DonH's Cold Growth Chamber

[DonH]

After reading a great article by Jeff Shafer on how he successfully grew N. villosa in a modified chest freezer, I decided to try it out to grow my hamata and edwardsiana. Needless to say, the collection has grown in the past year.

H. minor var. pilosa making a comeback

H. minor "Burgundy Black"

H. sarracenioides

H. ceracea

Young H. pulchella (Amuri Tepui)

Young H. folliculata (Kamakawarai Tepui). VERY slow grower for me.

N. hamata AW clone 3

N. villosa BE

N. deaniana

N. tenuis

N. peltata AW

N. aristolochioides

N. macrophylla AW clone T

N. macrophylla AW clone 1

N. macrophylla BE

N. edwardsiana AW

 

[cpbobby]

impressive collection of plants

 

[richjam1986]

Very nice!

 

[mass]

What's the chamber look like? Can we see that and how the lights are setup with it?

 

[dyzio]

It's looking great!

 

[corky]

great plants ,mass i think the set up is on page 3 of dons edwardsiana thread in the tropical pitcher section

 

[uphwiz]

got any pics of the setup , would love to see how you grow, i have considered something in a small fridge bot havent even thought of a chest freezer, Hmmm?

 

[n bicalcarata]

wow awesome eddy

 

[mobile]

The cool temperatures certainly bring out the best colouration in Heliamphora. I would be interested in knowing more about your setup.

 

[amphirion]

Always a fun time drooling over your schmorgasboard of delightful eye candy--even more so that they are all well grown! Thanks for sharing with us your collection!

 

[RL7836]

What's the chamber look like? Can we see that and how the lights are setup with it?

got any pics of the setup , would love to see how you grow, i have considered something in a small fridge bot havent even thought of a chest freezer, Hmmm?

The cool temperatures certainly bring out the best colouration in Heliamphora. I would be interested in knowing more about your setup.

As Corky mentions, Don shared a pic of his setup over here. For those who haven't seen it yet, the entire thread is worth a view...

 

[Brie]

Awesome plants!! I too would love to see this set up.

Edit: Thanks Ron.

 

[DonH]

Thanks for all the kind comments...

Here's the article I used for reference in building my growth chamber. It's a good read.
A Novel Method For The Cultivation OF Nepenthes Villosa by Jeff Shafer, PH.D.

Here's a pic of my setup

I've modified the chamber to include a CO2 system which comes on every 3 hours when the lights are on. A CO2 calculator was used to adjust the level of CO2 and an internal fan circulates it throughout the chamber.

I use 4 - 54W T5's for lighting which generates a considerable amount of heat. I have the lights raised about 4" above the plexiglass with a fan blowing through the gap to prevent the freezer from coming on as often.

I use 2 thermostats linked in series as a redundant system to prevent disaster. If the thermostat malfunctions, the chamber can easily freeze your plants (it is a freezer after all) if it stays on. It can also cook your plants if it doesn't turn on with temps exceeding 90F from the heat of the T5's.

Now I can control light intensity (by raising or lowering the shelf), photoperiod (currently on 16 hours/day), humidity, CO2, and nutrients (1/4 strength MaxSea and coffee). I'm hoping this provides ideal and consistent growing conditions year round so there are no setbacks in growth.

 

[mass]

fantastic, and ingenious.
What do you have the thermostats set to for day and night temps?

Think I need to make my chamber a little more air tight. I lose quite a bit of my fog/humidity through some spaces in the plexiglass.
Do you have an idea of what your high/low humidity levels are for day and night?

Sorry for all the questions. I tend to get like this when trying to copy the methods of those I look up to.

 

[DonH]

Temp:
Day 69-72F
Night 50-53F

Humidity:
Day 75-85%
Night 99%
When the freezer kicks on, it drops the humidity fairly quickly but the humidifier bumps it right back up.


The chamber is pretty air tight. I use strips of foam as insulation between the freezer and the plexiglass. The only possible leak is from the small gap where the humidifier enters the chamber and the small hole at the bottom for drainage.

 

[mass]

I'm not too far off then.
My temps are only 5*F warmer than your day and night temps. humidity is the same..
I know what you mean about the cooler sucking the humidity out. I'm running 2 humidifiers to try and counter-act the night time AC here.

 

[mobile]

I tried setting up a peltier wine cooler as a highland grow chamber and my biggest hurdle, apart for the inability of the cooler to remove the heat from the CF lamp, was trying to keep the humidity high. Any water vapour would condense on the cooling plate.

 

[DragonsEye]

Sweetness! Never seen cps with all the little hairs on them like the H minor. Love the color of your N. edwardsiana and the black "teeth" of the N hamata.

 

[DonH]

Thanks, DragonsEye!

I tried setting up a peltier wine cooler as a highland grow chamber and my biggest hurdle, apart for the inability of the cooler to remove the heat from the CF lamp, was trying to keep the humidity high. Any water vapour would condense on the cooling plate.

I thought about converting a wine cooler or one of those mini Monster Energy fridges to a grow chamber but ran into the same problems you mentioned. It's counterproductive to have the cooler constantly on to remove heat from the lights. Also, the growing area is so limited that it may not be worth the investment. It can probably fit around 6 seedlings without adding a fan. My setup, with the CO2 system, cost around $600 and I will need to think about a highland greenhouse in a couple of years.

 

[Kinjie]

Very nice Don! I really like how you jumped right into the rare and supposed hard to grow species. Your doing a great job at it.