FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello!
I am thinking of getting a greenhouse to grow Nepenthes.
But, I am having trouble picking a humidifier for it. I am thinking of getting a 6ft X 8ft greenhouse. I plan on growing Highlanders, so keep in mind I need 70% during the day and 80% at night. I live in the DFW area, so the average humidity during the morning is 82% and the afternoon is 56% yearly average
Since I only need to raise the humidity up about 20% -40% most of the time, I was thinking of getting a small one, like the Vornado Evap3. (look it up! )
Will that be enough for a 6ft X 8ft greenhouse?

Also, would a swamp cooler work in the climate I live in?

Thank you for your help!
-Newwbie_1

Make your own with a 50 gallon container, a 12 head ultrasonic humidifier, and a fan. To control the humidifier you can use an inkbird humidity controller.

Raistlarn wrote:Make your own with a 50-gallon container, a 12 head Ultrasonic humidifier, and a fan. To control the humidifier you can use an ink bird humidity controller.

Thank you for the suggestion!
Unfortunately, I can't afford a $170 humidifier, I found this video, I could do something like this, but with more disks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YocsZhfq_oU
How many disks would you recommend?

Well you could probably get away with a $120 humidifier, but from what I learned in this hobby the more corners you cut the more expensive, time consuming it will be in the long run.

Raistlarn wrote:Well you could probably get away with a $120 humidifier, but from what I learned in this hobby the more corners you cut the more expensive, time consuming it will be in the long run.

That is true.
I found this on amazon: AIRCARE MA1201 Its $100 but I dont know if it will be enough. I am still looking though!
I do have to keep in mind that I will have many plants and lots of very wet spag. moss, so im sure that will pump water into the air for sure.

It might work but it only holds 3.6 gallons. My mini greenhouse in my room uses roughly 10-15 gallons a week, but my ambient humidity is around 20-30%. The reason why I say to go the diy route is because:
1. You can upgrade the reservoir size.
2. You can upgrade the ultrasound head size if you need to.
3. You can hook up an automatic refilled from your RODI unit to your reservoir.

3 is one of the most important things on the list, to me that is, because I hate being married to a piece of equipment. You can try to use that humidifier, but you will most likely be filling it up every couple days.

Raistlarn wrote:It might work but it only holds 3.6 gallons. My mini greenhouse in my room uses roughly 10-15 gallons a week, but my ambient humidity is around 20-30%. The reason why I say to go the DIY route is that:
1. You can upgrade the reservoir size.
2. You can upgrade the ultrasound head size if you need to.
3. You can hook up an automatic refilled from your RODI unit to your reservoir.

3 is one of the most important things on the list, to me, that is because I hate being married to a piece of equipment. You can try to use that humidifier, but you will most likely be filling it up every couple days.

All extremely good points!
I could buy one that has a built in hose line, but could I use my tap water? The TDS is 250.. way high. I could rig it to have the house running softly 24/7.
I personally wouldn't mind refilling up a humidifier every few days, and besides, I will be in the greenhouse most of the time I have free time ;D
What is the minimum amount of heads you would recommend? Or would it be better to buy a bunch of one headed ones?

I would buy at least 5 heads, because I'm running a 3 head ultrasonic humidifier, and it's barely doing the job. I wouldn't recommend buying a ton of 1 head humidifiers, because it would be more expensive than buying one humidifier, and there would be a lot of power cords to deal with.
250 TDS would probably kill a humidifier, and do some damage to the plants, because an ultrasonic humidifier will make the water into a most along with any mineral/fertilizer/contaminant in it. If you have a RODI unit you should be able to hook up an output line to the humidifier. As to running water non-stop, I don't think it would be good for a well or your wallet if you have to buy water.

Raistlarn wrote:I would buy at least 5 heads, because I'm running a 3 head Ultrasonic humidifier, and it's barely doing the job. I wouldn't recommend buying a ton of 1 head humidifiers because it would be more expensive than buying one humidifier, and there would be a lot of power cords to deal with.
250 TDS would probably kill a humidifier, and do some damage to the plants because an ultrasonic humidifier will make the water into a most along with any mineral/fertilizer/contaminant in it. If you have a RODI unit you should be able to hook up an output line to the humidifier. As to running water non-stop, I don't think it would be good for a well or your wallet if you have to buy water.

I have taken your advice, and I think getting a 12 head with a large tub and a fan would be best. Again, the last thing I would want is to have tons of nice plants be killed in the extremely dry Texas winter.
I can't find a humidistat that has day and night controls, so what do you think is a good constant humidity for Highland Nepenthes? I am thinking 75%, but I am no expert
Thank you for the great advice!

A 12 head ultrasonic humidifier will definitely keep the humidity up. I keep mine at 75%, but the humidity rises up to ~80-85% when it cools down. If you need a humidistat don't get an inkbird. Mine is ~1 year old and it's starting to act weird.

Thanks for the reply!
I was planning on getting an inkbird, thank you for the advice!
Do you think this is any good?
https://www.amazon.com/WILLHI-Humidity- ... controller

I haven't used this one, but my friend Smooter80 has one that he is using.

I talked to Smooter80, and he said out of the 2 he has none have given him any problems. The only downside is you have to manually change the humidity if you want different levels for day and night.

Raistlarn wrote:I talked to Smooter80, and he said out of the 2 he has none have given him any problems. The only downside is you have to manually change the humidity if you want different levels for day and night.

When growing highland neps do you need a humidity difference between day and night?

Mine haven't cared in the year I've had them growing.