High humidity DOES make a difference!

[Amelie.Poulain]

I started this terrarium about christmas time.



How it looks inside on the last day of 2008.


About 20 days later



Notice the N. ventricosa that's on the upper right corner? It ws doing very miserably before, almost no growth & no pitcher for almost a year. It's thriving very well in the terrarium, producing lot's of pitchers & the pitchers are doubling in size almost every other day as you can see in the photos. New leaves also unfurls & produces pitcher instantaniously.

The N. 'Red Lantern' has also produced multiple pitchers just as the N. faizaliana & the N. veitchii. Everything looks great!

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for positive development in the other plants.

[Amelie.Poulain]

Close-up of the plants



N. rajah & the pitcher of N. 'Red Lantern' + a peep of the N.faizaliana pitcher.

[shawnintland]

Yep, everybody looks much happier Athena! Not to mention - no grasshoppers! What is the 'red lantern'? I don't know about it I guess?
I was just thinking it's about time to set up an automated misting system on my neps before the temperatures start soaring here in the next few months! I think you just convinced me to do it! Thanks!

[Robert]

yeah i believed so. They look healthy and leaves are turgid. I kept plants like orchids and begonia ( which also flowers inside the transparent plastic box i use )

[funkychips]

Yes I knew it I knew it I knew it!!! Humidity!! You have made my day by proving it Athene, Robert!! Thanks so much!!! *runs to measure glass tank*
But seriously I do notice an improvement in my Nep bellii and cuttings when they were last placed in an exoterra terrarium. They sort of root faster and the cut leaves still stay green without wilting. If I can get a bigger tank to accomodate my plants then this will clear my forever infamous issue of low humidity that's been bugging me for ages!!!
By the way, nice design of the terrarium you have there Athene. Ibelieve it is custom made? The handiwork is really neat.

[Amelie.Poulain]

Shawn,

Touch wood, so far the grasshoppers has not mess with my CPs,eventhough I've found some giant ones in the garden.

And the other day, I saw something moving on a rose leaf, ohmigod! it was a whole bunch of tiny grasshopper! Took a ziploc and just trap them all quickly in one swoop. Pop it in the freezer, my CP was feasting the next day - there's 19 of them grasshopper btw!

I'm still trying to figure out the N. 'Red Lantern', David helped me get it . The seller claim that I should be able to google it but so far the closes hit I've got is N. 'Gardentech'. Hope by posting the photo here I'll be able to get some form of description.

Misting system should be great in this kind of weather, it's been quite gloomy & windy and yet water evaporation rate is very high. I used to top-up my water tray every 3rd or 4th day, and during hot weather it would last at least 2 days. Now I have to do it daily if not more often!

[Amelie.Poulain]

Robert the begonias are doing fine being 'neglected'. Any form of attention, it would start to act up!

My last trip back to Kelantan, I got some wild begonia from one of the neighbors, I'll snap some photos tomorrow, see if you can help to ID.

[Amelie.Poulain]

Funkychip,

Yep, it's custom made, by one of my father's part-timer. He was so excited about the design (I usually have weird stuff for him to make!) he had it completed in 6 hours + curing time.

This was actually experimental, trying to good sturdy terrarium without it being too heavy. There's actually a 2" gap on top of the glass chamber, I was thinking of putting some metal grille or if I'm putting it indoor, some lighting. Since I have it outside under the porch & I've put all them highlanders in there, I decided to cover the hole using plain old Gladwrap

I don't have a hygrometer, but based on the amount of condension I see every morning (actually there aren't much to see, it's all fogged up), I'm sure the humidity pretty high. Anyway, lately it's easier to look into the terrarium without opening the door (ususally it's all foggy), and that could only mean the weather is getting very dry!

And I line the base with NZ lfs & top it with live sphagnum moss. It works miracle!

[funkychips]

Thanks a bunch for the details, Athene . The gap is actually a good idea and would be great as a must-have for every type of terrarium as either way besides being a slot for placing lighting and other gadgets, there's a chance for excess condensed droplets to escape fast. I have an exoterra terrarium with two side doors that open up wardrobe style and a mesh screen lid. It wasnt meant to do the job right so I'm selling it off and opting for one custom extra large tank to be made that I'm gonna place my plants with emo humidity issues in. :P

[Amelie.Poulain]

funkychip, I purposely close the gap to maintain very high humidity. At the same time, the slide-in door do have a tiny gap which I chose not to seal, this allows for the tiniest amout of evaporation