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Highland Terrarium Help

NemJones

I Am the Terror Of the Night!
Hey guys, im here today asking for help or any pointers about making a Highland Nepenthes terrarium, as I am on the verge of buying a Hamata, and if I ever get lucky enough, an Edwardsiana.

So is there anything in particular that I need for this setup? Im aware that the Highlanders need 70% or more humidity, and a surplus of light. (Are grow bulbs suitable for them?)

Any help on this subject would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
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My highland chamber is made of 1" PVC pipe and 2 millimeter painter's plastic sheeting. It is about 3' tall x 4' long x 2' deep. It is open in the back, and in front of a window to allow for a window mounted AC unit to cool the chamber at night. There is a layer of sphagnum moss at the bottom to hold in humidity, and I use an ExoTerra Monsoon RS-400 misting system. This setup has allowed me to grow many highland Nepenthes very easily.

There is also some great advice here: http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php/133318-Grow-Chamber-Decisions
 
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I'd like to chime in and ask anyone with HL Nep terrariums to post some pictures. I can't feasibly do a greenhouse, but a terrerium is a possibility I can work towards, and it would be nice to see what other people have done that works.
 
@Bio that the first time someone has referenced that thread in a while.

@NemJones: I would recommend doing a whole lot of research before investing in the plants you have mentioned. I purchased a hamata before I was ready to grow one. It was a very disappointing experience when it died. You should make sure that you have stable, appropriate conditions for the plants. If you haven't had much experience growing nepenthes, you should start out with some of the more common varieties and experiment. Make sure that the plants you have are doing well and you don't get have any issues with temperature, humidity, pests, etc. If you feel like you have a good handle after a while (a few months) then you could pull the trigger on one of the rarer plants.
 
I'd like to chime in and ask anyone with HL Nep terrariums to post some pictures. I can't feasibly do a greenhouse, but a terrerium is a possibility I can work towards, and it would be nice to see what other people have done that works.

You can go big like this or bigger with custom tanks from glasscages.com

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Or go with an off the shelf tank from exoterra


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Build instructions and details here: http://www.terraforums.com/forums/s...boot-Starting-anew-with-some-of-my-old-plants
 
Bio, after much thought im going to try a truncata and maybe some spectabilis first. And vra, thats tank setup is absolutely epic dude. I read the link you posted, but I didnt see what you said you were using to cool this system. im trying to follow a terrarium setup just like this one, but with a 20 gallon tank. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
 
vraev,are those air plants in the background , or what type of plants are they??
 
Bio, after much thought im going to try a truncata and maybe some spectabilis first. And vra, thats tank setup is absolutely epic dude. I read the link you posted, but I didnt see what you said you were using to cool this system. im trying to follow a terrarium setup just like this one, but with a 20 gallon tank. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Cooling which setup? The first one? I used to use 4xT5 + 2XT8 initially and then upgraded to 8 x T5. The cooling needs were massive. During summer, I used to use an airconditioner to pump in 60F air into the tank while I struggled outside in my bedroom at over 85F :p at nights.

AC cooling:

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But during winter, I used to vent in cold sub 0 degree air into the tank through a humidifier output. For the most part, it worked well for over 4y and then one night, temps went below -40C early Jan 2012 and almost all my plants froze.

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The second setup is my current one with the leftovers. I don't cool it with anything. It is located in my basement which tends to remain in the 60s all season round.

vraev,are those air plants in the background , or what type of plants are they??

If you mean in the second setup...those are actually catopsis seedlings that I germinated. The others are all mini orchids. Same in the nepenthes tank from my old setup.

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Wow dude thats a nice setup. Im going to have to really get deep in experimenting with cooling methods. For now, Im definitely going to experiment with icecubes, as I have a list of chores with my other setups that I have to tend to every night as well, like feeding the newts and checking the Obesa. and Vra.. is that an nepenthes aristolochioides I see snaking up towards the lights?
 
  • #10
Thanks. Regarding ice cubes, they will only help in cooling the media and roots of the plant, While this is of benefit to D. californica . Most highland neps need both the plant biomass and the media/roots to become cool at night. When I first started off with Nepenthes, I grew them in a lowes indoor greenhouse shelf. I used to use frozen water bottles to cool my plants at night. The setup worked very well, I was able to grow N. hamata, N. villosa, N. rajah, N. argentii among others successfully during that time.

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PS: bottle beside the plant doesn't help. :p suspend them above the plants so that the cool air falls on them.
 
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  • #11
I was planning to set the coldness above them, but wow man that shelf looks nice. Blows what I had in mind out of the water. Did you have a lighting setup inside the greenhouse tent as well?
And thank you so much for all of this info. It is very much needed and appreciated
 
  • #12
Glad to help.

I used to have lights inside and outside the greenhouse. Inside the highland shelf at the bottom was lit by a 24" 2 tube T8 light and outside there was a 26watt 6500K Philips CFL. The top shelf had lowland Nepenthes and was lit by a CFL outside and a single T8 GE tube fixture. It was functional and worked very well. In fact it was less adjustments and work than my big tanks. This thing grew my highland plants very well/

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  • #13
With those bulbs in the greenhouse - how long did they stay in there? It was my understanding that light fixtures and such didnt do very well with high humidity/temperatures, but this may prove me dead wrong.
Also, would a t5 or t8 setup be better suited for this environment?

I really like this setup and would like to construct one just like it. Ample amount of space and growing room for neps.
 
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  • #14
The bulbs fare ok. I had that setup for 3y....and they didn't die on me. The bulbs were in there 24/7. However, the T8 fixture used to light the highland shelf did get rusted. I threw it away after 3y and used a new one for my new smaller tank.

Yup... nothing beats that greenhouse setup for cost, growing space and ease of maintenance. Tanks are a tremendous main to empty out the water and clean up the marks on the glass. It would take me 2-3h to clean my two big tanks.

Regd choice of bulbs.. for neps, as you can see, a T8 fixture is good. In hindsight, if I was to re-do my setup, I would use zip ties to suspend fixtures for each shelf. And at that height, T8 should be more than enough light. But be careful about temps. I also used to cut a big hole at top like a chimney to draw out the hot air. Grow the highlands at the lowest two racks and more heat hardy plants like sundews or lowland/intermediate naps on the top two shelves.
 
  • #15
Just a FYI,

V is very modest.... he has been there and done that and then did it again.
If anything, he tends to over analyze (hehehehe inside joke between very old friends)

good to see ya back V,

;-)
 
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  • #16
Just a FYI,

V is very modest.... he has been there and done that and then did it again.
If anything, he tends to over analyze (hehehehe inside joke between very old friends)

good to see ya back V,

;-)

Well...I was taught by my friend the professor from Kentucky. ;)
 
  • #17
HES A MAN.

vra, I have one last question for you, then ill stop being annoying.(if you so choose to humor my army of questions.)
Given the choice of lighting, what would you say is overall best? As in t5/t8, how many bulbs/tubes, and which spectum/how many?
 
  • #18
That is the question that almost every CPer asks. Even I am learning still myself. I have used 2 X T8 6500K suspended 8-12" above plants which gave me red VFTs with good compact growth. I have used a 24" dual T8 fixture with 1 x geiseman (sp) plant bulb and another daylight bulb to grow highland naps at a 5-6" distance effectively. However, my cephs were still green... my tank with 8 x T5 (mixed spectrum of coral life colormax, 7000k, daylight bulbs) and 2 T8 at almost 2' distance + 1 CFL 6500K at 2-3" outside the tank was necessary to get red color on my cephs.

The answer depends on budget and cooling. T5s run hot. At a close distance they will cook your plants. However T5s are more effective than T8. They will put out more heat and more light. Remember... get T5HO not regular T5. But you need to seriously consider cooling.

The dual T8 fixture and perhaps an external supplementary light source like my CFL may be the best solution if heat is a problem.

If you will grow your plants in a cool basement or your basement cool room, you can knock yourself out with T5HO.

Additionally, now LED are available and I am currently using these. They run cool and produce all the light you need with low heat. But they are expensive. I use freshwater planted aquarium grade LED fixtures but they are expensive.

Honestly, try the T8, start off and you will have to experiment yourself. If money is no question... I would recommend the ADA aquasky LED fixtures... but they are $200 s pop.

The T8 is cheap. $20 for the lights of America fixture. Then just look for good bulbs and you can definitely start with that. If you find plants growth being too dark green / etiolated, upgrade to T5. The fixture reflector makes a big difference in effectiveness. Get a good quality one.

Spectrum wise... at my current point in this hobby...I would look for blue and red ranges in light spectrum. A plant grow bulb supplying both in high levels makes it look purple. But viewability is important to me,,, so I will flood this spectrum with additional white light. If you want to avoid tinkering with spectrum... go for overkill with lots of full spectrum daylight floursocent bulbs. General brand available in Canada is Sunblaster 6500K. US has more options here. With enough white light you are bound to get all the wavelengths you need.
 
  • #19
Additionally, now LED are available and I am currently using these. They run cool and produce all the light you need with low heat. But they are expensive. I use freshwater planted aquarium grade LED fixtures but they are expensive.

Honestly, try the T8, start off and you will have to experiment yourself. If money is no question... I would recommend the ADA aquasky LED fixtures... but they are $200 s pop.

The T8 is cheap. $20 for the lights of America fixture. Then just look for good bulbs and you can definitely start with that. If you find plants growth being too dark green / etiolated, upgrade to T5. The fixture reflector makes a big difference in effectiveness. Get a good quality one.

For me with the DIY LEDs I'm using my break even point (the point where I will have paid my local electric company the cost of the LEDs) was between 2-4 years depending on which T5s and which LEDs. The real concern is finding people that have been using LEDs for 4+ years to ask there options, so few have been. I'm at about 1 year using CREE LEDs and loving them. So there is that risk, were T8/T5 are well know and used.

Please keep in mind not all LEDs are created equally, the difference between one daylight LED and another daylight LED can be massive so do your homework. While there are better T8/T5 bulbs than others its not as bad, to my knowledge you can't buy a T5 daylight bulb that is 5% the light output of another T5 daylight bulb, with LEDs you easily can.

If cost is not an issue there are some really amazing LEDs for saltwater that mimic season changes, storms cycles, day lengths, lunar cycles, cloud movement, ect. I was able to see a demo of one about a month ago and it was impressive.

Unless you are leaning toward heat production, cost, or efficiency of the lighting I would not even worry about which one until you get the dimensions you are trying to light. Tiny spaces CFLs/LEDs win out really fast, 48" areas T5/T8 have a big advantage for example. Also keep in mind LEDs are spotlights where T5/T8s are bars, with CFLs somewhere in the middle.
 
  • #20
Great points RSS. I agree... it depends on the grow area size.

I was actually looking up Aqua illumination's sol, vega and the new hydra. The even higher Radions are impressive too. These put out close to 200par at a 24" distance and are these are programmable to a crazy level. But they will run you close to $700+ a pop.

But yeah... for a small grow CFL are sufficient. But for a bigger area.... you need T5 or T8.

BTW Jones... check out this detailed guide.... very informative. http://www.carnivorousplants.org/howto/SoilsWater/Lighting.php
 
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