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Usefulness of shower curtains

I was wondering if vinyl shower curtains (on like a grow shelf thing) have produced any noticeable change in growth or growth habit for more tropical plants, like Nepenthes? When my neps were smaller, I had them in warm, humid terrariums, and their pitchers lasted much longer. But now, they tend to dry up and die faster than before, and I figure this may have something to do with humidity. Are they worth trying out?

-Ben
 
Interesting that you post this... I was just talking to my partner tonight about the exact same thing. I've got a growshelf that's got mylar on three sides of it. I'm thinking about putting mylar on the front as well and putting shower curtains all the way around it to see if it helps raise the humidity in the shelf. I'd like to see other people's feedback on this as well.
 
Back when I grew on racks... I wrapped mine in plastic once.. and had it closed with clothes pins... Not a shower curtain, but same thing :p bottom line, I had a problem with heat then... But i had 4 shelfs with 3 shop light fixtures (6bulbs) per shelf in there.

Andrew
 
Andrew,

That's exactly what I'm worried about, too much heat. I've got one of those 4' metal racks (I think it has 5 shelves) with 8 HO T5's on the top shelf, and the other shelves have 3 dual tube T12's on each shelf. Those T5's generate A LOT of heat!

I bought a cool air humidifier that has a fan on it that generates a lot of air movement. I'm wondering how well that would control heat build up? Guess I'll never know 'til I try. :)
 
I built myself a whole in-door greenhouse with 1x3's and shower cutains. Where else can you get a 6 x 4 x 6 foot greenhouse for $35?

Works great!
 
The idea of using shower curtains occured to me, but yeah, I figured there would be too much heat because of the greenhouse effect. And airflow would also be somewhat limited, the air might become stagnant, all the usual problems I had with the terrarium. On the other hand, humidity would be boosted a ton, I could cool it down at night more easily via some kind of cool mist humidifier, and all in all it would be good for the highlanders. It's something to consider...
 
Just add a fan. I've got a fan running all the time in my terrarium. It's very fresh and smells like this earthy, fresh living smell. You'd just need a larger fan than the one I use for your application :) One of those oscillating fans would be sweet.

Here you can see how my fan is pointed toward the water in the bottom. It increases humidity, and the breeze is enough to make the D. indica leaves move gently in the wind all day. There are two 1-inch by 18-inch gaps between the sheets of acrylic I cover it with (not shown) and that eliminates any heat buildup . 36 sq. inches open out of a total of 1350 sq. inches (the opening of the aquarium). If I close it, the temp rises 3 degrees for day and night compared to what it normally would have been, and the top fogs up and blocks some light. Even with the fan on, that is. Air holes are good!

DSC02837.jpg



I do have a bit of benign mold that won't leave the nectar on my N. clipeata x (clipeata x eymae) alone. It's harmless and not really noticeable unless you really look. It's so close to the fan, though , you'd think it wouldn't be there.
 
Thanks a bunch for the replies. I think maybe I'll just put the plastic stuff in the front and back, and leave the sides open. Or just one side open. Would this still create a noticeable amount of humidity? Or would it just leak out the sides?

Clint, is that the N. fusca "Sarawak" I gave you a while ago in the back? If it is, it got pretty freakin huge.

-Ben
 
  • #10
Ben I put two vinal shower curtains around my highland shelf and with the ultrasonic humidifier in there the humidity raised atleast 15%. I would recommend it, only $6 for the two shower curtains and some zip ties your set.
 
  • #11
Clint, is that the N. fusca "Sarawak" I gave you a while ago in the back? If it is, it got pretty freakin huge.

You just made my day, man. Lol, No that's a completely different plant lmao. Did you think I was giving it steroids? Lol.
 
  • #13
You just made my day, man. Lol, No that's a completely different plant lmao. Did you think I was giving it steroids? Lol.

Lol I have no idea. I just thought "holy crap".

Jayson, do you have any problems with heat? I'm using only one 4' fixture on my nep shelf right now, so it really can't get that hot. Plus any extra heat can leave through the shelf on top of it.

Here's something I just looked up; maybe it could be of use.

But does higher humidity actually help at all? I mean they're still growing and everything, but my N. fusca "Sarawak" has pitchers that don't last as long as they used to when it was in a terrarium, and I'm not sure if the extra humidity is what helped. Lol, mostly I just want my plants to look more prettay. Also, if it does end up heating it too much, I could take that down, and then the next shelf down, I could grow like lowland neps and more tropical plants, like Byblis or something.

But what also makes me kinda iffy is like people have successfully grown Byblis liniflora on their windowsill, and a windowsill has about the same humidity as my growshelf, so that's why I'm not even sure if these shower curtains will help.

-Ben
 
  • #14
Yeah the humidifier I got from Kmart is made by windchaser, no problems yet. I really have no problem with heat and the bottom and top of the shelf is coverd up. Im sure some stuff will change in higher humidity so it cant hurt. If you do have heat problems just open up one sides. Its about a constant 73F and 65%humidity with it shut up, I would deff recommend it.
 
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