victorhooi

I've setup a new terrarium, and I'm having some issues keeping the humidity high, without overflowing the tank. The tank is a Exo Terra Terrarium Large Wide, which is 90cm x 45cm x 45cm. (I also have a second smaller one, which is the Exo Terra Terrarium Medium Wide, which is 60cm x 45cm x 45cm). For misting, I'm using a MistKing Starter System, with two nozzles - one at each of the front corners of the terrarium. Target humidity is set to 75% (with 5% difference, so it starts misting when it falls to 70% RH). The reason for this humidity is to get the sphagnum moss growing quickly. (Optimal humidity for this is apparently around 80%, 23-25 degrees C, and 200-300 PAR). For lighting, I'm using a HLG LED system - around 135W for the Medium, and 240W for the Large tank. I've dimmed it slightly, and it's around 280 PAR in terms of lighting. For substrate I'm using the EpiWeb IIS panels (basically black mesh that plants can grow on), so there's a pool of water at the bottom, the Epiweb and then sphagnum moss on top. I do have a heating coil underneath the Epiweb to heat the water - however, it seems with the LED lights, it keeps it warm enough anyhow (around 25 degrees Celsius), so I have that off at the moment. The top of the Exo Terra is metal mesh, so I've put a little bit of plastic cling wrap, to try to reduce the evaporation. I've attached a photo of the terrarium currently. The misting is working well, to keep the humidity around 70-80%. However, the issue is, with all the constant misting, the water level keeps rising, and overflowing through the front. Also, I'm going through my misting reservoir super quick. What do people suggest, to keep the water levels in check, whilst still maintaining 70-80% humidity? Would completely covering the top with say, acrylic sheet help? Would a little fan inside the tank help? Or what else would help to keep at the target humidity?

Hi, I'm setting up an indoor terrarium to grow carnivorous plants (and sphangum moss). The tank is an Exo Terra terrarium, 90 x 45 x 45 cm. I am thinking of getting this light: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Meijiu-Newest-QB288-quantum-board-288_60794318590.html?spm=a2747.manage.0.0.113971d21o6Iu1 However, it comes in three different colour temperatures - 3000K, 3500K and 4000K. Does anybody have any advice on which is most suitable for sundews, venus fly traps and nepenthes? Finally, is it possible to have too much light for these types of carnivorous plants that require full sun? Thanks, Victor

Hi, I'm hoping to setup a fully-automated terrarium for my carnivorous plants using TerrariumPi. This uses a Raspberry Pi along with humidity/temperature sensors, and can switch on/off heaters/misters etc. I'd be growing sphagnum moss, along with some Droseras, Dionae and maybe some others. I was hoping to get some advice on equipment. Tank - I was just going to buy something like the Exoterra Terrarium. Lights - I was thinking the MARS Hydro 300W lamps Ventilation - I don't want stagnant air, however, not sure what to get. Any advice? Heating - ZooMed Under-Tank Heater What do you think? Thanks, Victor

Hi, I actually ended up buying one of these - Ikea Socker mini-greenhouse: http://www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/90191726/ Photo of my setup here: I think one of them, where I put a bit of sphagnum moss collected from a existing pot in is growing? The other one, collected from another pot - doesn't seem to be - not sure if that's a weed growing up out of there? And the tray with dried sphagnum moss, which I've been trying to keep moist - no change yet...lol. I also ordered some Maxsea 16-16-16 from Amazon, as well as Physan - I'm thinking if I spray them both, it'll boost growth and kill algae which might be competition? Cheers, Victor

Hi, Ok, so I have some dried sphagnum moss that I'm trying to culture into live sphagnum moss. I've placed it into a shallow plastic container, and I'm keeping it moist with distilled water. It's currently sitting in sunlight on my balcony. My question is - how much air exactly does the sphagnum moss need to grow (from the spores)? I'm assuming I can't put the lid on the container, since that will be airtight - and that's bad, right? Do I need to leave a small gap, or poke holes in the lid? How much air do they need exactly? Or will it grow best with no lid? (However, that means it'll dry out faster, right?). I also have a little bit of living sphagnum moss that I took . I've put this on a bed of dried sphagnum moss, and it's also in a container with distilled water, in the sun. Likewise for this - lid on or off? Cheers, Victor

Hi, Thanks to everybody for their advice =). The collection will have to stay small for a while...lol. My other half would probably not appreciate if the kitchen/living room turned into a greenhouse... Ok, so I'm probably going to go for the desk lamp, with one of the E27 lamps - I'm leaning towards LED over CFL, since the colour is tuned for the plants, and I'm guessing it'll be cheaper to run. My only question at the moment is between the 15W LED versus the 54W LED - the only reason I'd go for 15W is running costs, but I'm guessing the 54W will be much better for the plants. Cheers, Victor

Hi, I have some small Drosera Capensis plants. They're currently growing in a small pot, sitting in a takeaway container filled with water (distilled). I've just been pouring the water over the top to water them. I originally planted them in 1:1 peat moss and sand a few days ago - but then I found out that the peat moss I used (Killarney brand) is actually coir, not sphagnum peat moss, so I'm about to transplant them again into 1:1 dried sphagnum moss and sand. However, I was wondering if self-watering pots are suitable for Droseras? I bought some Decor branded ones from a local nursery (Flower Power): http://www.decor.com.au/products/decorgarden/default.aspx http://www.decor.com.au/products/decorgarden/viewproducts,id,623,.aspx Am I safe to use these - will they keep the soil at the right moisture level? (I think I read somewhere that somebody claimed they might not - but I can't seem to find the link). Cheers, Victor

Hi, Ok, so I've recently bought some Drosera Capensis plants, and I'm trying to find an appropriate growing media for them. I started off my buying some Killarney Peat Moss: https://www.hargrave...CFeZbpgodsx8AHQ The plan was to mix this 1:1 with some coarse river sand that I'd also bought. However, then I found out the Killarney Peat Moss was a mix of coir (coconut fibre) and sphagnum peat - and apparently the coir is bad for CP's, due to the dissolved salts. I also tried getting Debco Peat Moss: http://www.masters.c...co-peat-moss-5l However, apparently this also contains coir, although it's not stated on the packet. I also got some Debco Sphagnum Moss: http://www.masters.c...phagnum-moss-5l which appears to just be dried out sphagnum moss. Apparently it's next to impossible to get live sphagnum moss here in Sydney (Australia). So I guess with the two peat moss products I have - my only option if I want to use them seems to be to use a lot of distilled water, and rinse them repeatedly to get rid of the dissolve salts, right? Or can I use the dried out sphagnum moss somehow in some kind of mix? I also have the river sand, and some perlite - is there some ratio of them that will work well for growing? Apparently it's sometimes also possible to grow/rejuvenate live sphagnum moss from the dried out stuff - not sure how to do that though, and I'm guessing it will take a long, long time? Last resort - I *think* the plants seem to have some sphagnum moss growing on top - I can't be sure, and I'm not any expert - it may just be some algae/weed? But if it is, is there some way I can take that, and cultivate it quickly? Is there some combination of moisture/temperature that will cause it to grow like crazy? =) Cheers, Victor

Hi, I'm looking at growing some Drosera Capensis indoors for fun =). The location I have in mind is not directly next to the windows, hence the sunlight will be indirect and not that strong. I thought of getting some LED grow lights to help things along. Searching online, I read that the Glow Panel 45 is meant to be quite good: www.amazon.com/Sunshine-Systems-LEDGP45-GlowPanel-Light/dp/B001N4NKB8 And the Blackdog Led Grow Light's are meant to be good: www.blackdogled.com/ However, these seem like over-kill - I only have two small plants (in 3-inch pots). And the lights are also fairly expensive, and quite high wattage. I saw that eBay has quite a few Chinese-origin LEDs for fairly cheap - I thought I might be able to give some of them a shot? Are there any things I should be aware of? For example, there's these 90W red/blue UFO-style ones for around $90: www.ebay.com.au/itm/75W-UFO-LED-Hydroponics-Plant-Flower-LSRG-Grow-Light-Red-Blue-/151197986440 However, would that still be too much just for two small plants? I noticed there's also smaller E27-based ones - for example - there are these 54W ones: www.ebay.com.au/itm/PAR38-E27-18LED-54W-Coral-Reefs-Grow-Light-High-Power-Fish-Tank-Aquarium-Lamp-/221312195143 www.ebay.com.au/itm/PAR38-E27-54W-Epistar-LED-Growing-Plant-12Red-6Blue-Hydroponic-Light-High-Power-/350918095005 I could mount these inside one of those 60W E27 desk-lamps: www.bunnings.com.au/arlec-85cm-60w-aura-desk-lamp_p4370575 What are people's thoughts on these? Would this be suitable/enough for two small Drosera plants? Or could I go even smaller (e.g. 15W LEDs) - or would that not be sufficient? How many lux/lumens/PAR should I be looking at? Or put another way, what is the minimum wattage I can get away with, I suppose? Cheers, Victor