A New Tropical Setup

[Redwood Ryan]

Hello everyone,


I've shared this on a couple of other forums, but I haven't shown it to the Nuts here at the NutHouse.

I finished the construction of a new indoor setup for my tropical trees the other day. Thought I would show you all and get some feedback/share my growing techniques with others. I built a frame out of PVC pipe and covered it in aluminum foil to reflect the light. The frame supports my four foot, four bulb T5 light above my plants. Check out the pictures:

Finally finished:

Not bad for an 18 year old Jerry Meislik in training, wouldn't you say


Ryan

 

[Mike423]

Not bad for an 18 year old Jerry Meislik in training, wouldn't you say

haha that's a good one.

 

[Ang3lfir3]

Not bad for an 18 year old Jerry Meislik in training, wouldn't you say

I don't know if you know Jerry but he's a great guy..... pretty sure he would appreciate the compliment and the nice setup

 

[tmmason10]

That looks great Ryan. I am looking on my phone and can't tell, is that sided with aluminum foil then some plastic wrap? Looks like something I should be trying to emulate...

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Thanks all.

I don't know if you know Jerry but he's a great guy..... pretty sure he would appreciate the compliment and the nice setup

Oh yes, Jerry and I talk quite frequently. I've shown him this and he approves lol

That looks great Ryan. I am looking on my phone and can't tell, is that sided with aluminum foil then some plastic wrap? Looks like something I should be trying to emulate...

Thanks Tom. It is plastic wrap, but it's only temporary to see if it even does anything. I was trying to see if I could get moisture to build on the wrap, that way I would know how humid it is inside. I'll just get a hygrometer instead...

 

[Alex DeRuiter]

Ryan, what are the dimensions of the setup? That's really an innovative idea! I might just have to copy you. Does this house all of your tropicals, or are you testing it out to see if your trees do better in this compared to your other setup?

 

[Bill S]

Always up to something Ryan(said in a good way).
My only concern and I don't think it is a huge concern is I have read that using foil can be less effective than using a white surface, I think it had to do with hot spots, and evenness of lighting. On the other hand it may keep it warmer, but make sure it doesn't become a toaster.

With your efforts to now, are you finding they grow better than getting by during our not so tropical time of year?

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Ryan, what are the dimensions of the setup? That's really an innovative idea! I might just have to copy you. Does this house all of your tropicals, or are you testing it out to see if your trees do better in this compared to your other setup?

I'll attach a picture of what I went off to build this. However, it is a bit taller than it needs to be. So you could easily shorten the height, I should have. This does not house all of my tropicals as it isn't big enough lol. It just houses all those that can fit under it.

Always up to something Ryan(said in a good way).
My only concern and I don't think it is a huge concern is I have read that using foil can be less effective than using a white surface, I think it had to do with hot spots, and evenness of lighting. On the other hand it may keep it warmer, but make sure it doesn't become a toaster.

With your efforts to now, are you finding they grow better than getting by during our not so tropical time of year?

Thanks Bill, I am always up to something

I knew about the whole flat white reflects light better thing, but I couldn't think up any way to attach something flat white all around the setup. The foil is eay to attach and holds in heat so I figured 'why not.'

I am finding that with the setups I have the tropicals in I get much better growth than I would if I just had them under lights. I've got trees in aquariums and totes, and all have shown phenomenal growth. I prefer to keep them indoors year round.


I moved the light a lot closer to the plants, so much closer that some of the leaves are almost touching the bulbs. That should help with growth and light levels:

Here's what I used to build this:

 

[Alex DeRuiter]

You could always duct tape some white cardboard onto it or something.

Looks nice, though. I think I'd prefer to use something tall as I have one tree in particular that I have trouble fitting under one of my lights. I could always use stilts for the shorter trees. . . . (sorry, thinking out loud)

Thanks for the pictures! I'm starting to consider this as a project for next year.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

You could always duct tape some white cardboard onto it or something.

Looks nice, though. I think I'd prefer to use something tall as I have one tree in particular that I have trouble fitting under one of my lights. I could always use stilts for the shorter trees. . . . (sorry, thinking out loud)

Thanks for the pictures! I'm starting to consider this as a project for next year.

Oh boy, now you're making me consider things

I'll see how the foil does, and if it doesn't do as well as I want it to I'll think something up.

It's a simple project since it's made out of PVC. Cost less than $40 or so to build. The only expensive part was the $125 light....

 

[Alex DeRuiter]

How many bulbs does it have? I've been meaning to localize all my tropicals since I only have six and don't plan on getting more, but those four-bulb fixtures are ungodly expensive.

 

[Bill S]

I'm thinking the warmth and humidity help a lot, now you got me thinking indoor green house, if I do one mine is going to be bigger though.

 

[tmmason10]

I'm thinking the warmth and humidity help a lot, now you got me thinking indoor green house, if I do one mine is going to be bigger though.

Thane posts will certainly do that to ya. I figure why not have something going in the long new england winter. But, it's hardly even snowed yet....

 

[Bill S]

Still been some pretty chilly nights though Tom, as you know toomany in the 0 to 20 range. I am thinking that my set up has nothing to help keep humidity up, and in front of a large window, the night time temps are dipping lower than the 65* maintain growth temps., even in the day time, although the basement gets some heat, I am not sure how much the furnace runs with the sun on the house, so temps are all over the place.
Thanks Ryan, I can see I have a new project to do. Just need to grab some old florescents tubes, I have (3) 4 lamp fixtures just waiting for a use.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Thanks all!

The light is a four foot, four bulb T5. Gets me red leaves on all of my Willow Leaf.

The thing I'm still thinking over is how on earth I'll create more humidity in the setup. I'm sure it can't be that high. Using a fogger/humidifier concerns me as I don't know how the light would act in humid conditions.

Oh you're welcome Bill . I'll probably make another bigger one as well, once I move all my trees into my new grow room. This one was pretty easy to construct.

 

[Kevster]

Heat and humidity make a world of differance. I have tried it with just lights and with lights over my huge fish tank with plexiglas across the top. Fish tank wins down for growth thickening and aerial roots which come from all over the trees. I use a bucket with a fish tank heater in it to add warm humidity. I just recently finished off a corner of my basement for the tropicals. I keep the temperature in that room at 70. My fish tank heater in the bucket now keeps the tank at 85-90 degrees with I'd say almost 100% humidity. With out the finished room the tank heater would keep the temp around 65-70 when the basement got down to 59.

I thought of a new set up I want to make but with a baby due in 5 months my money is going to a different kind of set up called a baby room.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

I too grow some trees in several aquariums, but I've never thought of using something like a fish tank heater. Do you really think the heater helps that much? I would be interested in trying that on this....

 

[Kevster]

The heater adds warm humidity. The inside glass of my tank and the plexiglas on the top stay moist all the time. I almost never have to water my plants. If the condensation starts to pool in the bottom of my tank i cover the bucket with plastic to stop the water from evaporating from the bucket into the tank. Every 2 months i have to add about 2 gallons of water to the bucket.

I know the tank heater makes a huge difference. I will put a couple pictures of it up tomorrow morning.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Interesting, thanks. I just didn't know that a tank heater could be that beneficial to adding humidity to an enclosure...

 

[edprocoat]

I have used the reflectix insulating wrap for boxes for my tropicals. Its bubble wrap covered on both sides with aluminum foil. Its very insulative and it reflects the light fantastic, you can cut it with scissors and as a plus its very durable and tear resistant too. It comes in widths from 12 inches to 48 inches and is sold on a roll, I beleive you can still order the six foot wide rolls too, but 48 inches is what common in stores like Home Depot and Lowes, it comes in 10 or 25 foot lengths.


ed