> 2. For those of you who use heated terrariums: How do you
> prevent mold from growing in an environment which seems ideal
> for mold? Do you spray your plants regularly with a fungacide?
> If you use air circulation, how do you preserve humidity while
> circulating air? How do you circulate your air?
I built a similar terrarium about 2 years ago and it is working very
well. BTW: I NEVER used any fungicide. Nepenthes in free nature can grow
without it, too. My terrarium is in the cellar, i.e. no natural light,
almost no air exchange. I think you should be so afraid of humidity.
>From my experience humidity can be as little as 65-70 percent during day
but should be much more during night. Maybe just the average should be
around something like 80 percent. Now my setting looks like follows:
-------------------------------------------- <- wooden plate
| | | |
| ____________________________________| |
| |================================| | | <- light tubes
| | |
| Plants in trays |<---------- water pipe
| _____________ | |
| ___________ | |
| ______________ | | <- glass
I=======================================|==I
I | I P = pump
I--------------------------------------- P I <- water level
I__________________________________________I
tray/bassin
The whole terrarium is little bit bigger than yours. The light tubes are
inside (180 W) and heat the terrarium at the same time. A small aquarium
pump pumps water above the level of light tubes and sprays it against
the back pane. From there it runs back to the reservoir on the bottom.
The reservoir holds about 30-40 liters. A small amount of water finds it
s way back through the trays, the pots and the leaves of the plants.
During day time, i.e. when light is on, the temperature raises up to 25
degrees Celsius the humidity goes down to 75-80%. During night the
temperature goes down to room temperature, which is about 13-17 degrees.
The humidity goes up to 100 % during night.
The pump is running 24 hours, light is on for 10-14 hours.
Every now and then water needs to be added. (10-15 liters per 3 month)
Plants are doing very well. I have got N.ventricosa, N.eyemeri (sp?),
and some nice looking FAST growing hybrids, as well as different mexican
pings, and tropical/subtropical utrics, and Drosera adelae.
I am using the water of our goldfish pond in the garden and by doing
this small water snails have been introduced which keep the bassin free
from algae. I have never used any fungicide. Yes, I have used
insecticids sometimes.
The whole setup is running for about 2 years with very little
maintenance. The Nepenthes are growing vigourously and the Pinguiculas
are propagating fast.
Regards,
Michael