas and solutions, but it seems the struggle is more for northern climates keeping lowland plants...
 
yeah, im actually looking for used glass door mini fridges right now!

the other option was a grow tent and some form of window AC, but i havent figured out how that will work either...

i was hoping there would be a plethora of ideas and solutions, but it seems the struggle is more for northern climates keeping lowland plants...

One relatively inexpensive solution, would be to use one of the cheaper growing tents -- far more common and cheaper now, in the Golden Age of a Pot -- along with a humidifier and fans. Provided that the pots are insulated, evaporative cooling will go a long way toward maintaining the plants. It would also depend upon which species of Nepenthes, since some highlanders can be treated as intermediates for quite a while . . .
 
If you're going to take the air conditioning route, Something you might consider (depending on the size of your collection) is retrofitting a makeshift growing 'case' with a thermoelectric cooling air conditioner you find in some miniature fridges. You can find one on ebay, just search thermoelectric air conditioner. 400 BTU units will be more than enough for a well-sized space (I forgot the exact measurements, you can find a converter online to translate BTU into sq. ft.) make sure its in a 'well' insulated case, but I wouldn't think you'd have to get too crazy. It would have to be custom, as the cooling element side would have to be facing inward, and the hot side outward.

This is assuming you have the money (I think thermoelectric air conditoning units run a couple hundred dollars), time and patience to create such a space LOL! Just suggesting, as I went the air conditioning route and now regret that I spent all that money just to find out I needed something smaller... like the thermoelectric air conditioner.
 
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How much does the temperature drop at night in your area in summer? The plants might be just fine, but take this with a grain of salt, I have no experience in growing highland nepenthes.
 
Hey man. I live in central Florida right between tampa and Orlando so this is a problem close to my heart haha. The temp here can get 101 or 102 sometimes. Crazy. I also love highland neps and have been dealing with this for a while. I found, and this is for my setup, that if I move my plants into my greenhouse closer to the floor and keep high humidity and a ton of air movement I've been ok. When it gets really hot here I've made a small chamber using one of those crappy lowes greenhouses that zip up and thencrappiest used window ac unit. I just connected a hose from the ac to the bottom of the tent. If h have more questions please ask. I'm not good at explaining myself but it's worked for me for a while here
 
How much does the temperature drop at night in your area in summer? The plants might be just fine, but take this with a grain of salt, I have no experience in growing highland nepenthes.

The last three months or so, day time temps have been mid to low 70s, with a night time temp in the low 50s. Everyone loved it except the N. ampullaria. So right now, most of my plants are pretty happy. Full sun. High humidity. Nice temperatures.

But night time temps will quickly be back in the mid 60s soon. With day time temps in high 70s. I only get about 88 or so during the summer, but night time temps stay in the 70s. Too hot for these highland species I am told.
 
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Hey man. I live in central Florida right between tampa and Orlando so this is a problem close to my heart haha. The temp here can get 101 or 102 sometimes. Crazy. I also love highland neps and have been dealing with this for a while. I found, and this is for my setup, that if I move my plants into my greenhouse closer to the floor and keep high humidity and a ton of air movement I've been ok. When it gets really hot here I've made a small chamber using one of those crappy lowes greenhouses that zip up and thencrappiest used window ac unit. I just connected a hose from the ac to the bottom of the tent. If h have more questions please ask. I'm not good at explaining myself but it's worked for me for a while here

Oh good! Hello from Vero Beach! You're describing essentially one route I was planning on going:
- Mylar grow tent in my garage.
- window ac unit in my attic space with a hose connecting down to the tent

Do you have any pictures of your setup?
 
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If you're going to take the air conditioning route, Something you might consider (depending on the size of your collection) is retrofitting a makeshift growing 'case' with a thermoelectric cooling air conditioner you find in some miniature fridges. You can find one on ebay, just search thermoelectric air conditioner. 400 BTU units will be more than enough for a well-sized space (I forgot the exact measurements, you can find a converter online to translate BTU into sq. ft.) make sure its in a 'well' insulated case, but I wouldn't think you'd have to get too crazy. It would have to be custom, as the cooling element side would have to be facing inward, and the hot side outward.

This is assuming you have the money (I think thermoelectric air conditoning units run a couple hundred dollars), time and patience to create such a space LOL! Just suggesting, as I went the air conditioning route and now regret that I spent all that money just to find out I needed something smaller... like the thermoelectric air conditioner.

I started looking for used refrigerators last night. I like this idea a lot. I don't suppose you know of any build threads where someone does this, do you? I've never dissected a fridge before.

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One relatively inexpensive solution, would be to use one of the cheaper growing tents -- far more common and cheaper now, in the Golden Age of a Pot -- along with a humidifier and fans. Provided that the pots are insulated, evaporative cooling will go a long way toward maintaining the plants. It would also depend upon which species of Nepenthes, since some highlanders can be treated as intermediates for quite a while . . .

This is a great idea and I've been looking into some Mylar grow tents. Just not sure how I can cool them though using small AC units.

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Summer day temps are mid to upper 80s, with nighttime temps in the low 70s. Perfect for me. Not so much for U. Campbelliana.
 
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