Oh #### man, the dagnabit heater

[superimposedhope]

Crap, when I went out of town (for 4 days) I came back and the water had dropped dramatically and the heater cracked and melted a hole through the bottom of the tub at which point the remaining water flooded to the floor shorting some cords out  

 

 

 

 

I don't know what day it happened but, when I got home the temp was 65F. and hum. was 20%. No visible damage yet - to the plants that is.

Joe

 

[Tony Paroubek]

glad you didn't burn the building down..

I have always disliked the aquarium heater in a jar idea. Very risky if you ask me.

 

[Spectabilis73]

thats why I use glass jars instead of plastic

<span id='ME'><center>Spectabilis73 </center></span>

 

[superimposedhope]

Actually its not in a jar, it is laying at the bottom of the tub. Which is filled
3-4" with water at 100F. This keeps a good hum. Basically I used a Rubbermaid tub instead of a glass terrarium with the bottom filled with water.

Joe

 

[schloaty]

That stinks, man. Live and learn, though. I hope all the plants take the mis-hap in stride!

 

[The Griffin]

Everytime I have used one of those submergable heaters for critters, I let the water gett oo low and it cracked. I have not used any for a long time, but the last time I stuck my hand in the water and got a nice surprise, lol.

joe

 

[rattler]

thats to bad about your setup crashing. interesting idea. ive been trying to figure out how to keep the humidity up in the big chamber im going to build. ive sorta decided on using a cheap humidifier or 2 from wally world and throwing them on a timer as running full time will prolly start a mini rainstorm. i think your idea is sound however it has one flaw as you have seen. solution get a piece of plate glass to set the heater on, elevate the piece of glass off the bottom of the rubbermaid(a 1/4 inch should be plenty) this way if the worst happens and the water level drops the 1/4inch air space should be sufficiant insulation to keep the plastic bottom from melting. prolly fry the heater though if the water level drops that much for to long. just my 2 cents. hopefully you plants will escape the incident with no/minor damage.

Rattler

 

[Spectabilis73]

You may as well buy a fogger. They cost the same price as heaters that go up to 100 degrees

 

[The Griffin]

Spec,

How does the fogger heat the area, though? Since Joe grows lowlanders, I presume he is using the heater for humidity and heat. Do they make warm foggers? I think you have an option of warm mist and cool mist humidifiers...

Joe

 

[schloaty]

Hey Joe,
I have a warm mist humidifier. Wouldn't work in an enclosure. By "warm mist" they really mean steam. It would work in an actual room, but you'd cook you plants (yes, even lowlanders, lol) if you put that in a grow chamber.

 

[superimposedhope]

I have an ultrasonic humidifier but it is too wet even on a timer. The ultra's are hard to get right cause they are too wet or not damp enough. I also have a "warm" humidifier but yea like Schloaty said they cook things at even a foot or so away. The plants seem to have taken no damage, thankfully. I was scared after reading somebodies post about them sitting out in dry for a day. (I don't remember who). I think i am going to build a bigger chamber soon.

Joe

 

[The Griffin]

Really? So a warm mist humidier in a ..say eight foot x eight foot wuld be too hot, or are you talking about a smaller grow are?

Joe

 

[superimposedhope]

8x8 would be way to hot. They are like 120F at 1 foot. They are litterally steam. They use a porcelain coated heating coil that has a steady drip on to it. Creating a very HOT steam. Even an average bedroom will rise a 5-10 deg. from them. Although some are larger than others. I say this based on the drugstore size. Maybe they would work with a good venting system but, then you would also be moving the humidity too. I use one in my room I have for my tropical cacti but in a room it only stays 40-70% depending on a few things. Water also needs replacement every 6-8 hours and tap water will clog the opening and crust up the coil needing to be cleaned at least 2 times weekly. On the other hand mineral less water is VERY expensive at such a rate.
I have good results with a heater in water then add an ultrasonic humidifier, thus a warm fog. Not very good in small areas although would work probably in 8x8.
Wow that was long winded

Joe