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Fogger for me Heli - thoughts?

So I just set up a fogger today on my shelf with my small heliamphora, cephalotus, sundews and a few nepenthes. It's a cool, ultrasonic fogger, on a timer for 15 mintues ever two hours in the day. Here's a photo, what should I change or adjust?

fogger.jpg


Thank you for your advice.
Steve
 
Sounds okay so far, but you might want to keep the Cephalotus away from the fogger. Cephalotus hates to be wet all the time.
 
Is that a Ceph I see behind your Heli*? My only comment might be that it probably won't appreciate the fog as much as some other plants in your collection... maybe move it farther away? EDIT: D'oh, Wolfn beat me to the punchline!

What kind of fogger is that anyways? I'm looking to upgrade.

*if it is a Ceph behind your heli...well, no need to ask where you got it as I can see the branding on the pot :) but what size is it? That's a very well established Ceph if it's new to your collection!

Nice setup, man.
 
Sounds okay so far, but you might want to keep the Cephalotus away from the fogger. Cephalotus hates to be wet all the time.

Yes that is a Cephalotus by it. I will move it right away. Thanks.

The fogger is from a Zoo Med Repti Fogger.
Here's a link: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3355594, It said online only, but our local store had two instock.

How about the timer, is 15 minutes on every two hours from 10am to 8pm too much?
(so 10am, Noon, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, 8pm)

Steve
 
It's a cool, ultrasonic fogger, on a timer for 15 mintues ever two hours in the day. Here's a photo, what should I change or adjust?
I've seen posts from several experienced growers that warn against regularly misting Heli's. There's one over here by Herr Wistuba.
I'd forget about all the fogging.
 
I actually want to get me one of these foggers. I wouldn't have it on all the time, but if I could do it a couple times a day (morning, night, mid-day, etc), I could increase humidity, lower the temperature, and increase air circulation.

Too much would be bad for the plants. I've heard that splashing water continuously on sundews and butterworts is the plant-equivalent of shooting water in human eyes. Very sensitive stuff.

But my Heliamphora and Nepenthes would love this.
 
I've seen posts from several experienced growers that warn against regularly misting Heli's. There's one over here by Herr Wistuba.

Thanks for the link, it said:
I'd forget about all the fogging. Keep your terrarium fairly closed and water by spraying once a week., BUT my plants are NOT in a terrarium, but a shelf with 50% humidity. I may move the Heli into a terrarium, but what about air movement? I have a few spare 10gal empty aquariums I could use. I've seen Av8tor1 video of Helis and he's using a fogger on his amazing collection.

I guess if I move it into a terrarium what's more important: Humidity or air flow?

Thank you,
Steve
 
Thanks for the link, it said:
I'd forget about all the fogging. Keep your terrarium fairly closed and water by spraying once a week., BUT my plants are NOT in a terrarium, but a shelf with 50% humidity. I may move the Heli into a terrarium, but what about air movement? I have a few spare 10gal empty aquariums I could use. I've seen Av8tor1 video of Helis and he's using a fogger on his amazing collection.

I guess if I move it into a terrarium what's more important: Humidity or air flow?

Thank you,
Steve

Firstly, shelf or terrarium, it won't make too much difference, as long as the general conditions are the same (humidity, temps, air flow, lighting, etc.). So whether or not you keep them in the shelf, that's up to you, and which setup will work best for you, as far as getting good growing conditions.

I'd forget about all the fogging. Keep your terrarium fairly closed and water by spraying once a week.
If you would like to have high humidity, and want to be watering once a week, go ahead and try this...also, don't forget that by closing your terrarium (or shelf), without providing something extra for air movement/ exchange (fans, ventilation, etc.) you are very likely to get fungal and bacterial problems in your pots. Algae also may show up on the surface of your soil. Some of these fungi that can get into the soil, or directly to the plants, may not show obvious signs of being there. A disease that, I'm sure all Heli growers fear, is "Sudden Heli Death" and is caused by a type of fungus. Personally, I don't want to have a healthy heli suddenly start dying on me, with little chance of surviving.

I guess if I move it into a terrarium what's more important: Humidity or air flow?
In my opinion, air flow is critical. Humidity is important too, but lower humidity generally doesn't affect Helis too much, at least not the easier species, like the one you have...as long as they are properly acclimated, to avoid shock from a sudden change in their environment. As I said above, not having enough air movement can be devastating, though not everyone runs into problems, but I just don't like to risk that much loss. Another benefit of air movement is that it helps keep the crown of cephs from getting soggy and wet all the time, which prevents it from rotting. My cephs are growing near the output of my humidifier, but they are doing great, and I assume that is because I have 2 12VDC fans running the entire day. I basically have the same type of system that Butch (Av8tor1), and a few others on here, have setup.

Here's the basics of the system:
Firstly, you have 2 fans hooked up, on seperate power supplies. One blows air in, and one takes the air back out. The reason for the separate power cords is so that, in the event of one power supply failing (it DOES happen...I lost 5 Helis when I went out of town, and my power supply for my fans went out :cry:), you will still have at least one fan running, which prevents over-heating. Then, you have a humidifier that runs for part(s) or all of the day, and if you choose, it can also come back on at night. The humidifier is to help keep humidity up (duh) as well as cool the growing area. I have all my Helis, Cephs, and Neps in one terrarium, using this type of system. So far, everything is really seeming to appreciate these conditions. I am going to be making just a few adjustments in the system, so that it is optimized for functionality, and looks a little nicer to look at, and I am planning to start a thread on the project. I'll post a link here when I start it (tonight or tomorrow).

Hope all of this helped, and I know I probably sounded a bit harsh about other people's suggestions, so please nobody take offense...I am only giving my opinion of what has worked well for ME, and even if something works for me, it doesn't mean it is the only way to do things, or that it will work for others. Keep us updated on what you decide to do, and how things are turning out! :)
 
Computer fans are not difficult to hook up, and you can get them in various sizes so you can match them to what you need for your terrarium.
 
  • #10
Thanks for ALL of the advice...

So I decide to put the Heli into a terrarium along with a few Nepenthes to keep it company.

I picked up a 12Wx30Lx18H TetraFauna terrarium on sale. I LOVED the front sliding doors.
So much nicer then trying to reach into the top my spare aquariums. It has front air holes and a nice top. I'll post photos later.

So now I am experimenting with the Humidity, Temps and yes, my fogger. It raises the humidy from 60% to 80% pretty fast..

Also when you use the computer fans, are you able to keep your humidity up? I'm picturing it blowing all of the humidity out of the terrarium.

Thoughts?
steve
 
  • #11
The way my setup works, the fans go on and off with the lights. The fogger runs all day, and for 30min before and after the lights are on. It also comes back on at 12:00am and 3:30am, for 5min each time. During the day, humidity is at about 80-85% and that's with the fogger on it's lowest output...I have a Reptifogger, too :)...the main point in having it come on at night is to cool the terrarium a bit more at night.
 
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