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Heating a mini greenhouse

kath

Katherine
I have a 4 tier mini-greenhouse, and I want to devote the top shelf to lowland nepenthes, and the bottom shelf to highland nepenthes. At the moment the whole setup is perfectly suited for highlands, temperature wise, so I need to heat it.

So how am I going to heat the top shelf without using too much space, and without ruining the perfect habitat I have down below for the highlands?
Suggestions?
 
I don't know how small is yours but i have one that i use for germination of seeds and it's about 20" x 40" x 5 feet tall. if you have something similar then i would say that is not possible what you try to accomplish.....unless you want to put a separator........anyway you do it you will have to sacrifice space for the heater. Can't you just buy another?
 
Maybe you can make one end into a small room and heat that up? ???
 
No. I am thirteen. I am lucky to have this one, and I will have to find a way to heat it, thankyou.

It is a 4 tier gardman, 27" x 19" x 63". It is inside, so running off electricity is what I had in mind. I'm going to use it as a grow rack, and I'm fitting it up with lights, so why not heat it?

It looks like this: http://www.bestnest.com/bestnest/RTP...p?SKU=GAR-R687
 
I've heard of people heating their terrariums with aquarium heaters. Maybe if I got a small 25W aquarium heater, and put it in 5 or so litres of water, would that work?

Or I've heard of things called 'propogating heat pads', maybe a small one of those could work?
 
You will either have to heat up the whole thing, or nothing. I would highly suggest choosing one or the other. A slight possibility is to place a small aquarium on one of the racks and use the heater/water method there. That would take up a lot of space, but at least you could keep the terrarium warmer without heating up the rest of the growrack/greenhouse.

If I were you though, I would just grow what is easiest in there. There are plenty of spectacular highlanders, and if you do it just right, you can even grow some less picky lowlanders as highlanders.
 
It is definitely possible, because I have already done it!
Using a 100W incandescent bulb, for over three hours, I was able to heat the top shelf to a temperature of 23 degrees, which is nearly 10 degrees higher than the temperature in the rest of the greenhouse, without raising the bottom temperature any more. However, it will not heat it up any more, which is why I want to try a different, more cost effective way.

So, now that I have proved it is possible, will someone please tell me if the aquarium heater would do a better job than the incandescent?
 
What you need is a seedling/propagation heat mat under the the tray with the lowland Nepenthes. You failed to mention what the temperature is up at the top during the day and night though. Perhaps you don't need anything at all? What do you have up there now and what are you wanting to grow?
 
The temperature is 15-18 degrees during the day, 10 degrees at night. Perfect for highland nepenthes, not very good for lowlands!

I currently have nothing in there, but I am receiving some Nepenthes seeds in a few weeks time, and they are lowland seeds, so I need to get it set up for them.

How many Watts would a seedling propogator mat use? I could consider buying one, but would prefer to go with the aquarium heater, but obviously only if it works! Would a seedling propagator mat be ok in a humid enviornment?

Ideally, I want to raise the temperature by 15 degrees. This would give me close to 30 during the day, and 25 during the night, which is just fine. An incandescent bulb, with a layer of insulation on the shelf to prevent the heat going all the way to the bottom of the enclosure, can raise it by 8-10 degrees. I need something which produces a little more heat, but uses less power.
 
  • #11
It is a good possibility, thanks.
 
  • #12
I don't think an aquarium heater in a jug or a light bulb will do the trick.
You won't get that much heat out of a big bottle of warm water.. and it will not be even heat, not to mention the space it takes up. It is also dangerous if you forget to put water in and crack the heater.

The light bulb won't work during the night ;> It is also very hot by the bulb and quickly drops off the further you go. It is also a risk of exploding if water hits a hot bulb.

A heat mat will warm evenly across the grow shelf. It will create a little warm micro environment at the top of your grow area. it will also heat from the root zone up which is really beneficial for lowland plants. You will have to pay close attention to watering though as the pots will dry much quicker.

I don't think you would need a partition between the lower area unless you are blowing alot of air around in there, since the warm air should naturally stay towards the top.
 
  • #13
Ok. The only thing is, I'm looking at around 40.00$ for the smallest seedling heat propagator, so I can only really afford to get the little one. This means it won't fully cover the shelf, so will it still work to warm the space enough? I need to warm it to 30 degrees, so will the seedling heat propagator do this?
 
  • #14
dont waste your money for those propigation mats. go down to your local CVS look in the health isle and try to find heat pads, there like $15 you can plug them into the wall and they have a way to control temps
 
  • #15
I can find neither of those any cheaper than 50.00$ over here, so I'm afraid I don't think it's possible. Well, none of them have thermostat control anyway, so the heat produtcion would be uneven, an I can't afford that much for one thing. It would be cheaper to risk going with the aquarium heaer, which obviously works for terrariums.
 
  • #16
I wouldn't advise a heater from the pharmacy. They are not designed for continuous use in wet environments. Good chance of having one catch fire.
 
  • #17
I see you are asking for lighting help as well. Lights put out alot of heat. I suspect that once you have your lights installed you will find that it is plenty warm inside your rack when the lights are on. It would be great to keep it nice and toasty warm during the night as well but many Nepenthes are quite adaptable and will still do ok with less than ideal conditions. Lowland plants in particular can manage as long as the day temperature is nice and warm, they will deal with night temperatures on the cool side.
 
  • #18
Your LFS (local fish shop) should have submercible aquarium heaters.
 
  • #19
the one i have is waterproof, bulbs are also good tho and there cheap
 
  • #20
Ugghhh.... I'm getting so confused! Should I just go with the cheaper submersible aquarium heater in a big jar of water, or do I need to search everywhere for a heat pad?
 
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