MH1
Smile, it makes people nervous :)
Right- I've been meaning to make this post for a while, so here goes.
For a while now, I've been wondering how to create the right habitat for nepenthes given my own conditions. I'm not one to rush into doing something blindly, and my attempts at making growing areas for them have not quite reached the right kind of requirements. For this reason, I have stayed away from Neps + Helis- although it has been difficult!
So, for Highlanders, the general consensus is that the following conditions are needed:
- Decent humidity
- Temp ranges roughly between 15C/59F and 23C/73F
- Good lighting (although strength can be less than strength for 'dews)
- And as an aside, space for maturing
I have problems with the temperature bit, with foreseeable problems with light.
Unlike a lot, I have sufficient ease in lowering individual room temperature at night in the Summer, as the overnight lows outside are around 10/50-12C/53F. That means I can open a window at night and the temps usually drop to around 15/59-16C/61F in my warm, west facing bedroom. If my conditions were like this year round, I would have little problems. However, in Winter, my house usually hovers around 9C/48F in the rooms we don't heat (which is all apart from the living room). This temp barely fluctuates due to cloud, trees and other factors which block the sun from our house in winter (the sun is pretty low in winter where I live, so just living on a hill is enough to block out a lot of sun). This persists from mid Autumn to mid Spring. My first question is, could a highlander survive in this room alone, given lighting- especially during the constant low temps?
My solution for this was to place all of my plants in a tank, which warms the air around them to 20-23C. There is probably a good temp drop in the tank in Winter (I only set it up in late spring, so unsure of actual drop). However, in Summer the temp doesn't drop enough despite the coolness of the room at night. I would estimate temp ranges from 19/66- 25C/77F. The other problem with this set-up is that most neps will outgrow it within a year or so. But again, is this set-up already acceptable?
It's a bit of a dilemma- I would simply move the plants between if I didn't know that they're fussy about being moved :/
I have 2 possible solutions, but they have do holes in them...
1) I set up a metal grow rack with lights, like a lot of other people do- but again, I'm unsure as to whether this will create a good enough temp rise in the winter, considering that it's open to the air. I have no worries about humidity where I live- in Summer the inside of our house has 60-80% humidity, depending on how awful the weather is outside. This would in theory have more space, because you could remove upper shelves to let the neps carry on growing upwards, but would reduce space for smaller neps, and make it harder to keep smaller plants well lit due to distance between the fixtures and the plant.
2) We have a spare little 1920's uninsulated extension on our house which is even chillier year-round and stays about 10C constantly, but gets even colder in winter- never goes below 4C though- it would probes make perfect UHL conditions if I got it sorted. This would be perfect as a grow room as I would have as much space as I wanted for plants to mature. However, there might be a problem in heating the room to the right temp- could lights alone hear the room to 20C+? Or would I need a heater or something? Also, when said plants get large, how would I light them? One possible solution is a hot, high-output bulb like a metal-halide, but I have no clue about how they work or the pros and cons of them, apart a from the fact that the bulbs give off enough heat to fry plants and are expensive. They might also increase the chances of my house being raided by a drugs squad LOL.
I have also thought of A/C systems, but I have 0 technical knowledge, have no clue where to find one in oh-so-cool England and am pretty sure they are painfully expensive due to the fact that no-one here actually needs one.
All suggestions and opinions are wanted- although remember that cost is a big factor for me. I'm 16- so my income is pretty small. This is also why I haven't splashed out on plants that I'm not sure I can keep- I simply can't afford it.
So in summary, is it possible to grow HLs in my house-considering temps, or in my tank- again considering temps? I would love to know how you would solve this problem.
Thanks a million for reading!
For a while now, I've been wondering how to create the right habitat for nepenthes given my own conditions. I'm not one to rush into doing something blindly, and my attempts at making growing areas for them have not quite reached the right kind of requirements. For this reason, I have stayed away from Neps + Helis- although it has been difficult!
So, for Highlanders, the general consensus is that the following conditions are needed:
- Decent humidity
- Temp ranges roughly between 15C/59F and 23C/73F
- Good lighting (although strength can be less than strength for 'dews)
- And as an aside, space for maturing
I have problems with the temperature bit, with foreseeable problems with light.
Unlike a lot, I have sufficient ease in lowering individual room temperature at night in the Summer, as the overnight lows outside are around 10/50-12C/53F. That means I can open a window at night and the temps usually drop to around 15/59-16C/61F in my warm, west facing bedroom. If my conditions were like this year round, I would have little problems. However, in Winter, my house usually hovers around 9C/48F in the rooms we don't heat (which is all apart from the living room). This temp barely fluctuates due to cloud, trees and other factors which block the sun from our house in winter (the sun is pretty low in winter where I live, so just living on a hill is enough to block out a lot of sun). This persists from mid Autumn to mid Spring. My first question is, could a highlander survive in this room alone, given lighting- especially during the constant low temps?
My solution for this was to place all of my plants in a tank, which warms the air around them to 20-23C. There is probably a good temp drop in the tank in Winter (I only set it up in late spring, so unsure of actual drop). However, in Summer the temp doesn't drop enough despite the coolness of the room at night. I would estimate temp ranges from 19/66- 25C/77F. The other problem with this set-up is that most neps will outgrow it within a year or so. But again, is this set-up already acceptable?
It's a bit of a dilemma- I would simply move the plants between if I didn't know that they're fussy about being moved :/
I have 2 possible solutions, but they have do holes in them...
1) I set up a metal grow rack with lights, like a lot of other people do- but again, I'm unsure as to whether this will create a good enough temp rise in the winter, considering that it's open to the air. I have no worries about humidity where I live- in Summer the inside of our house has 60-80% humidity, depending on how awful the weather is outside. This would in theory have more space, because you could remove upper shelves to let the neps carry on growing upwards, but would reduce space for smaller neps, and make it harder to keep smaller plants well lit due to distance between the fixtures and the plant.
2) We have a spare little 1920's uninsulated extension on our house which is even chillier year-round and stays about 10C constantly, but gets even colder in winter- never goes below 4C though- it would probes make perfect UHL conditions if I got it sorted. This would be perfect as a grow room as I would have as much space as I wanted for plants to mature. However, there might be a problem in heating the room to the right temp- could lights alone hear the room to 20C+? Or would I need a heater or something? Also, when said plants get large, how would I light them? One possible solution is a hot, high-output bulb like a metal-halide, but I have no clue about how they work or the pros and cons of them, apart a from the fact that the bulbs give off enough heat to fry plants and are expensive. They might also increase the chances of my house being raided by a drugs squad LOL.
I have also thought of A/C systems, but I have 0 technical knowledge, have no clue where to find one in oh-so-cool England and am pretty sure they are painfully expensive due to the fact that no-one here actually needs one.
All suggestions and opinions are wanted- although remember that cost is a big factor for me. I'm 16- so my income is pretty small. This is also why I haven't splashed out on plants that I'm not sure I can keep- I simply can't afford it.
So in summary, is it possible to grow HLs in my house-considering temps, or in my tank- again considering temps? I would love to know how you would solve this problem.
Thanks a million for reading!