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Help! How to grow ultra(true) highlander neps in Indianapolis

Hi, dear friends,

I'll move to Indianapolis soon. I am eager to know how to grow ultra- (true) highlanders there.

I have the following highlander neps. Most of them are true highlanders.
N.jamban, N.jacquelineae, N. eymae x jacquelineae, N. edwardsiana, N. hamata, N. macrophylla, N. x trusmadiensis, N. aristolochioides.

I plan to grow them in a big terrarium (10-15 gallon) using artificial light. The only problem for me is how to cool it during the summer. ???

Some cooling devices for green house is of course not suitable for my case. Please give me your suggestions. If you suggest some cooling devices, please tell me the full name and the selling link if possible. I will appreciate it very much.

And I also hope you guys in Indianapolis can share your experience in growing neps (and cobra plants).


Zhilin
 
air condition the room
 
If you have a basement, you will likely be fine (a decent basement that is actually below ground level anyway). For high-light set-up in basement conditions see Av8tor1...

Without basement, check out Swords setup...
 
Hmmm . . . Your best bet is indoors where you can control those conditions much easier. Especially if it is airconditioned.

I grow my highlanders in my room, with no extra devices or anything. Just by taking advantage of the natural temps, and AC on hot days.

Oh by the way. None of those are really Ultrahighlanders . . . the only true ones are N. villosa, N. lamii, and another uncommon nep. So you should be fine!
 
10-15 gallons is small. 50 gallons will last you longer.
 
i agree with wireman 10-15 is real small considering in a year one of those plants could outgrow the tank let alone all of them, i would suggest at least a 30 but that in the long run will be to small as well.
 
get a basement (mines always cold)
 
i keep mine in the basement and it does the trick for sure i noticed a change in growth within the first week after puting all my plants down there
 
When I'm home from college, my plants live in the basement as well, and the temperature is in the lower eighties during the day. A little higher than I'd like, but there isn't much more I can do.

I dont know how much time you have on your hands, but, I bet using those ice-packs you use for your cooler would help. Just stick 'em in the grow chamber and they should help. I've heard of people putting frozen water bottles into their set ups to cool things down at night.
 
  • #10
Hey, thank all of you for detailed suggestions. I forgot to mention some problems to me. There is no basement in the new home:( So I plan to grow them indoor. But during the daytime there is no people at home. So the air-condition will be shut off. And thus the daytime temperature will be high even under artificial light. So I want some small cooling device for a small terrarium (ok, I plan to use a bigger terrarium, such as 30 gallon). Icepackage or icebottles may work. But I really don't want to change the ice bag/ice bottle everyday and everynight. Actually I use the ice-bag method right now. But I just use this method at night once/twice per week. Fortunately, in San Diego the night temperature is not high during summer time (around 65F), so my laziness does not bring troubles to my neps. However, in Indianapolis, the night temperature duirng summer time is higher, and I think I probably need to change the icebag every night, which is what I don't want to do.

Any suggestion on cooling device for a small terrarium driven by AC (and cheap)?

Thanks.
 
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