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going to the store to get things to start my Terrarium,, I need a list

going to the store to get things to start my Terrarium,, I need a list

making a simple Terrarium, I and not going to have dirt in the bottom of the tank,,,

so I need to know of a cheap light, for Tropical Plants ,the first 4 plants are Nepenthes. but more to come.

I need a tempThermometer /Hygrometer

and I am going to make a fogger, to help with the humidity.

What am I missing?
 
What kind of lights are you planning on getting? And how far will they be from the plants?

Those two questions, I feel, are like... half the battle when it comes to indoor carnivorous plant culture.
 
Something for air circulation
enough power outlets :p
Some way of removing water from the terrarium
 
I dont know what kind of lights to get.


DSCN7049.jpg
 
What type of tank is it, how big/dimensions?

I started out with a mister and later removed it as I did not need more humidity. Even right now I would be happier with less humidity. Basically I would worry about a fogger/mister much later, unless you are sure you will have sub 60% humidity.

The lighting eggcrating stuff is a great item for building vivariums, so is hydroton if you can find it in your area.

I second air circulation.

As for lighting, if your lighting a 4 foot area go for T8 or T5 lights, I would say T5 but without alot more info about the tank size its a guess. If your lighting a 2 foot area, well get a second tanks and get a 4 foot light ;)
 
I would get a couple of those inexpensive clip on aluminum refrector lamps and put in some 35w or so compact fluorescent bulbs. They may be labelled as 120w-150w equivalent.

The other thing you could get are the CFL 90-120w equivalent spot lights. They have the reflector inside the bulbs. You can just screw them into any lamp socket/desk lamp and are good to go. These are not as bright as the larger screw in CFL because of the limits of squeezing the CFL inside a spotlight bulb case.

Longer grow areas that can take 4' long fixture then you are better off going with long tubes like 4' High Output T5. Or several T8/T12 fixtures with a couple bulbs each.

Whatever you decide. DON'T skimp on the lighting it is by far the most important factor in having healthy successful plants indoors. Do your research and ask questions.
 
it is 20'' wide and 24'' tall and 10'' thick
 
The tank in the photo?

You could go with 24" wide tube lights but 2' is a bit of an odd size and tends to be more expensive. You would also need at least 4bulbs if you went with T8/T12.

I think you would be better off with a couple more of the clip on lights like in the photo but I would change the bulbs to those CFL 90-120w equivalent spotlights. You are losing alot of light through the sides of the lamp currently. 3 of those with the CFL spotlights would be nice and bright. You could probably take off the light diffuser part of the current fixture if needed. It wouldn't be necessary if you switched to the spotlight type bulb since they have a mirrored internal surface. Just be sure to get the CFL bulbs. Incandescent spotlights would cook your plants.


Forget about the fogger, you don't need one. Forget about the hygrometer and thermometer too. All that stuff is unnecessary unless you are planning on growing really tempermental plants that need really specific temperatures and humidity levels.
 
this is how I was told to care for them
.They each have produced a new leaf since rooting so it shouldn't be long before they really start to take off for you. I don't know if you're familiar with cuttings, so fyi all the lower leaves have been cut in half to reduce moisture loss. They may start pitchering on the next leaf grown in your care, or it may take a few.

They are hybrids of highland and lowland nepenthes. Intermediate temps are fine, but they will also grow in either highland or lowland conditions. Really anywhere from 50 to 70 F at night and 60 to 85 during the day. The main plants that I've cut these off of used to be grown outside and have tolerated many nights into the mid 40s and days above 100 F and have been fine, but I wouldn't recommend aiming for that, lol.

They like humidity above 60%, but may just not pitcher for you in lower, it depends on your other conditions. They have grown faster for me in a terrarium, but it's not necessary.

Light should be bright indirect, like a south facing window, or a well light terrarium with 6500k to 10000k bulbs. More light the more colorful the pitchers. If the leaves start getting a reddish tinge, it's like tanning for us, but any more and they can burn. When they start to make pitchers for you, if the pitchers are small and green the plant needs more light. That's usually how I adjust things when making a new setup, as everyone's conditions are so different, there's no right answer.

Also your potting mix should be able to hold moisture, but also be fast draining. I've been using a mix of longfiber spagnum, perlite, bark, and charcoal with good results, but you can modify to suit your watering habits. There are so many recommendations out there you might want to do a little googling for all your options. And don't forget to use water that has less than 100ppm tds. If your tap has more use rain, distilled, or RO water.

I have 2 lamp sockets and I just want to make shore I have them at the right temp and humidity. So I am going to get a temp/humidity meter.
 
  • #10
I suggest you do get a thermometer, things can get rlly hot rlly fast if you put a lot of light on top of that thing imho.
 
  • #11
Brian here, ok so I got 2 90w CFL bulbs to start with and a Thermometer /Hygrometer.
at this time with the lights running for a little while I am at 70.3 f and 100% humidity...
made a nice top for the cage and set the lights in it.
What do you suggest I use for air circulation?

I also have a timer for my lights,,how long should I run them?

DSCN7218.jpg

DSCN7221.jpg
 
  • #12
hey brian, like others mentioned (dont feel it was stressed enough) the color spectrum must be correct and the cri should be above 85 (if i remember correctly from butch's posts). if your going with the screw on cfls like i see youve done, you gotta make sure they're 5500-6500k, daylight and with a cri above 85, it should say all this information on the boxes. i know some people mix their cfls with soft white bulbs as well.

my two cents.
 
  • #13
Is this what you are talking about javortex93
2700K color temperature and what are you talking about above 85?
aximum Bulb Wattage (Watts) 26.0
Color Rendering Index- 82
Bulb Application- Fluorescent
Number of Bulbs- 2.0
Indoor / Outdoor

I will take them back in the morning...so can someone tell me when to get,,,I would like to stay with the same kinda bulb,,,kinda on a budget
 
  • #14
well I got up this morning to find new growth,,,,does most of the new growth happen at night?
 
  • #15
The CRI is the color rendering index. With your bulb having only 2700k and a cri of 82, you don't have enough light. I would exchange it for something 6500k and a cri of over 85.

Also, yes, in simple terms plants will produce the energy they need during the day, but will use that energy to fuel it's growth, (amongst other things) at night.
 
  • #16
sorry ive been late to add to this thread, okay i would suggest (if your only option are cfl's) are getting the 42 watt cfl from feit, they're on amazon for less than 9 dollars, if you sign up for amazon prime (free, just cancel after you recieve your order) its free 2 day shipping. id get 2 or 3 of them. your talking 27 dollars. or 18 if you only get two. i understand about trying to stay on the cheaper side of things, but these are defenetely worth the price. they're the right cri and 6500k as well. they are a tad bit bigger and put off a little more heat but the fan should displace the heat beautifully. your plants will not show changes to the enviorment they are kept in for weeks, so the lights you have them in right now MIGHT have set them back a little bit but they should bounce back and better than ever with the cfls from feit electric. not sure whats going on with amazon ATM but its saying 48 dollars for one. so id just monitor that as its probably just a mistake.
 
  • #18
Well as it turns out I was going out of town and had to get some lights in there so I went back to lowes and got 2 micro mini CFL's 100w replacement using only 23w, they are 6500k and on the package it tells me they have 1,450 lumens each?
can I use there as they were the biggest 6500k CFL bulb I could find a lowes,,,if I use these should I get another bulb or what should I do?
With the 2 bulbs the temp is 73 and when the fan is on it goes up a little to 75.3, do I need another bulb?
also the little fan only runs when I am home because I wired it to a small power converter and don't trust it running when I am not home.

I just got home after going away for 5 days and I am guessing they like the new light and I now have the leaf that was laying down now growing straight up....I am downloading a pic now..

---------- Post added at 07:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:03 PM ----------

ok before I left on wed, they looked like this
DSCN7221.jpg


and 5 dyas later they look like this with the 2 new bulbs,,
DSCN7447.jpg


DSCN7446.jpg

DSCN7444.jpg

DSCN7445.jpg


---------- Post added at 07:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:17 PM ----------

ok before I left on wed, they looked like this
DSCN7221.jpg

DSCN7233.jpg


and 5 dyas later they look like this with the 2 new bulbs,,they look much better and the color looks better
DSCN7447.jpg


DSCN7446.jpg

DSCN7444.jpg

DSCN7445.jpg


---------- Post added at 07:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:20 PM ----------

any thoughts

---------- Post added at 07:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:32 PM ----------

also how far do they need to be above the plants?

these bulbs are VERY bright and it I had to add one or 2 more bulbs I would..
I plan to add a few more neps soon
 
  • #19
Hey Brian,

Ive had the 23 watt bulbs before and i gotta say ud have to have at least 3-4 (just get the twin socket adapter that they sell at lowes, home depot, that way you wouldnt need to get more lamps) with two they grew good, but they'll do better with 4. Ive heard for the most part 6 inches or closer, but the ones you got now displace a good amount of heat to the immediate area so id monitor leaf burn from heat. Oh btw any leaf burn from the light intensity changing you may experience from adding stronger lights is expected as the plant puts out newer leaves it will get used to the stronger light and will grow better. I think you'll be set with 1 or 2 more of those 23watts. I hope that helps.

-Javier
 
  • #20
ok so here is the question, this is set up in my living room,,,,and it is very bright with 2 bulbs,,how to i keep the light down so we don,t get blinded from the light,,

also with 4 bulbs you say they need to be 6 inches from the plants top,,
 
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