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Terrarium humidity

Well, I have a 10 gal. terrarium, and before, it had about 56 watts of light, and the humidity would stay around 60%-65%. But, now, I have got 82 watts, and the humidity goes down to 50%-55% or so, so I had to move the glass on the tank to raise the humidity, though it didn't do much, and my cape sundew is struggling to make as mcuh dew as in all those professional photos. I noticed that it makes more dew at night, but this is prolly 'cause the humidity goes up to 70%. Should I get an aquarium heater and stick it in a jar of water?

Many thanks,
-Ben
P.S. Though, all my other plants seem happy, and my cape sundew does, it's just that it tends to make the most dew on the outer edges of its leaves, not so much on all the inner parts.
 
My dews is just in my windowsill and they produce a lot of dew.
I think that the humidity in your terrarium should stay up if o misted it once or twice a day.
 
Alright. Well, somehow, after I added a small comp. fan into the tank, the humidity went up (right now it is 'bout 65%, maybe going down slowly) and the temp seems to be going down.(just 2-3 degrees)
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Well, I have a 10 gal. terrarium, and before, it had about 56 watts of light, and the humidity would stay around 60%-65%. But, now, I have got 82 watts, and the humidity goes down to 50%-55% or so.....and my cape sundew is struggling to make as mcuh dew as in all those professional photos.

This may be a temperature (not humidity) issue.

You significantly increased the lighting of your terrarium, which typically increases temperature. My drosera produce far less dew when temperatures get too high, and their dew production is much less affected by humidity.

So I would check the temperature of the terrarium and reduce it if it's too high.
 
It stays around 80-85 degrees fahrenheit. So, what do I do about this? Have the lights on stilts?
 
Or is the temp. fine? EDIT: Never mind. Read below:
 
Alright, I think I have solved this annoying problem. Alright, here it goes: My fixture that is making the most heat has two 26 watt compacts. The fixture was designed to heat reptiles up. Here it is.
It basically directs the heat down, which is where my cape sundew is, DIRECTLY below the light. Plus, my thermometer is in a corner away from the light, therefore not showing how hot it is around the cape sundew. Originally, someone recommended this to me, which distributes the heat & light, not directing it down onto one thing. But when I went to Petsmart to see if they had it, they didn't, so I had to wind up getting the fixture I have now. So, I think that if I get that fixture that was recommended to me, my cape sundew should be happier.

Do you guys think I'm right?
 
Dew is largely a function of lighting. Lotsa light = lotsa dew. While psychologically, we see dew on grass on the morning and associate it with water, CP dew isn't water. I'm still trying figure out what chemical compound(s) are involved with dew & "grease".
 
Well I got a 10g terrarium, and i cover it with plexiglass with 1/4' holes along the perimeter, and im lucky if humidity is below 85. usually its 90+ (no mold or fungus or anything).
 
  • #10
Yes, but now I am not worried about the humidity anymore. I am just worried about the heat, which I posted above.
 
  • #11
Can you try a simpler approach? I just grow mine open tray, SW window sill. Air temp is room temp and humidity is from the water that evaporates. The are dew-laden and flower.
 
  • #12
Yes, I suppose. You live near me, right? What do I do about heating? (since it makes the air dry) And it is often dark and rainy here, so what do I do about light?(Since it's winter) But, I also have several other plants in that tank, and I do wanna clear it up for them too.
 
  • #13
Well, actually, I somehow got my dad to help me fix the fixture, so it looks like the Economy Hood from ZooMed, and distributes the light, instead of foccusing it.
 
  • #14
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Drosera36 @ Nov. 27 2005,3:33)]Yes, I suppose.  You live near me, right?  What do I do about heating? (since it makes the air dry)  And it is often dark and rainy here, so what do I do about light?(Since it's winter)  But, I also have several other plants in that tank, and I do wanna clear it up for them too.
As long as you have some water in a container, the pot wicks it up. And while the photoperiod light is just about at its lowest, this is normal. Mine grew year round at window sills. I'll officiallly been in western NY in 2 weeks.
 
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