FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I wanted to post a picture and description of my Exo Terra 18 inch cube terrarium that I am currently using to grow intermediate and highland Nepenthes. There is an N. hamata in the the front that is classified as a highland. In the back left is N. vogelii and back right is N. ramispina. I get conflicting information as to whether the last two are intermediate or highland so I'm growing them with the Hamata for now.

The terrarium has a false bottom about an inch and a half deep that holds a reservoir of water to increase humidity. There is sphagnum growing throughout the terrarium as well as a few other terrarium plants I put in to test their acceptance of the growing conditions for a future more permanent and larger enclosure.

The lights are two 18 inch Finnex Ray 2 LED fixtures. They have 7000k leds and are too bright for the height if the terrarium. I use a plastic screen to reduce the light. Notice the red coloration in some of the leaves and vine of the Ramispina. The sphagnum suffered a bit also. The Vogelii and Hamata leaves lost some of the red coloration after I installed the screen. The Finnex lights are excellent lights and I use them on my aquariums. I also plan to use them on the large terrarium I plan to build soon.

There is a Zoomed temperature/humidity controller in the back. I really only use it to monitor the conditions and removed the humidifier since the humidity never drops to a low level. I have two of the Zoomed controllers and they have worked great for me for about 3 years now. The computer fan in the back is a Noiseblocker 80mm and is super quiet and has a low cfm that circulates air just enough to prevent condensation and mold. Personally, I think most people use fans that move too much air and it has a negative effect on humidity. Low cfm fans have pretty much negated the need for humidifiers for me anymore.

The last significant piece of equipment is the Mist King misting system. It is nothing short of awesome. Set it up and forget it other than adding water to the reservoir on occasion. I have the Ultimate Value version. It runs once every 3 hours for 10 seconds starting at 6am until 9pm. Humidity never drops below 80% and stays over 90% at night when lights go out.

I'll post how I keep it cool at night below.

The lights go out at 9pm. I usually give it up to an hour to cool naturally and then I hang two ice packs from the top of the terrarium. They hang from custom hangers I made from aluminum angle.

The terrarium is insulated on the back and bottom with reflective insulation. It looks like a combination of bubblewrap and tinfoil. At night I cover the sides and front with more of the insulation that attaches with velcro. I remove it in the morning but it can be left on without significantly raising the temperature. The top is uninsulated.

With this setup the temperature at night gets between 55 and 59 depending on where the ice packs hang. If I put the ice packs near the sensor in the back it stays at 55 all night. If I put them at the front of the tank it stays at 59 all night. Because of that, I put both packs in the front near the Hamata for the lowest temps near the true highland plant. I'm not sure it really matters since the air circulates but it makes me feel better. The plants don't seem to mind.

I've been using this setup close to a year now and the plants have all grown nonstop. I've often heard it said that frozen bottles or ice packs suck the humidity out of the enclosure but that has not been my experience at all with this or a number of other small enclosures I've experimented with. Overall this setup works great for small plants.

I have big plans for a more permanent home for the Hamata and some new highland friends. I'm hoping to move the Ramispina and Vogelii out of the terrarium eventually. Ive had great luck growing intermediate species outside here in South Carolina and I hope both of them will acclimate. I find nepenthes acclimate much better outside after they are bigger and older.

Any questions?