That's how I felt the first time I got one, but with a few
changes, they can be very useful for species upto a few inches
tall.
>>
>>I forked out a lot of bucks for one of these a long while ago. I'm afraid
>>it just really isn't adequate for raising anything but maybe the
>>Pinguiculas (and then you don't need so much height). There is no
>>ventilation, and if it gets anywhere near the light required to raise the
>>other plants, they will bake.
OK, for those of us who have these setups lying around, unused :-),
here is the plan:
* Dump the water tray which the wick runs down into, or better
yet, plant some CP in the water tray for putting on your windowsill.
* Use small corks, or RTV rubber sealant, to plug the wick holes in
the larger tray.
* Use a power drill to drill 2 small holes on the slanted sides of
the end pickes of the greenhouse frame, so you can move the light
fixture, if you bought one, from the top of the frame to down on one
side. If you have money to burn, buy another similar fixture and
put it on the other side, to balance the setup. Otherwise go to
a local hardware store and buy a 2 tube, 24", flourescent setup.
* Plant your flytraps, sundews, and butterworks in 4" pots, using
pre-wetted soil
* Put your pots in the plugged tray, add pure water so you have about
1/2" of water in the tray. slide the greenhouse over the pots and on
top of the tray, as you normally would. Now, if you bought the
external 24" flourescent setup, shove the greenhouse up against an
exterior window that gets morning sun, or just a couple of hours of
mild afternoon sun. now balance the 24" light setup on the outside,
slanted edge of the greenhouse, against the window (or figure out a way
of securing it to the greenhouse frame). This is the only haphazard
part of this, and you want to be sure the setup isn't going to fall over.
Now you should have a setup to grow low growing CP in. You can also
use this setup in an area which is dark, but in that case you should
take mirrored milar on the sides of the greenhouse to cause light
from the bulbs to get reflected back into the greenhouse.
If you leave the thing in light, watch the temps. Temps can be controlled
by cinching up the plastic covering to leave more air circulation. Bugs
can be attracted/created by putting a chunk of banana in a cup and leaving
it in the greenhouse. This is a good way to get little bugs for the
butterworks and sundews.