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Post by vraev on Jan 16, 2012 20:54:02 GMT -5
Hi guys, Figured I should post this here and give a suggestion to all of you who cool their grow areas/tanks the way I do it. Be careful and do not underestimate the chill of winter. I have been using this method for 3 years, but in one night, I have lost priceless plants. I am sure I will never get back some of these again. For me they are my most treasured plants. burbidgeae x edwardsiana .. grew this for 4y macrophylla ... I can't believe that my most dearest possession....it survived an accident with water drought 3y ago. jacquelineae ....had this for 5y...came to me 1cm sized tenuis... one of the most expensive plants I have.... just got it last year jamban BE most heartful...4y old seedlings N. jamban... the pride of my collection...I grew these from seed. villosa and mira recovering after scale attack along with small villosa seedlings I also found more plants that weren't directly visible to have problems. Epippiata, lowii, another smaller BE jacquelineae Both my robcontleyi seedlings. Both of their stems and leaves are now mushy inside. These are for sure DEAD my villosa
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Post by H2O on Jan 16, 2012 21:08:37 GMT -5
Hey man I've been following your other thread on Pitcherplants and I feel for you man. I do have to agree with everyone else and say keep them for at least a few weeks to see what might be viable. I truly am sorry for this man, if I grew similar stuff I would be sending it your way. I do have a couple other plants like that Platystele with your name on them now so PM me your address and I'll send them your way this spring. keep us posted.
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Post by Devon on Jan 16, 2012 22:05:42 GMT -5
D: I feel really bad. Having those rare plants for so long and seeing them perish must be hard to handle. I even had a hard time handling losing my first collection, and nothing was rare.. so I can almost imagine how hard it must be for you.
Hope some of them come back you you. My fingers are crossed.
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Post by 31drew31 on Jan 16, 2012 22:51:14 GMT -5
Yes this is very terrible. I use cool air from outside like you, and last night it got down to 45C. Its supposed to get colder tonight so I have plugged the vent so the cool air stays out. I am glad you have posted this because it may have saved my plants, even though I have a much smaller collection than you.
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Post by vraev on Jan 17, 2012 0:11:17 GMT -5
I have never had issues with temps going down to 40F. My plants have regularly seen that in winter. My thermometer lower end is 32F and the lowest recorded temp was this. I am sure it went lower than that.
Drew... many years ago when I didn't have this setup, I just used to narrowly open the window a bit in the room they are in or close to the plants. That was enough to lower temps sufficiently. I would say try that for the coldest days.
thanks for the best wishes guys. Well... I'm just going to wait and see. thanks for the offer Justin. Its ok. That is a lepanthes gargoyla and the adult plant is still fine.
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Post by 31drew31 on Jan 17, 2012 0:17:59 GMT -5
Well they are in an unheated basement so its only about 55-60 down there anyways, the vent is mostly used during the day to keep it cool with the lights on, and a bit a night to bring it to about 53. Today in the basement it is much cooler though, got home and the furnace wasnt working. Someone just got here about 20 minutes ago and has it running again.
Gotta love a furnace that decides it's too tired to work when its -30 out!
Keep us updated on the plants, really hoping some can come back for you.
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Post by Apoplast on Jan 17, 2012 10:10:33 GMT -5
Wow, truly a tragic loss! I am not even a nep grower and the images were sad for me. I hope some of them are recoverable; perhaps the sphagnum insulated some of the roots just enough.
Thanks for posting the images as a cautionary tale. If I might, are you using a controlled ventilation system? Or was yours a uncontrolled opening? I ask because I am waiting on the last parts for the system I am hoping to use in my basement window, and want to know if I will have enough control over it. Before reading this, I thought for sure, but now I'm questioning my design. So, details about how you think your arrangement failed would be helpful.
Again, I'm sorry about what happened. Good luck salvaging the hardy individuals, I still have hope for them.
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Post by lloyd on Jan 17, 2012 13:10:49 GMT -5
Sorry about losing the nice plants. Unfortunately we can all learn from this. It's not hard to rig up alarms for serious/rare incidents such as extreme cold. Probably not that hard to have a fairly cheap set-up to text you with warning messages. The price of controls and alarms is small compared to the price of the plants and set-ups and smaller still compared to the emotional investment in our plants.
As a separate point: if you reverse the light dark cycle you save a lot on electricity costs and also the heat load of the lights is in the night when the house is cooler-moderating the temperatures of the lights and limiting cold damage at night if there's a freeze.
I have my lights on according to the local electrical utility's "low price" times, which vary from winter to summer. I save a lot on electricity and the lights-on temperature is reduced.
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Post by vraev on Jan 17, 2012 14:46:53 GMT -5
I've been meaning to do that, but never do. I guess now is as better of a time than anything to start.
There was no control in ventilation. It is still a very simple system. I am pretty bad at electronic DIY. If I could, I would try to automate everything. I just positioned a simple duct tube into the tank as I did every night. But I guess I should have paid closer attention to the temperatures.
thanks guys.
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Post by lloyd on Jan 17, 2012 17:02:46 GMT -5
There are automatic dampers for furnaces. It wouldn't be too hard to have them respond to temperature extremes.
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Post by Apoplast on Jan 17, 2012 17:13:34 GMT -5
Hi Vraev - I'm working on a automated system that I hope will control my temperatures well (my tuberous dews need chilly nights, but can't freeze so it's a balancing act). It's not a tricky build build, and is basically a riff on the fan and vent system Drew was showing off in his grow tent, but with a little more control. I'll be posting the details a soon as I have it built. I'm still waiting on my thermostat. The one I've purchased works gust like the timers we probably all have out lights plugged into. No wiring necessary. I don't yet know if it is of quality, but it is reviews are good and it's a good price. I've included the product link below. luxproducts.com/thermostats/win100.phpGood luck, and please let us know how it all works out.
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hmills
Seedling
ill try not to KILL 'EM ALL
Posts: 50
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Post by hmills on Jan 19, 2012 14:59:28 GMT -5
thats terrible, i hope some of them at least will come out alive,im kind of luck that way, i was going to winter my vfts and sarrs outside this year but decided not to in the fall,temps in Abbotsford here have been -5 to -14 and about 10 inches of snow for the last week which is pretty much unheard of in the lower mainland here
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Post by nwflytrap on Jan 19, 2012 21:56:54 GMT -5
Sorry to hear about this vraev. I hope some of them survive and pop back.
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Post by vraev on Jan 20, 2012 14:55:18 GMT -5
Well...it looks like even plants that didn't seem to suffer have suffered...the villosa's growth point has died, then my orchids have lost their foliage... burbidgeae is also showing stress symptoms. wow!! This is going to take a while to come back.
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Post by Kase on Jan 20, 2012 17:07:34 GMT -5
Varaun, I'm so sorry to hear this. What preventative measure are you going to take so this doesn't happen again? I too use an open window to cool my highland plants
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