Temperature dilemma

[Sszvein]

<span style='colorurple'>Hello everyone,

Revising my notes on my tank's temperature, I was wondering what I could fill it with.
It is approximatly like so :

In winter :   Day 75°F - Night 65°F
In summer : Day 85°F - Night 75°F

The temp might please highlanders, but I think the nightly drop isn't strong enough.  On the other hand, lowlanders would like my summer temps, but I think they would find winter a bit on the chilly side...

Right now, I'm only growing what could be considered intermediate species, Ventricosa x 3, Maxima, Sanguinea and Coccinea.  Along with a bunch of sundews and P. Moranensis. All of the above seem rather happy and are pitchering well (for the neps), dewing a lot (for the sundews) and growing relatively fast. I even have a H.Minor that's been growing along, sloooowly, but surely.

What advice could you give me?

"Please deposit collective wisdom here"
(there you go, Jim, I said it.  Happy?)

Thanks, again.</span>

 

[Phyrex]

Where do you keep the terrarium?
That temperature difference is pretty big for a (heated?) room if you ask me.

Anyway, the temperature drop isn’t enough to please real highlanders no.
Perhaps they won’t die and still grow a little but not fast. I would go for Lowlanders.

Have you got any lighting above it? If not, you can buy some fluorescent lights and only use them during the winter. It will increase the heat inside the tank to keep it the same as in the summer and the same for the light levels which are also lower in the winter so this way you give your lowland Neps a stable environment.

 

[jimscott]

 

[The Griffin]

My suggestion, is to get a undertank reptile heater, or have a resevoir(sp?) of water with a submergible heater(and plants above water level, and go with lowlanders. I think most consider 70 to be bare minimum temp, and one of those would raise the temp at least five degrees.

Cheers,

Joe

 

[Tony Paroubek]

I would just leave it as is and avoid the picky highland and lowland plants and stick with the intermediate ones and the ones that are less temperature sensitive. The ones you currently have are good although I would place N. Coccinea in the more picky lowland class.

Tony

 

[rattler]

your winter temps are about what my house is year long. i have N. veitchii (highland-striped peristrome), bongso, macfarlanei and sibuyanensis all growing fine so far. the later 3 are in an unheated 10 gal tank. all of these are probably closer to intermediates than picky highlanders though. all my other neps such ampullaria,"Ile de France", biacl x amp, and such are in a seperate tank with a heat pad underneith and are doing fine.

 

[Sszvein]

Phyrex : The lighting is precisely what is heating the tank during the day. About 10F higher than my room's ambient temperature. (right now, 65F)
I thought lowlanders liked much warmer temperature?
Since it's currently -20°C outside, and over 30°C outside in summer, you can expect some variation inside, even in a well insulated house.

Griffin : But aren't the temps too variable for lowlanders still?

Tony : Sounds like *the* answer doesn't it? Now, ok for the intermediates, but how do I tell if a non-intermediate species is temperature sensitive? Growth altitude again?
Coccinea, picky?!? This thing is growing like it doesn't know how to stop, even faster than Sanguinea or Maxima! (Which are terribly fast too.)

Rattler : Of course, I certainly wasn't going to even think about ultra-highlanders.
But would those species (sibuyanensis, bongso, etc) be happy in my summer conditions? My temps can climb very high at noon in the hotter summer days. (reaching as high as 93F)
Is a heating pad some sort or carpet releasing heat upwards that you can plug in the wall?

Thanks for all your answers =D!

 

[Sszvein]

I was thinking about building some growing place in my (heated) basement though, temperature are pretty much 20 Celcius year round.
Sound I get some sort of heater to make it a low land chamber, or should I find a way to make it a highland chamber?

 

[rattler]

the heat pad is the kind used for sore muscles. they are in a 75 gal tank with the heater sitting undernieth the glass bottom. most lowlanders dont mind a drop at night as long as its nice and warm during the day so its just plugged in to the power strip that my lights are on so its just on during the day. prolly 65 at night and close to 90 during the day with 85% or better humidity during the day as the plants are sitting above about an inch of the heated water. i would say its worth a shot. they may not look their best during the summer but i dont think its high enough to seriously harm them. they just wont be to happy. most intermediate types are fairly adabtable.

 

[Sszvein]

Quote[/b] ]they may not look their best during the summer

You mean because it would be too hot? (for highlanders I guess?)
Of course, I want them to be as happy as possible.

How big a drop in temp do highlanders need anyway, in a 10F drop isn't enough?

 

[rattler]

in all honesty im not sure if its enough drop. i figured they needed to drop down to about 60-65 for intermediates to be happy. im just starting with highlanders. i really liked N. bongso, so i researched them and was told they are actually fairly adaptable. so i purchased one from Tony P, an excellent specimen. i wanted to try some other highlanders but figured i would see how intermediates do first so i purchaced the sib and mac(this time not from Tony) because they are from about the same elevations as bongso. so far they are doing quite well. the sib is putting out leaves like mad. the mac and bongso have each put out one new leaf.

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Elevation is a good indicator for temperature range. As well as advice from other growers and the place your getting your plants from. Always the best plan to research before you buy!

I keep my lowland plants with a minimum 75 at night, warmer in the day. My own thought is why bother spending the money to heat (or cool) a grow chamber if your not specifically trying to grow a particular plant that really needs it to do well. There are a large number of Nepenthes that will do quite well with normal house temperatures.

Rattler - I would be cautious of the drugstore heating pad setup. They are not really designed for longterm/continuous use or to have alot of weight on them. Big fire hazard potential if they are used like that. An alternative would be soil heating cables or pad from a greenhouse supply place. Or you could even go with a waterbed heating mat.

Tony

O yeah.. maybe the N. coccinea clone I had was not a good grower. Everyone claims the mass produced gardencenter plant is really vigorous. But then again it was out in my main highland greenhouse.. oops

 

[rattler]

concerns duely noted Tony. picked up the heat pad thing from keeping snakes. there are more than a few who do it. minimal wieght is on the pad. there is about 1/3 inch of space under the tank. i dont think it was ever an aquarium as the glass is awful thin for holding the over 600 pounds of water it would normally contain. i think it was always intended to be a snake/lizard cage. i realize its not ideal but it serves its purpose for now. it will be replaced the next time i get out of town and can get to an actual greenhouse supply store. that has been my intention since i put the pad under there a few weeks ago.

 

[Sszvein]

Tony : Of course there are some I wish to grow more than others. A long list in fact. But I'll be realistic and pick among that list those who will do well.

(My termometer is at the bottom of the tank, after verification, temperature is a good 7F higher when measured at the top. Those fluorescent are really heating things up, and I guess the termometer was being sheilded from that heat by Maxima's leaves. Might explain why Coccinea likes it so much then, even if it's a "picky lowlander", it's pretty tall and thus rather close to the lights.)