I can now take good pictures!

[swords]

I signed up for a VISA and I actually got it (my first real credit card not just a Atm/Visa) so I had to go and get that Nikon Coolpix right away instead of saving up another 2 weeks pay! Here's two pics that I took having read only the "quick start" guide using autofocus with only a bit of zoom... lightyears better than my old Kodak!

N hamatas (for some reason I didn't rotate the pot-too excited I guess

):

N. judith Finn the largest pitcher yet (about 5") not yet colored up:

Now I have to tackle the instruction book to take even better shots! Good cameras are fun!

BTW anyone wanna buy a blurry 2 MP Kodak with no focus features? (just kidding)

 

[GEORGE-CP]

thous are some really clear pictures u took there. you actaully mean you can even focus that in better. judith looks really good there and hamata well some day i will have one. thanks for sharing the pics

 

[swords]

Thanks!

I hope my post didn't come off as me "bragging" I'm just so happy to finally have a decent camera!

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Nice pics! I love my Nikon.. I end up using it for a whole lot more than I figured I would when I bought it.

Plants look good Swords ;>
Tony

 

[GEORGE-CP]

no, i didn't think you where bragging, heck i would be playing with my new camrea too and seeing what it could do.
the judith i have just starting recover from being in the nursery. stoppen in there Mon. and come to find out that they use well water on the plants there and it melts the pitchers. so it is just starting to form them now. heck velvet has put out some nice size pitchers 6" long.

 

[Martin]

Wow !

The N. hamata is fantastic ! How big are the pitchers (whats the size of the caros at the paper ?) and whats the diamter of the plant ? And how long do you have it ?

Martin

 

[swords]

Thanks! I love the hamata and have needed one ever since I saw a picture of one! The pitchers are only 3 & 4" now but that's ok cos it seems to just make bigger & bigger pitchers each time. Mine turns purple with black speckling after the pitchers harden off I can't wait to see the mature pitchers! I don't even care for the uppers since they're usually just green.

I got my hamata back in June from our pal Tony. I think it was the first Nep I ever mailordered, It was almost an instant purchase, no second thoughts I was getting one! After I recieved it it lost all it's pitchers due to my not knowing that the AC I was pumping into the terrarium at night was drying out the air to 40% humdiity! But after I hooked up the humidifier to the AC it put out a bunch of new leaves quite vigorously and started making pitchers again. In the last two months it has really taken off, I attribute it to the cooler daytimes than in the summer but I gues I won't know if temps are part of it until next summer. It's about 8" across now and during winter gets temps of 70-80*F daytime and 60-65*F at night. In the summer it gets a wider range of 80-85*F daytime and 55*F at night due to the A/C being pumped in from 12pm til 8 am

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">(whats the size of the caros at the paper ?) [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
?

I'm sorry I don't understand whats a "caros"? Are you asking about the greyish squares behind the plants? That's some very sturdy plastic "chicken wire" I use to hang small plants in net pots from the back and sides of the enclosure. They are roughly 1 1/4" x 1 1/4" in size.

 

[The Griffin]

Swords,

Great pics. How does one pump AC into a terrerium? I have been wondering about this problem for a while.

Regards,

Joe

 

[swords]

Hi Joe,
I have a Hampton Bay 5000 BTU Airconditioner ($124.99 on summer sale) what I have done is take a wide rectagular duct/vent output 10" long x 5" wide which funnels down to a round 4" diameter hole on a short tube ($5.99). On the 4" hole tube I put a flexible 4" dryer vent hose ($4.99) and attached that to two 90* 4" duct elbows ($2.99 ea) duct tape all the sections together and put the two elbow section into the terrarium (I use two of them so that I can direct the air output to the left or right side of terrarium) and put the 5" x 10" "collector vent" (that's what I call it) in the slots on the output of your Airconditioners output grid. Then hook the A/C to a timer and there you go automatic nightime in the highlands!
But what I also did (due to AC drawing out humidity from the air) was affix a 2" hose to the output hole on my ultrasonic humdifier (Vicks V5100 $49.99) I run the hose from the humidifier into a hole I cut in the A/C duct so that the air is cooled and humidified before it enters the terrarium. The intersection of the humidifier hose is about 1 ft from the output inside the terrarium. Also, when the AC is off the humidifier is still running (controlled via humidistat $69.99) to keep a constant 80%+ humidity.
The setup cost is a lot for cooling & humidity on a grow chamber but it is a rather hassle free way of keeping plants like the highlanders and other cloud forest plants.

Eventually, I will write an illustrated article on my website (http://www.jurassic-gardens.com) showing each piece and how they fit together to make one of these for those who like these kinds of DIY projects.

 

[GEORGE-CP]

Josh, i'm starting to think you should have your own forum section in here w/ your set up, how ya built it, part, and all the rest of the good stuff. i know i would be getting tired of repeating myself after a while but, you do have a killers set up.

 

[swords]

Thanks George! I always try to find the cheapest but most hassle free way of getting things done. I even plumbed my old reef tank with a DIY wet dry, skimmer, etc and things were just fine (except the ongoing cost of 100 lbs of sea salt mix every two weeks-getting laid off from my job last Nov. made my reef tank go away). It's also a lot of fun to construct your own devices, but (there's always a but) it can end up costing you twice as much if you build something and it doesn't work and have to go buy a premade commercial equivelent.
I can't take all the credit on the cooling/humidifier though. Tony P was the one who told me to try the humidifier output intersecting the A/C air before it reaches the terrarium after I had posted about my hamatas closing their lids. I had the humidifier hose running independently of the A/C duct but aparently it wasn't enough to have the air mixing in the terrarium, it needed to be mixed before entering the terrarium. Now all is well and each leaf develops pitchers - except for that cursed bongso x maxima hybrid which is supposed to be a highland hybrid...!

 

[GEORGE-CP]

thats no problem just giving credit where it is due. what seems to be the curse of the bongso x maxima. the bongso is highlander for shore. maxima well depends what one was mixed w/ it. the maxima i got is pretty desent grower. don't have the bongso so really don't know but from reading up on it a little it is a slow grower. one thing i did notice about the hybrids that they grow faster when it is colder here outside. so if ya got it in a highland talk make it a little colder in there and see what happens or check to see if one of the other plants is blocking its light or just the other way around