mobile Posted July 16, 2011 Report Share Posted July 16, 2011 Perhaps I should mention that I have no experience with villosa or their Tb drop requirements, but I do have experience with cooling systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel G Posted July 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Gareth, that's a very interesting point. Now all we need is someone to try it out! Not very likely eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manders Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Might need a freezer, rather than refrigerator, due to the increased inefficiencies. Circulating water through a refrigerator would also work, as per Martin's setup here: http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=28146&hl. The difficulties and cost of terrarium cooling systems should not be underestimated. Mobile, it should be more efficient than using a water system, just need a fan to blow the air around. With an intermediate cooling fluid you need adequate delta t on both sides of the system, blowing the cool air in directly will be more efficient at getting lower temperatures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manders Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Gareth, that's a very interesting point. Now all we need is someone to try it out! Not very likely eh? I tried one in my conservatory window, which is generally cooler at night than a house window, it took three years to die. Whenever i've tried a true ultrahighlander in a place thats too warm for it, it's ended badly, they can do ok for a year or two and even grow faster, but then it all goes rapidly downhill. Singalana seems to be an exception, there may be others. I'm sure a greenhouse would be fine with a close watch on the temps but i for one dont heat mine much in winter, the advantage of a chilled terrarium is you can have consistent conditions, accurately controlled warm day, cold night, relatively cheaply, for those few plants that really need it and guarantee you get a good growth rate 12 months of the year rather than the 3 or 4 or 6 months of the year that i currently get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Mobile, it should be more efficient than using a water system, just need a fan to blow the air around. With an intermediate cooling fluid you need adequate delta t on both sides of the system, blowing the cool air in directly will be more efficient at getting lower temperatures. I totally agree. I figured that it might be easier to get the output from a circulated water cooling system into the terrarium than it would be to build the terrarium around a refrigerator/freezer. Though, I guess if a hole was created in a refrigerator and large ducting was used to deliver the cold air to a terrarium then this would also be relatively easy to construct. To be honest though, this all seems a lot of hassle to grow a plant and ideally one would want more ideal conditions, such as a cool cellar or living in San Francisco I should imagine that most cooling systems work out very expensive unless you happen to be a refrigeration engineer There are often beer flow coolers on eBay, going for £30+ and I would imagine that this would be a relatively easy option too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manders Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 I totally agree. I figured that it might be easier to get the output from a circulated water cooling system into the terrarium than it would be to build the terrarium around a refrigerator/freezer. Though, I guess if a hole was created in a refrigerator and large ducting was used to deliver the cold air to a terrarium then this would also be relatively easy to construct. To be honest though, this all seems a lot of hassle to grow a plant and ideally one would want more ideal conditions, such as a cool cellar or living in San Francisco I should imagine that most cooling systems work out very expensive unless you happen to be a refrigeration engineer There are often beer flow coolers on eBay, going for £30+ and I would imagine that this would be a relatively easy option too. I'm just going to build the terrarium around the fridge and take the door off so the inside of the fridge is one 'wall' of the terrarium, plan is to put it in the garage, temp is never very high in there anyway so most of the time it will need heating rather than cooling. Ill get a large sheet of polystyrene and cut a gap in it to fit the fridge, rest of the terrarium will be polystyrene and polycarbonate/acrylic glazing etc. Current plan is 8ft by 4ft with two compartments, ultrahighland and lowland separated by some rather thick sheet of polystyrene. Thats the plan anyhow hoping it will provide some decent growing area for both ultrahighlanders and lowlanders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Has anyone considered using a glass door chiller cabinet, e.g. the sort you see in supermarkets containing chilled drinks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicon Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Hi Dan, You seem determined to give villosa a go, so here is very cheap idea. N.villosa is not a particularly expensive plant and is probably more tolerant of less than perfect conditions WHEN SMALL. Many terra growers use ice packs to cool overnight, just pop a couple (or a frozen bottle or tub of water) in the terra each night, this will lower temps quite well. you will need to experiment for a couple of weeks to see what difference you get, and you need to measure internal and external temps to see what is happening, and check temps in different places within the terra. You may find hooking the blocks over the top of the tank gives most uniform results. This will keep you going for 2-3 years with no cost so you can save for something more automatic/advanced. Unfortunately AC units in the UK compared with the good old US of A are a relative luxury/rarity and so are not as cheap here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicon Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Has anyone considered using a glass door chiller cabinet, e.g. the sort you see in supermarkets containing chilled drinks? I've looked at these a few times over the past couple of years, and can't understand why anyone would rather do a Heath Robinson on a standard fridge/freezer when (practically) all you have to do it shine a light through the glass front! They're not especially cheap to buy unless you get lucky but seems like a no brainer to me. I also like the idea of the beer coolers, and intend using one in my new greenhouse.........................if ever I get to it...........maybe this year.....2 years on!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manders Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Second hand beer chillers look interesting. Not so sure about glass topped display chillers, they look expensive and the first thing i'd do is drill holes in it to fit a thermostat and heater element. An old fridge and some polystyrene will get the ame result at 1/8 the cost for equivalent capacity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Second hand beer chillers look interesting. Seen some go quite cheap recently... lots of independent pubs closing unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Yeah, yeah, i know ;) I said i had done research. I know that this is one of the, if not THE hardest Nepenthes to grow. N. sp Doorman's Top 1 makes villosa look like a sunflower on steroids in comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel G Posted July 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 Hehehe Gareth Has anyone thought of growing N. villosa IN a beer chiller? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PurplePitchers Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 Hehehe Gareth Has anyone thought of growing N. villosa IN a beer chiller? That was the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel G Posted July 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 Oooh, i need to read more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 Hehehe Gareth Has anyone thought of growing N. villosa IN a beer chiller? Do you mean a beer fridge, similar to this: http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=35616&view=findpost&p=263493 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mags Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 Here is a thread from Terraforums which is quite interesting: http://terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127668 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel G Posted July 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 Do you mean a beer fridge, similar to this: http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=35616&view=findpost&p=263493 Uhh, yes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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