Thought I'd elaborate a bit about what I've done after seeing that there is some interest
in my approach.
I removed the lid from a 5.5 cubic foot standard chest freezer, and replaced it with clear
plexiglass, of about the same size and 5 mm thickness. Inside, I placed a thermostat,
set so that it would turn the freezer on when temperatures rise above the set point, which
is 3 C. The freezer itself is plugged into a timer, so that it only turns on and lowers the
temperature at night. In addition to the thermostat, I've also enclosed a small fan and
a humidistat which activates it when humidity drops below the desired value.
This serves quite well to keep the humidity fairly high since the bottom of the freezer is
watertight, and runoff from the plants collects there.
Over the enclosure, I've placed a fixture with two 40 W flourescent shop lamps, also on
a timer, and running opposite the time that the freezer is on. Photoperiod is set for about
13 hours.
I've been running this setup for a year, and my villosa's pitcher from every leaf. Currently,
the largest pitcher is about 5 cm in height, and the largest plant ia about 15 cm in diameter,
as I may have mentioned in an earlier posting. The plants are very healthy!
Moreover, this same technique may be used to cultivate other ultrahighland species, such
as NN. diatas, artistolochioides, lamii, murudensis, etc., keeping in mind that one should
employ a thermostat setting a bit warmer for some of these than for villosa, since most
grow at somewhat lower altitudes.
I should point out that using a freezer directly may be better than tearing apart an old refrig-
erator, for the simple reason that a freezer is quite well insulated, and this insulation allows
one to keep the inside (and the plants) quite cool, even in summer, at only modest cost
for electricity.
Please look for my upcoming article in CPN for more details. I'll try to post some pics of my
villosa on my website soon.