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Heating the soil......?

Hi Everybody,

I guess this question would be more for the resident Experts.....

I was wondering if Heating the soil in my VFT containers would benefit them much or at all?

Mine are all grown inside where temps are approx 75-80F.

Because of another hobby--I already have Flexwatt heat tape and the technology to wire it up to a rheostat/ dimmer. So, making it happen would not be a problem. Just wondering if there would be a benefit?

I could set it up to warm the containers, from underneath, to 85F, 90F, 95F......whatever temp I want.

Warming the media, roots and rhizome would internally warm the entire plant---and SEEMS like it would be beneficial.

I know people warm seedtrays, so there must be some benefit.

What say all? To warm or not to warm---THAT is the question.
 
not to warm, the plants are not lowland tropicals like our nepenthes friends, so high temps aren't required.

in fact, you might want to put them outside, depending on where you live.
 
Sorry, but I prefer to keep them inside, so for me---outside is not an option.

They get Plenty of heat from the sun during the warmer months in their natural location--which warms the plants and the soil. Just wondering if warming things up a bit might help the grow more.
 
If it was frozen, by nature or by accident in the fridge,
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then yes, thawing would be imperative. I thought you meant heating the soil before palnting the VFT to get rid of all the nasty algal spores and such. If I were a VFT, I sure would like it warm (ahhh, all those nice warm baths...)
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No harm trying eh? And if you find out that VFTs like its roots warm, share with us! I'm not so keen on experimenting as I have only 1 VFT at the moment...but when I get a few more *wanders off to the lab*
 
That's an interesting idea naja 02. That would be a very good experiment. Give it a shot and keep us posted!
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Good luck and have fun.

What's your other hobby....just out of curiosity?
 
Hi,

I seriously think I will give it a try. I have approx 100 VFTs and 14 varieties. I'm thinking that a temp of 85F to MAYBE 90F might do the trick and make a noticeable difference. Will have to water a little more, but what the heck, right?

My other hobby is Herpetoculture---Reptiles & Amphibians. Its my first love and have been at it for 31 yrs now. I am currently building 3 racks for some of my critters and will either have some Flexwatt left over---or will need to buy more anyway.

So, either way, I asked because I think this is a really solid idea, but wanted to get some opinions on it. I doubt I'll get around to getting it setup for 2 wks or a month, but I'll let you know what happens!

Any other thoughts or opinions?
 
Just to offer some advice, I was using a aquarium bottom tank heater thingies during the winter to heat the tanks and lets just say the thing overheated, causing the water to overheat, seaping into the VFT pots and killing the roots. I'm sure the Temps were over 100, but their was no major damage to the plant, just smaller traps for a few months.
So I think a little might be fine, but don't overdue it too much...
 
I could wire up a double dimmer (Main+Backup), with the main set at 85F and the backup set at 90F (or M 90F and BU 95F). That way if the main were to fail wide open---the backup would prevent the temps from going over the backup setting--90F (or 95F).

Its all relative though with dimmers/rheostats---they don't maintain a temperature---they just maintain X-amount of energy flow. Once set---the temp of the flexwatt would fluxuate up and down with the ambient temp of the house. But with A/C the ambient temp can be kept reasonably constant.

Many people with Herps have learned the hard way the value of backup temp controllers. So, your point is well taken.

Flexwatt is not supposed to be operated above 95F, but plugged into the wall with no temp control---it reaches 120-135F.

A backup dimmer, double box and Dual plate would probably cost an extra $5.

Thanx!
 
From what I understand 75-80 degrees is the optimal temperature.

I live in Vegas and my previous attempts to make it a bit more....ermmm..."local weather friendly" by heating the soil beyond 85 degrees ultimately ended in crippled or dead plants. So I say stick to what you've got.

But I'm still kind of a n00b so disregard what I said if I'm wrong.
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  • #10
This is from the "My VFT Caresheet" by goldtrap2690 at the top of this forum:

"CLIMATE : these are warm temperate plants , they need warm summers and chilly winters , tolerant of light frost ."

"TEMPERATURES : 70 to 95 degrees F , keep cooler in winter such as 40 - 55 degrees F , they can survive very short periods of 100 degrees ."

I may just end up having to plug all this in through an appliance timer and create a "Daytime High" and "Nighttime low". I have one that I'm not using, so its not a problem.

A temp scheme may actually prove more beneficial then just raising the temps 24hrs a day. Right now, they get about 14 1/2 hrs of light a day. So, the flexwatt set to 90f running from say 9am until 7pm and then off to allow cooling might actually work. 10 hours of heat---14 hours of cooling.

The containers/plants would heat up slowly over the 10 hrs and then cool slowly throughout the night. Just like in nature---things heat up during the day and then cool at night.

Fygee,

My questions would be:
HOW did you try to heat the soil?
WHAT control over the heat source did you have?
HOW did you continuously measure the temps?
Was it a Terrarium or "Kit" like they sell here? Or was it "Open air" so to speak?

Thanx!
 
  • #11
I heated by just putting it in a semi shaded area outside with the plastic cover still on during the latter half of a few summer days. I had a thermometer constantly measure the temps and it made sure it got no higher than 95 degrees. When it got too hot in a certain area, I just moved it somewhere else (I have a large yard with lots of trees) that was appropriate so it didn't get direct sun and burn to a total crisp.

I don't know, maybe it was a VFT that got exported from someone's factory in Canada or something and it didn't take to the heat to well.
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  • #12
Ok, at this point I have to assume that the thermometer was OUTSIDE the plastic cover, correct?

If so, it was a LOT hotter inside that plastic cover. Basically a greenhouse effect. That's most likely why the plant cooked.

What I'm talking about is an Open Air situation that is merely applying mild, controlled heat from the bottom. And these plants are already established in this environment and doing fine---I would just be adding mild heat. That's all.

Thanx!
 
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