mdeford09 Posted May 25, 2015 Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 So, I built myself a giant grow tank. It is bright, lovely, and very neat. My highs are 29-32C My lows are 21-23C Humidity is 70-99% But, the way I managed to get my temps and humidity constant is to install a decent size fan that keeps the air moving. My question is, how bad is the constant wind? They aren't getting blown around to the point that pitchers are flopping in the wind or anything like that but, the leaves are constantly shaking. Is this an issue or will it just help to insure that the plants are tougher to put up with the wind? All plants are Lowlanders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S Krelbourn Posted May 25, 2015 Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 Hi Mdeford09 I can't comment on growing Lowlanders but when I grew orchids in a green house I used fans 365 days of the year and the plants in front of the fans never suffered. I would imagine Lowlanders would be the same, as long as they are not rocking in their pots and becoming loose in the substrate I regard air movement as a good thing all round. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North West Neps Posted May 25, 2015 Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 Why not put your fan on a 24hr timer with 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off segments. Wind doesn't blow constantly in nature so why should it in your tank ? Plus you'll save a little bit of electricity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manders Posted May 25, 2015 Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 Ive never used fans in a lowland tank but i doubt it will do any harm. Wind reduces the effective humidity (not the humudity you measure). Some orchid growers use it to prevent mould etc. with some indochinese nepenthes in particular i find they dont pitcher well unless they have very high (~100%) humdity and mould (on the plants) has never been an issue. In fact the high humidity seems far more important than high temperature in getting growth for some of them. So basically i doubt that the wind is a problem but if you find they struggle to pitcher, turn it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdeford09 Posted May 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 Thanks for all of the info everyone! I may go ahead and try the timer and see what happens. The issue I have found is the heat moves quickly. I actually had a couple of 120mm PC fans installed but these couldn't even push the heat down. So, I am worried that leaving the fans off for 15 minutes would just cause the top of the tank to reach 38C+ and the bottom go back to room temp. Only other option I can think of is to make my tank 2 individual tanks. It was much easier to control when the tank was smaller. Here is the list of what is in the tank. N. SmilesiN. GracilisN. TrichocarpaN. Hookeriana N. Rafflesiana (pink) N. Rafflesiana (Green)N. BicalcarataN. Ampullaria N. Hookeriana X AmpullariaN. CampanulataN. Viking x TigerN. DyerianaN. MerrillianaN. HirsutaN. HispidaN. Albomarginata N. Rayong x Ampullaria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nepenthes Lowii Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 Plants get wing in the wild, so they should be fine!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannahraptor Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 (edited) I thought I'd stumbled on to the wrong forum when I read this topic title! phew! ;) Edited May 26, 2015 by Multimammat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North West Neps Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 I thought I'd stumbled on to the wrong forum when I read this topic title! phew! ;) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NatchGreyes Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 I have fans almost constantly in both my highland and lowland tanks for quite a while now. I've seen no ill effects. (Frankly, it keeps the mold/algae down). I would guess that it would depend on the size of your fan and the power of the wind. I'm using a computer-sized fan for 40 gallon - 55 gallon tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdeford09 Posted May 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 I have fans almost constantly in both my highland and lowland tanks for quite a while now. I've seen no ill effects. (Frankly, it keeps the mold/algae down). I would guess that it would depend on the size of your fan and the power of the wind. I'm using a computer-sized fan for 40 gallon - 55 gallon tanks. Well, I had two 120mm fans and they didn't do any good (standard size for a PC). I then stepped it up to two 200mm fans and they couldn't do it either. So, I went and bought a 12" metal fan at Walmart for 15 bucks... I have it set to low because it seems to move a ton of air. But, it works and keeps the heat from pooling up in the top half of the tank. Total size of the tank is over 300 gallons, lol. But, I have positioned it in such a way that the fan is not directly blowing on any plants. They are just getting the air that is bouncing around the enclosure. I will let them go and see what happens and post the results. Thanks for all of the advice! Here is the tank, incase you guys missed it in my other post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmatil Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 I have a few fans in my lowland terrariums. One is constantly on and the other occasionally during the night on a timer to keep the humidity a bit down (100 % during the night encourages mold). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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