New terrarium!

[Avery]

Hey everyone,

I'm just showing off a new terrarium I put together. It's a 33 gallon aquarium converted into a terrarium. It sits in an East facing window.
Lighting is good- 4 HO T5's + 2 horizontal CFL's (plus a bit of sunlight).
Although it's new, temps in the days hover around 80, and get down to high 50's in the night with the window cracked a bit. In winter I may need to add supplemental heating during the day.
I don't have anything to measure humidity, but as far as I can tell it's high (the terr is almost fully sealed). There are also two computer fans which circulate air throughout the terrarium.
I have a bunch of different plants at different stages of growth (and recovery... or at least acclimation)

Let me know what you all think!











Also, check out this beauty! Wish me luck with my new Nepenthes argentii:

[canuk1w1]

Very nice! What are you using for substrate, peat, sand? I'm doing something similar with glass vases to keep the humidity higher around my neps and orchids and am trying to culture LFS around the pot.

Greg

[Avery]

At the bottom of the terrarium there is a thin layer of sand and peat- mostly peat. On top of that there is a mix of several different types of mosses, but the majority of the moss is LFS. It tends to just start growing after several weeks under the right conditions.

EDIT: I assume you were referring to the moss covering the bottom of the terrarium? For potting substrates, it depends on the plant. For example, most of my Nepenthes are planted in a mix of Sphagnum moss, perlite, orchid bark and horticultural charcoal.

[canuk1w1]

G'day Avery and sorry for the late reply.

Yes, I did mean the moss on the bottom. Thanks again!

[Avery]

Just a progress update:

[LucST]

As a bit of a rock hound: nice ammonite. The plants are cool too I guess.

[Apoplast]

Hi Avery - It's all looking really good. Thanks for sharing an update.

[Avery]

Well, thankfully things are continuing to grow in my terrarium. I almost never have to water my plants, which is certainly handy, it just takes the occasional weeding. The moss is thickening up, stray sundews are eating plenty, and my plants are acclimatizing well, some quicker than others. My Cephalotus still hasn't taken off, but it's slowly growing and I'm hoping it's just realizing the full potential of its root system before taking off. Here are a few pictures:

Nepenthes ventricosa seedlings spilling over their container. I'll need to get rid of some of these in the spring:





One of a few that I re-potted growing much larger than the rest:





Nepenthes bongso with some nice purple leaves:





Nepenthes argentii also growing some sturdier leaves (with a dime for size comparison). It has burrowed a nice thick tendril into the moss, so I'm hoping for a larger pitcher soon. There are three different growth points on this plant, I'm wondering if I should cut them apart?





And lastly, my (relatively) new Nepenthes hamata (AW clone 1) has opened its first pitcher with another one on its way. The leaf prior to this snapped during shipping, so I'm happy to see it recover. I'm hoping that once it grows a few more leaves growth will start to speed up as well.

[lane]

Cool set up Avery! If you don't mind me asking what is the plant in the tall white container in the center of your terrarium and what types of sundews do you have in there? Good luck with your set up!! I'm sure it will do great!!!
Mr. Lane

[Avery]

Hey Lane,

Thanks for the comment! The plant hanging in the tall white party cup is Cephalotus follicularis. For sundews, I have a pretty small collection. I'd like to get more. I have Drosera tokaiensis, D. oblanceolata, and D. capensis growing. And I'm trying to germinate Drosera macrantha from seed. I also have some Drosera omissa seeds, and some D. citrina and D. platysttigma gemmae that I'm really hoping will produce seedlings also.

[Avery]

Sorry for the constant updating. I know my collection is small and not all that impressive, and my photography skills leave something to be desired. That said, here's a few more. I took apart an old broken camera and taped that lens on top of my regular iPhone lens for a sort of "poor mans" macro lens. Not quite the same but still fun to fool around with.

First, a panorama of my terrarium. The Nepenthes 'viking' on the left is a great plant. Despite the cooler temperatures, it's still putting out a lot of growth.





Pinguicula jaumavensis. My Ping's are eating a ton of gnats. There's some algal growth on the surface media and I'm not sure if I should intervene or just let it be. The plants seem fine.





Drosera oblanceolata grown from seed:





Any idea what this is?? It might be too early to tell, but it's supposed to be either Nepenthes lowii, N. stenophylla, N. veitchii (my first reaction), or N. rowanae. Guessing is fun!

[Apoplast]

Hi Avery - Don't apologize for being excited about your collection, nor for sharing it with us. It looks like everything is coming along nicely. I also like your ingenuity with your lens. Not too bad of shots either. The fuzziness on the edges give it an Instagram-y feel.

[shoggoths]

No shame there Avery, your set-up is growing really nicely.

[vraev]

Beautiful setup Avery.

[Maiden]

Beautiful setup bro.

Now i hate you.

You and your awesome plants