Brie
Sarracenia freak
Alright.. *rubbing hands together* where to begin. lol.
I've been doing research for the past couple weeks on what I want to do, or what I NEED to do.
My goal is to grow a bit of everything, including Lowland Neps, Cephs and Helis. I've asked around, done a TON of reading, and i'm still confused as to their requirements. It seems there is no straight forward answer to my question, do they(Lowlanders, Cephs and Helis) NEED a terrarium/greenhouse to be grown successfully? I hear yes, and no. Some people have luck just growing them under lights with no climate control, and other people have them in fancy-schmancy growrooms and greenhouses.
I live in a small apartment with my (partially)understanding husband. lol. I don't have a ton of room to work with, and my husband is ever conscious about the amount of electricity i'm using or space i'm taking up(be it out on the patio or in our spare bedroom. lol). So a large 4ft terrarium or grow shelf is out of the question.
SO... I've kind of decided on either buying a cheap, premade 3 or 4 shelf, 2ft wide greenhouse, OR buying a set of storage shelving and build my own sort of covered greenhouse type set up.
What I had been thinking of, is using vinyl shower curtain material, and hot glue together panels on the inside of each shelf space, and create a fold up door for the front. Probably cut a couple of small square holes on each side and glue in some window screen for ventilation, then cover back, top and sides with Mylar.
If I DID go with a pre-made green house, Like this one, Would these work? I'd still cover the back and sides with mylar on the outside, and would probably still need to cut holes for ventilation.. But they seem rather cheap and flimsy, and hard to install lights in.
And then there's the issue of lighting... I've looked at a variety of lighting options..
I'd like to go with either Compact Florescent, or HO T5s.
I found these, which seem pretty nice. I like the fact that they daisy chain, so I can run two or 3 for each shelf, hooked together and just one cord, and they have internal ballasts..
Or, for just ease of usage, I found a pretty decently priced 4 bulb fixture for only $75.
What do yall would think would be better for most plants, 2 24w bulbs, or 4? Each shelf would probably be 12" apart from eachother, and given the height of the plant itself and how low the light hangs, they'd prolly be 6-8" away from the bulb.
I also liked this style of CF grow light, with a single 125w bulb, but would this be too bright or give enough coverage? If using this one, I could probably lower the shelves, making a maybe 20-24" high area instead of 12". It says it covers a 3ft by 3ft area, and the shelves of whatever I choose(shelving racks of greenhouse) would be roughly 2ft x 1.5ft. But just wanted to know if anyone has experience using these and could throw me some advice.
Alrighty well, thats all for now. Any advice yall could toss my way would be greatly appreciated.
I've been doing research for the past couple weeks on what I want to do, or what I NEED to do.
My goal is to grow a bit of everything, including Lowland Neps, Cephs and Helis. I've asked around, done a TON of reading, and i'm still confused as to their requirements. It seems there is no straight forward answer to my question, do they(Lowlanders, Cephs and Helis) NEED a terrarium/greenhouse to be grown successfully? I hear yes, and no. Some people have luck just growing them under lights with no climate control, and other people have them in fancy-schmancy growrooms and greenhouses.
I live in a small apartment with my (partially)understanding husband. lol. I don't have a ton of room to work with, and my husband is ever conscious about the amount of electricity i'm using or space i'm taking up(be it out on the patio or in our spare bedroom. lol). So a large 4ft terrarium or grow shelf is out of the question.
SO... I've kind of decided on either buying a cheap, premade 3 or 4 shelf, 2ft wide greenhouse, OR buying a set of storage shelving and build my own sort of covered greenhouse type set up.
What I had been thinking of, is using vinyl shower curtain material, and hot glue together panels on the inside of each shelf space, and create a fold up door for the front. Probably cut a couple of small square holes on each side and glue in some window screen for ventilation, then cover back, top and sides with Mylar.
If I DID go with a pre-made green house, Like this one, Would these work? I'd still cover the back and sides with mylar on the outside, and would probably still need to cut holes for ventilation.. But they seem rather cheap and flimsy, and hard to install lights in.
And then there's the issue of lighting... I've looked at a variety of lighting options..
I'd like to go with either Compact Florescent, or HO T5s.
I found these, which seem pretty nice. I like the fact that they daisy chain, so I can run two or 3 for each shelf, hooked together and just one cord, and they have internal ballasts..
Or, for just ease of usage, I found a pretty decently priced 4 bulb fixture for only $75.
What do yall would think would be better for most plants, 2 24w bulbs, or 4? Each shelf would probably be 12" apart from eachother, and given the height of the plant itself and how low the light hangs, they'd prolly be 6-8" away from the bulb.
I also liked this style of CF grow light, with a single 125w bulb, but would this be too bright or give enough coverage? If using this one, I could probably lower the shelves, making a maybe 20-24" high area instead of 12". It says it covers a 3ft by 3ft area, and the shelves of whatever I choose(shelving racks of greenhouse) would be roughly 2ft x 1.5ft. But just wanted to know if anyone has experience using these and could throw me some advice.
Alrighty well, thats all for now. Any advice yall could toss my way would be greatly appreciated.