- Wed Jun 09, 2010 3:50 am
#58213
*Disclaimer* This post is quite long, as I tried to get all the relevant details in in order to get the best advice/criticism from anyone who reads and is willing to impart their knowledge.
My recent love for carnivorous plants (CPs) is one that seems to be better suited for those in more appropriate climates. I live in Scotland where, as many of the other UK growers will know, the summers are variable, to say the least. I have no doubt that there are many successful window-sill growers, and those with their plants outside. As luck would have it, though, this CP lover lives in a high-rised flat with all the windows either facing north-west or west. Thusly, I cannot put any of my plants outside, nor can I keep them on the window sill - the one north-west facing window gets 0 hours of direct sunlight; the west facing one gets direct sunlight from sunrise to about midday, permitting the sun is actually out!
Therefore, I chose to grow my plants in a vivarium/terranium (I prefer the term vivarium just for its generalisation). I know that it's not the best thing for Dionaea or Sarracenia, but I figured it is far better than the conditions I described above. In particular, I chose this vivarium - the LX48 with the dimensions (cm) 122 long x 37.5 wide x 40.5 high. I drilled some holes in the side and put in place four 4ft long 'cool white' T8 fluorescent bulbs.
Here are a couple of pictures of my completed vivarium from 2 months ago:
You can't see much of my DIY for the lights in those pictures, but they're there (the ballasts are sitting on top). In those pictures, from left to right in the vivarium are: Sarracenia purpurea ssp. venosa; Drosera aliciae; D. muscipula 'Akai Ryu'; Strawberry seedling; D. muscipula 'Big Mouth'; Melon seedling; Sarracenia alata; mature strawberry plant; bell pepper seedling.
Since then the setup hasn't changed much - the Sarracenia alata outgrew the vivarium in about three weeks so I had to move it to the west-facing windowsill where it has one fully grown trap and two spindly-looking excuses for traps (making me glad to have the vivarium); the melon is growing at an alarming rate, considering I just planted the seed to see what would happen; there are some lavenders in there too for now; all the other CPs are doing great in there just now.
As I currently don't have any need for high humidity (indeed, the presence of the lavenders makes it undesirable) I leave the doors open most of the time. Those circular things on the back wall of the vivarium are a hygrometer and thermometer. With the doors open there is a daytime temperature of around 30°C (86°F) and humidity of around 50-55%; nighttime temperature drops to 25°C (77°F) and humidity goes up at night to 70%.
When I first used the vivarium, I kept the doors closed other than to let air circulate. With the doors closed there was a daytime temperature of around 35°C (95°F) and a humidity of around 70%. At night, the temperature would drop to 25°C (77°F) and humidity raised to around 80-90%.
Please feel free to criticise/give advice about this set-up. I'm a complete beginner having only started a couple of months ago and am open to any suggestions.
But onto the main reason why I am posting this thread: I don't plan on those non-CPs being there forever. As much as I loved getting fresh strawberries, and I'm currently looking forward to watching the dozen or so bell-pepper flowers developing into a small harvest, my vivarium was intended for plants that can't survive anywhere else in my house. So, I'm asking for any of you to throw at me suggestions of CPs that would enjoy living in my vivarium.
I'm aware that trying to suit the conditions of many different plants in such a small container isn't a plausible task, but I'll do my best to keep everything happy. The main thing I need to consider is the size of the plant - nothing too bulky and certainly nothing too high; anything above around 30cm in height is likely to be toasted by the lights (taking the depth of the pots into consideration).
I'm mostly looking for suggestions of Nepenthes, Sarracenia, and Drosera that will be suitable as I really have no clue when it comes to those plants! With so many varieties of these species, it's daunting for a beginner to know what's what. I'd like to try Cephalotus follicularis too; I like a challenge.
Again, advice/criticism is appreciated on anything I have brought up, and I further apologise for the verbosity of the post. My name is Linguist afterall .
My recent love for carnivorous plants (CPs) is one that seems to be better suited for those in more appropriate climates. I live in Scotland where, as many of the other UK growers will know, the summers are variable, to say the least. I have no doubt that there are many successful window-sill growers, and those with their plants outside. As luck would have it, though, this CP lover lives in a high-rised flat with all the windows either facing north-west or west. Thusly, I cannot put any of my plants outside, nor can I keep them on the window sill - the one north-west facing window gets 0 hours of direct sunlight; the west facing one gets direct sunlight from sunrise to about midday, permitting the sun is actually out!
Therefore, I chose to grow my plants in a vivarium/terranium (I prefer the term vivarium just for its generalisation). I know that it's not the best thing for Dionaea or Sarracenia, but I figured it is far better than the conditions I described above. In particular, I chose this vivarium - the LX48 with the dimensions (cm) 122 long x 37.5 wide x 40.5 high. I drilled some holes in the side and put in place four 4ft long 'cool white' T8 fluorescent bulbs.
Here are a couple of pictures of my completed vivarium from 2 months ago:
You can't see much of my DIY for the lights in those pictures, but they're there (the ballasts are sitting on top). In those pictures, from left to right in the vivarium are: Sarracenia purpurea ssp. venosa; Drosera aliciae; D. muscipula 'Akai Ryu'; Strawberry seedling; D. muscipula 'Big Mouth'; Melon seedling; Sarracenia alata; mature strawberry plant; bell pepper seedling.
Since then the setup hasn't changed much - the Sarracenia alata outgrew the vivarium in about three weeks so I had to move it to the west-facing windowsill where it has one fully grown trap and two spindly-looking excuses for traps (making me glad to have the vivarium); the melon is growing at an alarming rate, considering I just planted the seed to see what would happen; there are some lavenders in there too for now; all the other CPs are doing great in there just now.
As I currently don't have any need for high humidity (indeed, the presence of the lavenders makes it undesirable) I leave the doors open most of the time. Those circular things on the back wall of the vivarium are a hygrometer and thermometer. With the doors open there is a daytime temperature of around 30°C (86°F) and humidity of around 50-55%; nighttime temperature drops to 25°C (77°F) and humidity goes up at night to 70%.
When I first used the vivarium, I kept the doors closed other than to let air circulate. With the doors closed there was a daytime temperature of around 35°C (95°F) and a humidity of around 70%. At night, the temperature would drop to 25°C (77°F) and humidity raised to around 80-90%.
Please feel free to criticise/give advice about this set-up. I'm a complete beginner having only started a couple of months ago and am open to any suggestions.
But onto the main reason why I am posting this thread: I don't plan on those non-CPs being there forever. As much as I loved getting fresh strawberries, and I'm currently looking forward to watching the dozen or so bell-pepper flowers developing into a small harvest, my vivarium was intended for plants that can't survive anywhere else in my house. So, I'm asking for any of you to throw at me suggestions of CPs that would enjoy living in my vivarium.
I'm aware that trying to suit the conditions of many different plants in such a small container isn't a plausible task, but I'll do my best to keep everything happy. The main thing I need to consider is the size of the plant - nothing too bulky and certainly nothing too high; anything above around 30cm in height is likely to be toasted by the lights (taking the depth of the pots into consideration).
I'm mostly looking for suggestions of Nepenthes, Sarracenia, and Drosera that will be suitable as I really have no clue when it comes to those plants! With so many varieties of these species, it's daunting for a beginner to know what's what. I'd like to try Cephalotus follicularis too; I like a challenge.
Again, advice/criticism is appreciated on anything I have brought up, and I further apologise for the verbosity of the post. My name is Linguist afterall
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