Hi,
I am planning to build a highland terrarium for few of my plants (south american Drosera, Nepenthes, Helimphora, Utricularia, etc). Before buying anything, I would like to know few things:
I am tempted to grow highland Nepenthes, but I need to know how 'strong' the cooling must be in order to planify my terrarium setup (if it need to be cooled at night or not). I am thinking to build a brand new styrofoam terrarium (as seen on the french CP forum: great for insulation, light and cheap to build) cooled with an old freezer element (+thermostat), but since I have 2 old 20 G aquarium here, why not try to simplify all this(work and money!)?.
Being in Canada, night cooling can be achieve 'easily' but putting it near a window and bringing in cool air (well, that what I think, and seems to work for Swords!). But during summer, it can be a major problem (especially from next automn, since I will be moving to a 4th floor appartment)! It is sure that i can cool it with frozen bottle during the hottest months of summer, but in the case it is not sufficient during this period, can highland Nepenthes hold a bit warmer temps for a relatively short period (2-3 weeks?) during night? If yes, which one?
What is the 'superior limit' of temperature most highland can hold (for those few weeks)?
All the reading about cooling a terrarium is getting me back on Nepenthes track, genus I almost took away from my collection 5 years ago... With a little luck, I'll be able to provide cool enough temps to begin to think about getting a Nepenthes hamata
Any infos are welcome!
I am planning to build a highland terrarium for few of my plants (south american Drosera, Nepenthes, Helimphora, Utricularia, etc). Before buying anything, I would like to know few things:
I am tempted to grow highland Nepenthes, but I need to know how 'strong' the cooling must be in order to planify my terrarium setup (if it need to be cooled at night or not). I am thinking to build a brand new styrofoam terrarium (as seen on the french CP forum: great for insulation, light and cheap to build) cooled with an old freezer element (+thermostat), but since I have 2 old 20 G aquarium here, why not try to simplify all this(work and money!)?.
Being in Canada, night cooling can be achieve 'easily' but putting it near a window and bringing in cool air (well, that what I think, and seems to work for Swords!). But during summer, it can be a major problem (especially from next automn, since I will be moving to a 4th floor appartment)! It is sure that i can cool it with frozen bottle during the hottest months of summer, but in the case it is not sufficient during this period, can highland Nepenthes hold a bit warmer temps for a relatively short period (2-3 weeks?) during night? If yes, which one?
What is the 'superior limit' of temperature most highland can hold (for those few weeks)?
All the reading about cooling a terrarium is getting me back on Nepenthes track, genus I almost took away from my collection 5 years ago... With a little luck, I'll be able to provide cool enough temps to begin to think about getting a Nepenthes hamata
Any infos are welcome!