Re: Genlisia is flowering
Scott Brown (hsbrown@arnold.Princeton.EDU)
Mon, 28 Jun 93 16:33:16 EDT
> BTW, I've modified my indoor setup. It is a 35 gallon fishtank full of
> Nepenthes under lights, on a wooden acquarium base of standard design,
> with two swing open front doors. I had a spare 2 tube 2' flourescent
> unit, so I used some square puts to have it about 6-8" from the
> ground and
> I have most of my rarer/newer/smaller plants in there, about 2-3" from
> the lights. I have mirrored mylar on both sides of the fixture, like
> curtains, to reflect the light back onto the plants. With something
> like a 14 hr. photoperiod I have all plants growing more quickly than
> ever before. My sole D. falconeri seedling now has bright red leaves,
> along with my 2 D. petiolaris seedlings. Strangely D. villosa is still
> quite green, although otherwise happy. D. schizandra is responding
> favorably to the warmth and high light levels. I keep all the plants
> in baggies or cup covered for high humidity. And I still have room
> for another tiered light setup on top of the current one in the wooden
> acquarium base. I hope to formalize the setup with another tier and
> a more professional appearing method to hold the lights and plants.
> With the doors on the base closed you wouldn't even know there are
> plants down there.
Robert, how tall do your Nepenthes get? I always seem to have the
problem of them outgrowing my containers. If I grow them out of an
aquarium, I don't get enough humidity for pitchers.
> I recommend using mirrored mylar to increase your growth. The plants
> have only started coloring up really well with the addition of the
> reflectors. Aluminum foil could be used as well. The only downside
> to this is or course it probably looks like you're growing recreational
> /medicianl "herbs" to the uninitiated :-).
I once had a fish tank that had a broken piece of glass that I replaced with
a piece of mirror. That really reflects a lot of light back in. Looked pretty
good too. The only drawback was that the mirror glass was thinner than the
aquarium glass and hence more fragile. Not a big problem though since it
didn't need to hold water.
Scott