Some photos

Hi,

Here you can see some recent shots from my collection

H. uncinata

N. edwardsiana

H. spec. Akopan

H. minor 'Burgundy Black'

N. macrophylla (2 plants in the back) and N. x trusmadiensis

Best Regards,
Mateusz

Comeback!

Hi all!

After my very long absence here, I finally managed to relaunch this site! I've had a lot of work with my project, but now I'm (almost) ready with all stuff.

Just to summarize the whole thing: I've already moved most of my plants into my new growroom. It's located in my basement to provide cooler temperatures for all the stuff. I built 2 new setups, and partially re-arranged my "Heliarium #3" described in the previous post. Some people who contact me via Facebook already know what I'm talking about ;)
I designed and built one large terrarium, mainly for highland Nepenthes species and some tropical epiphytes. The whole construction is based on aluminium profiles along with polycarbonate and plexiglas sheets. Currently it's lighted with 2x150W HQI lamps, but soon to be replaced with my next self-built LED panel. The dimensions are 150x60x100 cm, with a 40 cm high Cephalotus chamber underneath (yet to be done). Rest is all the same as always - PC fans, ultrasonic humidifier, automatic time controllers...you know what I mean.

The second setup is nearly identical, just split into 2 separate terrariums (one is 50cm high, and the second one is 60cm) designed specially for my growing Heliamphora & other South American plants collection. I'm finishing my next LED panel, so soon it will start it's service as a new home for my most precious species.

What about my collection, everything is growing perfectly. I managed to get some new species and hybrids, what gives me opportunities to make more and more hybrids in the near future. Finally, my little indoor nursery has started to run forward faster and faster, what I'm really excited about!

There've been a lot of things about which I could talk now, but I don't think it's really necessary - I've come up with a new vision of my blog. I'm still going to post news from my growroom, but once I'm finished with everything, I'm just going to focus mainly on the plants - not only carnivorous! I'm slowly getting into discovering some new fields of interests (such as antplants, orchids, interesting succulents), so I would like this blog to become more wide-themed. If possible, I want to make this site interesting to as many people as I only can, and maybe ignite a kind of spark in some of them - that kind of spark that years ago made me amazed and curious about the wonders of nature all around us! I still have to figure out how to run my site in the most effective way, but I hope that you'll help me with that! All suggestions are welcome!

To finish for now, there are some quick shots from my basement - still got some work to do as you can see.

Best Regards,
Mateusz

"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