Neps in Winter..ahrg!

[KATastrophe]

Its the beginning of that time of year for me and ..im sure, a few others. WINTER!

Though Neps dnt go dormant i do find myself dealing with the dreaded Tiny leaf syndrom during these times when the Neps get brought inside while i seal the windows on the sunporch/greenhouse for my VFTs and Dews that go dormant.. Then i have the dreaded humidity funk cause all the dry heat from the heaters going on to keep the house warm...And the Lack of natural light or too strong winter light ...ahrg!

I really wanna keep my Neps Happy This winter, many are to big for bagging up to keep humidity high.. And i would like to get my Neps to continue to grow and have good leaf jumps instead of producing the same size leaves every time or producing smaller ones...or getting all streached out.

My HL Neps are in their own tank so t they have complete controlled conditions (light,temp,humidity,misting..etc) only thing i worry about is my lighting should i keep it timed to the natural seasons light changes or should i still give them 12 hours of day light?
And I'm more so worried about my LL Neps because they are basically grown in my Windows in spring/summer - and winter they get brought inside to the house and get all out of whack because of the uncontrolled temps inside and humidity. They've grown very good and have grown out of their tank so i fear they'll dwindle in health during winter without the pepper conditions like they have in spring/summer. I just noticed my N. Reinwardtiana is producing a tiny leaf! So im determined to keep them growing as great as they have been this past summer.

So i turn to ya'll to ask advice on what y'all do when winter comes and turns things upside down..

I mist my LL neps about 3 times (morning,noon,night)
The temps in my house are around 80°F day (heater)
Night is 65°F (turned heater down)
Outside its prob 50's - 60's day and lower at night. That's why their inside now.
I water when the soil is dryish to the touch i like to keep it relatively damp not soaked.
My light system is just a CFL system i built i can't figure what watt each of the light rods are im guessing 60watt atleast. And a CFL daylight plant bulb 100watt in a lamp. Amd i can only assume that its barely enough light to keep them happy throughout winter.

(My indoor system) at the moment

Suggestions on a better light wattage/lumens/Kl
And how long would be good to run them for (ex:12,11,10 hours)
Advice on keeping them pitchering (should i mist more?)
And feeding, should i keep feeding the freezdried snacks or should i purchase a fake substitue and what do u recommend ?

Im not sure their is much i can do about the dry heat from the heaters indoors but id be open to suggestions if anyone has had to deal with the same issue during winter.
Temp drop is hard to control cause of the heaters but i turn the heater down at night .. Is this enough or should i turn a fan on them ?

Thanks for the help and suggestions. They are greatly appreciated i really want my plants to be happy this winter

 

[NemJones]

Me personally, I grow all my nepenthes indoors. i also use nothing but T5ho lighting.

The highlanders LOVE winter at my place because the house gets frigid at night.
Something I despise but the plants love, so I guess I cant complain too much.
The highlanders are set up in a mini tent greenhouse which has a stabilized environment.
(It finally stabalized earlier this year after sitting for a year and slowly adding specimens and moss beds)
So they are self sustaining and need nothing more than myself to manually cool them each night.

The lowlanders are in a sealed tank, so that is all taken care of as well.

For your humididty problems, i would sggest getting a closed environment like a greenhouse
Or tent system that you can humidify daily as misting just doesnt cut it
I also generally run my lights for an average pf 15-16 hours.

 

[KATastrophe]

Yea i been looking into a fogger for my LLs like i have for my HLs its just so hard case their in an open area..ahrg!

I used to run it anyways but my rug was soaked so i stopped and started misting, but i can't manually mist as much as they properly need during winter indoors. Outdoors i run my mister and not worried about my floor getting wet.. Lol

 

[NemJones]

I run a humidifier in my highland tank whenever I open the flaps, other than that it self regulates (after a long sitting peeiod)

Originally, the bottom of the tent was open to the carpet. I eventually sealed this using a tarp, a trash bag,
And some tape. (This doesnt last long.) however it does keep humididty well. Keep everything from drippin
And keeps the plants happy. I highly reccome d using sealed enclosures. The plants will be much happier and it
Will prevent you from making twelve trips daily.

 

[chibae]

I hate to say this Kat, as it's akin to "locking the barn door...." but this should be taken as a lesson to new growers. PLAN on where your neps can be kept properly all year round before you get them.

 

[Whimgrinder]

Misting a plant raises the local humidity for about fifteen minutes, and then it's back down to whatever the room is - which in the winter is about 25% in most heated homes - so it's an exercise in futility if you aren't working in a confined space. As Judy says, forethought and careful engineering of a properly equipped grow space is paramount.

 

[Zath]

At least for humidity, you can try draping a thin, transparent drop-cloth over the Neps. They're rather large, so with some fiddling you should be able to get coverage on all four sides. That should at least make your mistings more efficient, and last longer.

As for light, even if those are all T8's in that pic, 8 tubes is a crapton, lol. As long as the bulbs are the right color temperature (3000k or lower, and 6000k or higher), that should be more than enough light. If your neps are no longer getting any natural sunlight, I would keep them on a 12-14 hour cycle. (Or longer, depending. Not really sure when it comes to photo-period. Mine get 12 hours of artificial light, but are supplemented periodically as the sun shines through various windows)

 

[KATastrophe]

My HL neps are pretty set in their tank. Everything is self regulating like Nem so all i really have to do is water them occasionally.

My LLs grow usually in my Windows and in Winter i had a tank or baggies and now that they are pretty big they don't have room in baggies and the tank is now used for my HLs. In winter i put my LLs inside this umm...cabnet kinda thing and put the light fixture i made in front of it. Its got glass doors tgat shut in the front but in order to get better light i have to suppliment with a bulb light over head aswell and since i cant screw anything into the cabnet i have to duck tape tge heck outta it lol and humidity and mist usually loosens the tape up.
I saw this humidifying misting fan on ebay for 12$ or whatever was gonna buy that see how it did, ill take a photo of what I'm talking about where they are at the moment. Its prob as best of an enclosed space as it gets currently till i have money for a bigger tank and space to put it.

 

[KATastrophe]

These are some Neps wintering indoors
Many of my LLs are ontop of the shelve currently under the CFL light.

(Open)

(Closing)

(Closed fully)

If i can find a way to get an overhead light inside their that will stay while running a fogger/mister do y'all think this would work to house them in?

 

[Flip_Side_the_Pint]

that looks like it may work sort term, if you get some way of lighting maybe some LED lighting strips to at least supplement. I would worry about the humidity rotting your nice cabinet.

 

[KATastrophe]

Yea its already got water damage from watering the Neps ontop of it ...I'm not really using it for anything its just in my Hall so i put the plants in/on it until i can finish renovations on the sun porch/greenhouse but since funds are low its on a hold for a while...grrrrrr... Im just worried about the Neps getting streached or to dry from the heat - then the cabnet hetting ruined.. I could re-stain it and whatnot later on if i have to. I put an overhead light but its just a small 60watt Day light bulb nothing as good as the 250watt cfl huge light bulb and reflector like i have for my HLs.

Grrrrr.... I really wish the huge glass jewellery display case that i used to use last year was on my sun porch instead of in the basement.. But theirs no way itll fit up the stairs in this place.

 

[Trout]

Kat, can't you put the pots on some sort of elevated thing in a tray? That way, you wouldn't get a ton of water directly on the wood. I'd still worry about the humidity, but a good weather-proof finish for wood decks and such ought to work for the walls and ceiling. You'd just have to strip the current finish and use the new.