Here is my Tent-House that my tropicals will be spending winter in. It consists of a cheap 4 shelf tent-rack with 2 cheap 24" light strips mounted inside and one of the same sitting atop the tent. The bulbs have been replaced with 50/50 bulbs that have a reflective backing inside the bulb. It is located in a south facing window that is protected from scalding and overheating by a shear drape. In the back corner is located a 4" fan that runs all the time to prevent a bit of excess condensation, prevent overheating, and seems to help control excess mold growth.
The back lighting did not help this photo, but you get the idea. The top shelf is one huge N. X 'Miranda' that I "rescued" from a local greenhouse. It is really mashed in there! Below that the lights (2) are mounted over my sundews and other "tropical" CP's. BTW I thoroughly enjoy the Gallileo thermometer doing it's thing! It has been a fun indicator of day/night temp fluctuations. Of course I don't trust any one instrument so there is a hi/lo digital thermometer w/ a humidity meter also in there.
This is a nep cutting that is on the same shelf as the dews producing it's first pitcher..yay! It's blushing lol!
And last but not liest...the bottom 2 shelves are full of orchids. The humidity is higher in the lower/cooler shelves and all of my orchids have responded wonderfully. Root growth is at an all time high and, thankfully for the dews, there are still a few fungus gnats surviving in the orchid media.
The fan is mounted with zip-ties on the underside of the top orchid shelf pointing upwards/backwards and disperses the cooler more humid air nicely up to the dews and neps.
Hope this thread inspires other noobs to attempt something similar in the future. I have really enjoyed putting this together and the plants have certainly not complained. A word of caution though: Always be very careful when mixing wet/damp conditions with electricity! I will periodically update this thread as new pics become available and as issues arise. Thanks for looking!
The back lighting did not help this photo, but you get the idea. The top shelf is one huge N. X 'Miranda' that I "rescued" from a local greenhouse. It is really mashed in there! Below that the lights (2) are mounted over my sundews and other "tropical" CP's. BTW I thoroughly enjoy the Gallileo thermometer doing it's thing! It has been a fun indicator of day/night temp fluctuations. Of course I don't trust any one instrument so there is a hi/lo digital thermometer w/ a humidity meter also in there.
This is a nep cutting that is on the same shelf as the dews producing it's first pitcher..yay! It's blushing lol!
And last but not liest...the bottom 2 shelves are full of orchids. The humidity is higher in the lower/cooler shelves and all of my orchids have responded wonderfully. Root growth is at an all time high and, thankfully for the dews, there are still a few fungus gnats surviving in the orchid media.
The fan is mounted with zip-ties on the underside of the top orchid shelf pointing upwards/backwards and disperses the cooler more humid air nicely up to the dews and neps.
Hope this thread inspires other noobs to attempt something similar in the future. I have really enjoyed putting this together and the plants have certainly not complained. A word of caution though: Always be very careful when mixing wet/damp conditions with electricity! I will periodically update this thread as new pics become available and as issues arise. Thanks for looking!
Awesome!
