FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hey guys,

I just wanted to show you all pictures of my ultrahighland chamber. I worked since December planning and constructing an environment suitable for highland and ultrahighland Nepenthes species. It maintains a day temperature of 75-80 degrees and a night time temperature of 50-57 degrees. It also maintains a relative humidity of 80%+ at all times. This is a really efficient alternative to a greenhouse if you only want to grow a few species. Arizona is too hot for a greenhouse and maintenance for one is quite expensive. (at least for 15 year old ) All credit goes to Jeff Shafer and Brad from Brad's greenhouse. Those guys really helped me with the design.

-Bruno

Looks fantastic! Nice work!!
Would you be willing to tell me how you did it? That's exactly what I would like to build.

SEWinans wrote:Looks fantastic! Nice work!!
Would you be willing to tell me how you did it? That's exactly what I would like to build.

First, I bought a chest freezer from craigslist and removed the lid by unscrewing the hinges on the back of the freezer. I then constructed a wooden frame using 2 by 4s to fit nicely on top of the freezer. I coated it with polyurethane to protect the wood from rot because of the high humidity inside. I applied latex caulk to the edges of the freezer and I placed the wooden frame onto the caulk. I then placed the original lid onto the frame and I put weights on it to secure a firm seal. After 3 days, I removed the weights and lid and I began to construct the platform on which the plants would rest. The platform is made of some PVC pipe and "egg crate light diffuser". For the lid I bought some plexiglass and cut it to fit the top of the wooden frame. At first, I wanted to just have the plexiglass rest by itself on the top but my dad convinced me to make a wooden frame for the plaxiglass as well. So we basically made a window for my chamber. After the lid's completion, I began to work on the control system. I bought a Zoo Med Hygrotherm to control both the humidity and the temperature. I hooked up the freezer to the temperature control socket and I hooked up an extension cord to the humidity control socket. I drilled a hole into the side of the wooden frame and I inserted the tube that came on the Zoo Med Reptifogger, a humidifier. I plugged in the Reptifogger and a fan called Flippi (made by Vornado, one of the best fan companies I know) to promote air circulation. For the finishing touches, I applied weather stripping along the edges to prevent humidity from escaping and I placed a T5 on top which is controlled by a timer. I set the temperature and humidity settings and Voila! Now I have an environment for ultrahighlanders! When the T5 turns off at night, a photocell on the Hygrotherm automatically turns on the freezer and the air cools down to 50-57 degrees.

Interesting! Could you share the steps and items you use?


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Ups nevermind, posted already


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Awesome setup for a very demanding enviroment! Good job!

So cool this is awesome!

Thanks so much! I will definitely be doing this.

Nice set up! Also looks great


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Very sweet highland chamber! What are you going to do when the plants get bigger? Are you only going to keep a small collection? I could see you running out of space fast. But then again I have no idea what your intentions are? What CPs are those? How long did it take to make?

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Looks like there is a macrophylla and a lowii in there with the two others.... Yeah, you're eventually going to run out of room, but you'll get plenty of time for enjoyment of those plants before that.

Nice build, looks very good!

killerplants4realz wrote:Very sweet highland chamber! What are you going to do when the plants get bigger? Are you only going to keep a small collection? I could see you running out of space fast. But then again I have no idea what your intentions are? What CPs are those? How long did it take to make?

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katya_dog1 wrote:Looks like there is a macrophylla and a lowii in there with the two others.... Yeah, you're eventually going to run out of room, but you'll get plenty of time for enjoyment of those plants before that.

Nice build, looks very good!

As an answer to both your questions, by the time they outgrow the chamber, I'll have a greenhouse. Luckily, these plants don't grow too fast. That is a good and bad thing.

@killerplants4realz - I'm going to limit myself to a few species only. I'm looking for quality, not quantity in my Neps. There are two macrophyllas, a lowii and a cephalotus in there.
@katya_dog1, njamban303, SEWinans, Kiss Megan, JMH, ruruanta, Chipi3s, chevyguy8893 - Thanks guys! Those compliments mean a lot to me!

Very nice plants on your list I understand now those are expensive plants:) Well I hope your Plants grow well and that you get a nice green house going also happy growing man!

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Good job.
Nice craftsmanship

Macros will grow a lot faster than the lowii. But you will have some room for quite some time

Hey guys,
Here is an update on my chamber. I added some live sphagnum moss around the Nepenthes to increase the humidity and to make the chamber stand out a little more. My N. lowii and macrophylla are growing very quickly. I'm quite surprised at their growth rate even without coffee or MaxSea! Cory, or any other experienced Nep grower, do you think the temperatures, lighting and humidity are adequate for a N. edwardsiana, N. hamata and a few Helis? I'm getting those from Wistuba this September. I upgraded the lighting from 2 to 4 T5 bulbs, humidity is always at or above 80%, temps during day are 78 degrees F and at night 50-55 degrees and air circulation is excellent.