23 replies to this topic

[Kryptonite]

Hello everyone,

Apologies if i am posting this in the wrong place. My grow house is quite small and gets a lot of direct sun for almost the whole day and i don't want the pots to overheat. [Un]fortunately, they are all black plastic. Is there a way i can keep the pots and the substrate cool over the summer? Would putting the pot inside and empty pot of the same type (so the outer one heats up and the inner one is a bit cooler) be any help?
Any thoughts or advise would be much appreciated.

Regards

Edited by Kryptonite, 04 April 2011 - 14:58 PM.

[Amar]

Hi there...I really don't think heat should be a too big of a problem as long as you keep them wet (the Cobraplant of course being an exception), or have you had problems in the past?

[Kryptonite]

No not really--it's my first year of growing them in the growhouse. Last year i grew them indoors. It was just something someone mentioned to me got me thinking. Am still very much a beginner and thought it best to check!

Thank you for the reply Amar :)

[dchasselblad74]

One trick I learned is to generously cover the top with perlite to reflect the suns heat inducing  rays. The only problem is that, as we all know it, perlite floats away when watered, so maybe a fine mesh nylon can be placed on top to hold  perlite. In Japan, they designed a special planter box for Darlingtonia where it's a pot inside a box that looks a lot like a tissue(Kleenex) holder. The idea is that the planted Cobra plant is inside this white(reflective) box that has a hole on top for the plant to grow out of, in turn cooling the roots. here is a rough drawing I made of it since I can't find a photo of it, pardon the drawing cause I'm not James

Edited by dchasselblad74, 04 April 2011 - 15:34 PM.

[manders]

If you can, then repot into clay pots, it will keep the roots a lot cooler.

[myself]

Sink the pots into sand .Top of sand same level as your compost .

[petesredtraps]

You can clad the outside of the pots with Mylar and then for a topping use white aquarium gravel,this is what I do for my D Regia and my Darlingtonias-works well.

[dchasselblad74]

petesredtraps, on 4th April 2011 - 18:21 PM, said:

You can clad the outside of the pots with Mylar and then for a topping use white aquarium gravel,this is what I do for my D Regia and my Darlingtonias-works well.

Mylar!!!! Yes...That is actually a brilliant idea...I will try this

[petesredtraps]

dchasselblad74, on 4th April 2011 - 19:52 PM, said:

Mylar!!!! Yes...That is actually a brilliant idea...I will try this

Yes, just wrap it round and tack it with some shiny duct tape. Mylar is easy to get hold of, not dear, you can get it on Ebay easily. In fact if you want to really pamper Darlingtonia, you can line the pot with Mylar aswell, thus when you use cold water ,it'll stay cool.

[mobile]

dchasselblad74, on 4th April 2011 - 14:55 PM, said:

In Japan, they designed a special planter box for Darlingtonia where it's a pot inside a box that looks a lot like a tissue(Kleenex) holder. The idea is that the planted Cobra plant is inside this white(reflective) box that has a hole on top for the plant to grow out of, in turn cooling the roots. here is a rough drawing I made of it since I can't find a photo of it, pardon the drawing cause I'm not James

There is a plan for one here: http://bit.ly/fltayy

[Trev]

I'd noticed for years how the plants in the pots at the edges- where the sides are exposed to the sun, always do less well than the others. So last year I cut up a piece of that white plastic cardboard like material- that they use for election posters and for sale signs- and used that to shade the sides of the pots at the edge. It worked well so I'm using it again this year.

Edited by Trev, 04 April 2011 - 20:49 PM.

[petesredtraps]

Trev, on 4th April 2011 - 21:47 PM, said:

I'd noticed for years how the plants in the pots at the edges- where the sides are exposed to the sun, always do less well than the others. So last year I cut up a piece of that white plastic cardboard like material- that they use for election posters and for sale signs- and used that to shade the sides of the pots at the edge. It worked well so I'm using it again this year.

Trev, are you saying then that VFTs prefer cooler roots?

[dchasselblad74]

mobile, on 4th April 2011 - 21:33 PM, said:

There is a plan for one here: http://bit.ly/fltayy

Yup...that's the one I saw months ago...

[dchasselblad74]

petesredtraps, on 4th April 2011 - 21:26 PM, said:

Yes, just wrap it round and tack it with some shiny duct tape. Mylar is easy to get hold of, not dear, you can get it on Ebay easily. In fact if you want to really pamper Darlingtonia, you can line the pot with Mylar aswell, thus when you use cold water ,it'll stay cool.

I always throw away mylar balloons after my kids get tired of them. Now I will reuse them;)

[petesredtraps]

dchasselblad74, on 4th April 2011 - 23:33 PM, said:

I always throw away mylar balloons after my kids get tired of them. Now I will reuse them;)

How resourceful .

[dchasselblad74]

petesredtraps, on 5th April 2011 - 01:37 AM, said:

How resourceful .

More like Frugal than resourceful

[D_muscipula]

Why don't you just order some white pots

[gardenofeden]

I use light blue pots for Heliamphora, Darlingtonia and Drosera regia. I feel it really helps.

[manders]

Don't people feel clay pots work?  If you want to drop below ambient temps at the roots?

[numpty]

manders, on 5th April 2011 - 09:38 AM, said:

Don't people feel clay pots work?  If you want to drop below ambient temps at the roots?

I wonder if there's just an instinctive resistance by some CP growers against clay pots, on account of perceived mineral buildup in the clay, etc.