"Heliarium" #3

After a long time, I finally managed to (almost) finish my third Heliamphora terrarium ;) It's just my old grow-rack terrarium - but totally rebuilt. But it's a long story, so I'm giving you just a quick, overall summary:

WALLS:
-I used plexiglas sticked to the rack using silicone, now there are multi-chamber polycarbonate panels attached with screws.

TOP:
-transparent plexiglas panel (no colour)

SLIDING DOORS:
-2 transparent pieces of plexiglas. However, they need to be replaced - I took some wrong measures and they tend to fall out. I think next time I'm just gonna use glass.

LIGHTING:
-150W LED panel (I used 5050 LED strips, 1:1 cool white and blue/red). The panel is cooled - high temperatures can dramatically lower the efficiency of the diodes. I used 3 80x80 mm computer fans and 4 radiators to keep the panel as cool as possible - works well.

I also made an experimental Peltier-cooling system, using a 120W Peltier cell, a radiator with a small fan and a water cooling system designed for PCs. Unfortunately, the whole system will be dismantled. It works fine, but the terrarium is too big for it, so there ain't any bigger temperature drops. I'm planning to use the Peltier system in another, smaller terrarium - I still think that there must be some good way to use it, but I just have to figure out how to do that ;). Anyway, the terrarium will soon be my main propagation chamber and it's gonna be moved into a cool basement, so the temperatures should be fine for the plants.

Of course I also use an ultrasonic humidifier to keep the humidity on a right level.

Some photos:

View from the front

Peltier cooling system

Upper side of the LED panel

Smoke...on the Helis

Humidifier

"Cold plate" of the cooling system, with a fan blowing air through the cold ribs of the radiator

LED panel

If you have any questions - feel free to ask, I'm waiting for your messages ;)
Now it's time to start building another terrarium...

Best Regards,
Mateusz

Back to life...

Hi everybody!

Due to my 16-day long bicycle pilgrimage to Rome, I had no time, thoughts and even opportunities to post anything new on my blog. But now, finally I can get back to my project ;). My new-old terrarium is getting some last improvements (a new LED lamp is being built), so I think I'm gonna show it to you soon. But now, time for some new photos!

From the left - H. tatei (Marahuaka), H. uncinata (Amuri), and a small H. ceracea (Cerro Neblina). Hope it starts to grow well soon!

H. exappendiculata (Chimanta)

H. exappendiculata (Chimanta) flower. Thanks to Marc Roller for a stunning plant!

N. lowii (Trusmadi) pitcher with my H. purpurascens - first adult pitcher on the way!

Small H. exappendiculata (Aprada Tepui)

Small H. exappendiculata (Aparaman Tepui)

Best Regards,
Mateusz

Extreme terrarium tuning :D

Remember my old Nepenthes terrarium, made from an old rack?

As I said before, it's getting a totally new design. This time only a small teaser - some photos. Work in progress! :)

Best Regards,
Mateusz

Getting into Heliamphoras

Been a while since my last entry...I just had some busy time. Anyways, this time I'm gonna show you my main Heliamphora growing setup. It's not big (50x35x40 cm), but does its job pretty fine. It has a 4x24W fluorescent light panel and stands close to the window, so every day it gets some extra sunlight. I also added a small computer fan to provide some air flow and an ultrasonic humidifier. It's a simple and not very expensive setup, and despite the fact that it doesn't have any cooling system, the plants seem to like it. I've been using it for more than 3 years now, and all plants are doing well. The pitcher colouration is just perfect. One and only drawback - during summer, when it gets very hot, the plants start to grow slower.

Why did I choose to grow Heliamphoras? To be honest, it was a simple decision after visiting Mr. Andreas Wistuba and his nursery. I had an opportunity to share some experiences and - of course - to buy some new species. 3 years ago they were nothing more than small seedlings...now I have no more free space for them. Especially my Brocchinia reducta, Heliamphora nutans and H. folliculata have grown so big, that I have to do some repotting...but first I need to finish my new terrarium to have somewhere to put them!

Species I grow in this terrarium

Brocchinia reducta
Heliamphora nutans
H. glabra (Serra do Sol, Guyana)
H. huberi (Amuri tepui)
H. folliculata (Murosipan Tepui)
H. ciliata
H. ceracea (Cerro Neblina)
H. heterodoxa x minor
H. heterodoxa x nutans
H. minor (Auyan Tepui)
Nepenthes hamata (Gunung Lumut, Sulawesi)

H. ciliata

Terrarium in 2010

...and in 2013. Something definitely needs repotting...

I have to say that the days of that setup will be over soon. Currently I got rid of most of my Nepenthes species and decided to focus on Heliamphoras. My bigger terrarium (described in my last post) is now crammed with new pitcher plants, which grow under my self-designed LED grow panel. The results after 2 months of using it are very encouraging...but that's something I'd like to talk about later. Anyways, I managed to buy some very interesting species for very low prices. They were definitely far from a good condition when they arrived...but after 1 or 2 months they're all finally starting to grow well! My "Tepui" project is developing faster and faster. New terrariums under construction, basement conservatory is being prepared...I'll share the news soon!

Old setup, new plants

Best Regards,
Mateusz

Bigger collection = bigger terrariums

N. lowii (Trusmadi) - pretty impressive for a highlander
 grown with no cooling. Still one of my favourite plants!

As I promised, now I'll show you my current set-ups. When my first, self-built terrarium started to leak, I decided to buy a new one; much bigger (100x40x50 cm) and made of glass. I bought 2 fluorescent lighting panels (2x39W + 2x24W), a PC fan and also used the humidifier from my older set-up. Finally, all my tropical plant species have had a new home. It took me only a few months to make a pure carnivorous jungle inside it. And Nepenthes, epiphytic Utricularias, a Heliamphora and Brocchinia seemed to like the new growing conditions and all looked beautifully. Though I didn't have any cooling system, my highland species were doing pretty well (and they still are!). But, anyway, I think that the pictures are gonna talk for themselves :)

To be continued...

My second Nepenthes terrarium, as it used to look like in 2010

First (serious) attempt to grow Nepenthes

Today I'm gonna show you some pics of my first properly-built terrarium for all my Neps & other tropical plants. After years of growing them on a windowsill or in plastic "faunarium' boxes, under no extra light, finally, I designed my own terrarium. I built it using plexiglas - because it's lighter, easier to cut and more durable (or maybe...more idiot-proof) than normal glass. I used silicone to glue it (it was definitely not a good idea, but I didn't know that...it wasn't so terrible after all and lasted for about 2 years; then started to leak) and some aluminium shapes to make the edges look better. The cover was made of plywood with 3 holes in it - one for ventilation, 2 others for compact fluorescent bulbs (2x23W, 6500 & 4000K). I also added an ultrasonic humidifier, one 8x8 PC fan, plugged everything into time controllers and...the terrarium was finally ready! Although it wasn't a perfect highland terrarium, for a 14-year old guy it was a masterpiece. I even managed to successfully grow N. lowii in it. When it started to leak, I just bought a new terrarium, but I still keep this one in my basement. Soon it's going to get a new life after making some improvements ;)

In full bloom ;)

After about 2 months I built another terrarium using an old, metal rack. I just needed some silicone, some plexiglas, a fan and a lamp - and it was ready. It doesn't look really impressive, but I still use it. Within the 2 next months, it should get a totally new design.

Terrarium #2 - or how to turn an old bookshelf into something useful 

Next time I'm gonna show you my current set-ups, which I arranged about 3 years ago.

Regards
Mateusz

Something to start with

Well...that's my first blog, so I think I should start with a bit of introduction. I've started it to write about one of my biggest passions - carnivorous plants. I'm Mateusz, I live in the southern part of Poland (Silesia) and I've been growing CPs for 10 years now. It all started in 2003 during a school lesson about Polish national parks, when the teacher showed me a photo of Drosera rotundifolia and said: "this plant catches insects to nourish itself, have you heard about that?". Well, that was just one picture. But for it was a spark that ignited it all. I started to look for more and more information about those strange plants, and after some time got totally absorbed by all this stuff. I surfed the internet, read some books and finally decided to buy a plant and try to grow it. That's how I got my first plant - Nepenthes maxima x fusca. I was dissapointed, 'cause I wanted a Venus flytrap ("it moves like jaws, I want it, yay!"), but happy that I have something that strange on my windowsill. After some time I had my whole windowsill crammed with various sundews, pitcher plants, Venus flytraps etc. I had nearly no idea how to grow them properly, so I just kept everything on the windowsill and watered like any other common plants. Some of them died, some survived; my friends and relatives were laughing about my new "passion", being sure that I would get bored after some time. But it lasted and lasted...and still lasts. That's how it all started. As years went by, I managed to build my own experience of how to grow CPs properly. I had nobody and nothing to help me with it, so I had to loose many plants, to finally get the best results possible. After some time I decided to focus on my favourite plants - Nepenthes and Heliamphoras and now, after 10 years, I've decided to share my own experience and show you the progress of my new project, which I hope will let me push my passion to a totally new level.
But, as we know, every single thing has a beginning...

My first H. minor...grown on a windowsill (ca. 2005-2006)

D. capensis - a "must" for every CP beginner...

Hope you're gonna like my blog ;) 

Mateusz