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Macrophylla is droopy

My N. macrophylla is in my greenhouse, the humidity gets to around 50% during the day, and up to 70% or more at night. The temps do get to the fifties at night (farenheit) and the maximum temps are 90 during the day. What is wrong here to make it droop down? I'm sure i water it enough. It came in from N.Y. a few weeks ago, is it still in shock from the move and the transplanting?
Thanks
Dave
 
Sorry, first of all, my camera is broken, second, i can't for the life of me figure out how to get the picture on the forum, and i know how i'm supposed to do it. Strange.
Anyway, if figured out that it was too hot, i was finally able to be around a noon today and it was about 93-94 in my warmhouse. I opened the door and i put up the screen one and it quickly cooled off to 75.
Thanks
Dave
 
Thats waaaaaay to hot for a N. macrophylla, esp. with 50% RH!
 
Okay, from now on, i'll open the door of my greenhouse during the day. I have a thermostat in the mail to me, i hope it arrives soon.
 
This is really Dustin's field, but I will play Devil's advocate:
What happens to that 50% humidity when you leave the greenhouse door open during the day?

Cheers,

Joe
 
Unless there is some sort of humidifying equipment present and active, all you humidity goes bye bye and temps gets up there. Now if you have a misting system active, all your worries are over with humidity issues.
 
Dave,
I don't know where you live, but my 4 macrophyllas I grow outdoors have taken 20% humidity for a few days outdoors where I grow them. They're pretty tough customers. I've never had any issues with them during transplanting to new media either. They certainly can take low temps. Recently we had a cold spell into the upper 30's and no problem. I guess what I'm getting at is macs are hardy and I would guess that your macs can handle lower humidity with your greenhouse door opened to let out excess heat. Especially if you keep the potting media moist and possibly surround your growing area with added moisture to boost humidity if that is an issue where you're growing your guys. I would think that with a greenhouse, you'd have more humidity than me growing them outdoors. Sounds like the 95 F temp was what was stressing your mac out.

Good growin'
Joel
 
What if you set the pots on trays of gravel with water, or eggcrate over water, ect. You know, so they are not actually in the water, but can take place of surrounding humidity?
 
  • #10
It won't help nearly as much as people think, esp. in OPEN AIR. If its in a terrarium or growchamber, yes it will, the evaporation rate can keep humidity quite decent, but the so called "humidity trays" for windowsills are a load of crap, they can't create a microclimate on a windowsill in dry household air, it just isn't practical.
 
  • #11
I have never even tried one as a houseplant around here, because I could never mist it enough time to matter with the low humidity in these parts. Since this is a greenhouse, I thought it might work.
Since I have never had one to play around with, is 50% a normal daily humidity in a greenhouse w/o misting of some kind? Seems kind of low...

Cheers,

Joe
 
  • #12
I would imagine Dustin didn't go to all the trouble to put in a evaporative cooler if it wasn't necessary.
 
  • #13
That makes sense, though I can not seem to locate anything about Dustin having one in this thread and was not aware he had an evaporative cooler.
The growchambers I have seen, though, all use a humidifier of some sort(I guess a "moisture tent" would be a accurate word). I plan to when I finally get mine put together.
Joel, you must be the luckiest guy in Nepenthesville-you seem to be an anomoly when we talk about the normal problems, lol. Your outdoor temperature range seems perfect for highlanders.

Cheers,

Joe
 
  • #14
He has (or had) one not too long ago when he was getting his GH setup (his older posts show plants hanging in front of it). It's definately the route I'd go if I were to get some land and setup a GH. I wouldn't attempt to get humidifiers to do the work of an swamp cooler (which can be DIY built anyway) in a GH which needs air exchange to avoid cooking your plants, especially the highlanders need both air exchange and high humidity.
 
  • #15
Joe,

Maybe I'm lucky. I'd like to think so! But realistically I've just been experimenting with my Nepenthes. I've found that they can be stretched, more or less, to different environments. I've grown lowlanders under lights indoors with success but that got kind of boring and impractical especially when the plants started getting big!! I admit that I've tortured some of my Neps, but they really are resilient. I used to think they were these sensitive, finicky plants that needed to be coddled with every step. Now I realize that they can adapt to many growing conditions. I just want to pass on my experiences for those growers that love these plants but may not possess all of the necessary tools to recreate the perfect environment. For those of us who want to enjoy their beauty that can't offer greenhouse conditions, maybe with a little tweaking to household and / or outdoor conditions we can still grow these wondrous plants. You'd really be surprised how tought Neps can be!

Joel
 
  • #16
A GH is not very realistic for me, but a basement growchamber is. Nebraska's Summer's are too hot along with the cold Winters(not as cold as you, but cold enough).
I should clarify I have seen more indoor chambers and one attached warmhouse(modified jacuzi room) than greenhouses(I think most outdoor ones do use a EC).
I am not arguing with anyone here. I am just curious to how high NM's greenhouse is raising the humidity as opposed to just being outside.

Cheers,

Joe
 
  • #17
[b said:
Quote[/b] (NepsAroundTheHouse @ Dec. 09 2004,10:23)]You'd really be surprised how tought Neps can be!
I have to agree with Joel.
When I first read the information on the web about neps I thought there is no way that I would be able to grow them, they sounded so difficult.
I do not grow many neps, 5 to be exact, which all but 1 (it is a seedling about a nickle in diameter in a terrarium), are growing as windowsill plants in the house. They seem to usually take around 2 to 3 months to settle in and start to pitcher for me.

Joel,
Just wanted to add that I spent a lot of time at your site over a year ago reading the information you have posted there before I decided to try my first nep.
Great site.
 
  • #18
The swamp cooler really helps bring the temps down on a very dry and hot day. The dryer the air, the better. Maybe thats why my N. hamata matured so quickly due to the setup I have as Josh described. It really was worth all the hassle to get the bugs worked out. Certainly wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be to build it (around $80) DIY, just bought the pump, pads, and thermostat. The thermostat is a 2 stager having the cooler kick on at the initial set temperature and the exhaust fan engage another 2-4 degrees above the set temp.
 
  • #19
Now I will be completely ignorant: what is "DIY"? Is it "Do it yourself?"
 
  • #20
Controlling humidity while battling heat buildup is always an issue. Realistically speaking a greenhouse out in the sun will be at the same humidity as the surrounding air if it is venting properly and no extra measures are in place to increase humidity/improve cooling, other than simply opening the vents. In order to keep a greenhouse cooled you need to exchange the air every minute or two if your just using venting. That's how fast the sun can turn the greenhouse into a sauna. Active cooling such as fogging/misting/evaporative pads etc allow you to reduce the air exchange rate, humidify, and in some parts of the country cool below outside air temperature.

Tony
 
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