mesemb Posted October 25, 2020 Report Share Posted October 25, 2020 Hello everyone, There are a lot of amazing pictures of heliamphora and a lot of talented growers with perfect plants growing in perfect conditions. I've been growing heliamphora in amateur conditions in my bedroom for almost 8 years now and I just wanted to share that it's possible to have nice plants without extra night temperature drops or expensive cooling systems. Having said that, I'm a bit of a plant freak and I'd love to provide my plants with the best conditions possible, so I'm constantly thinking of employing an efficient and cost-effective cooling system. In my situation, I'm thinking of buying an air-conditionin unit for next summer to cool the entire bedroom. Currently, I'm growing 21 species, but my collection has really expanded this year (almost half the species I have). For now, my plants are grown in a grow chamber under full-spectrum grow LED lights. I use a fogger to control humidity and temperature. There are 2 PC fans for moving the air inside and one exhaust fan in the top part to exhaust the warm air (from lights). The temperature depends on the ambient room temperature. Now, and during the whole winter/spring, the conditions are right - day temperature max 24°C, night temperatures 18-14 °C, based on the temperature outside. Summer is harsh - day temperature around 27 °C, night 22 - 20 °C - plants stunt their growth, turn more green than red, but nothing dies. Some species develop red spots on their older leaves from fungus attacks, but still continue to grow. Here are some current pictures. There are still "summer leaves" co you can see the effect of not optimal conditions on the plants. This is how the whole setup looks: And here are some detailed pictures of selected plants: Heliamphora uncinata (M.Schach clone) Heliamphora parva Heliamphora heterodoxa (Gran Sabana) Heliamphora neblinae (Cerro de la Neblina) Heliamphora purpurascens Heliamphora collina (or H. spec. Venamo, M.Schach clone) Heliamphora pulchella (Amuri hairless) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmcarn Posted October 25, 2020 Report Share Posted October 25, 2020 Looks great. I grow mine in similar conditions and wondered what media and watering regime you use? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gekon Posted October 25, 2020 Report Share Posted October 25, 2020 Beautiful! I’m currently in the process of setting up my lowland terrarium and I ordered H. Pulchella to go in it and see how it copes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mesemb Posted October 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2020 3 hours ago, pmcarn said: Looks great. I grow mine in similar conditions and wondered what media and watering regime you use? Thanks I top-water them once in 4 days or so. As for the media, I use sphagnum moss with seramis, hydroton and agro foam. But a week ago, I started an experiment - I potted three plants in the akadama-kanuma mix. If it works, I plan to pot more plants into this mix. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gekon Posted November 10, 2020 Report Share Posted November 10, 2020 What plants have you got growing on that wood in the back? They look stunning!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mesemb Posted November 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2020 It's a type of bromeliad - genus Tillandsia, aka Air Plants :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gekon Posted November 10, 2020 Report Share Posted November 10, 2020 Thanks! Will deffo look into them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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