It's all gonna break...

I'm at a bit of a tipping point, just before a transition or rather an evolution in my grow spaces. I have some things I want to change in how I keep some plants and I have some demands to change how I keep some plants.

Let me back up a second...
I currently reside in USDA Hardiness Zone 7a in a major city located at around 42° N along the eastern shore board of the United States & I don't have a greenhouse. That means many of the tropical plants I grow (nay love) go out on the patio from spring to early fall and have to come back in for, what I like to call, "The Long Dark". This obviously depends largely on the species, some of the native N. American Sarracenia pitcher plants could stay out year round provided adequate protections and many orchids and other tropicals in between have shorter timeframes where they can be outside while some tropical highland species or hybrids need special environmental controls year round. Needless to say, keeping tropicals inside and thriving for a large chunk of the year requires some, um... Well let's take a look at my current situation right after the break.


This is my main grow chamber.

A very low tech grow tent that evolved partly out of necessity and mostly through learning as I went along. It consists mostly of two 48" x 18" x 72" metal shelving units wrapped in a reflective insulating material along the back and shower curtains (that's right!) around the front for access, visibility and to keep the humidity in.

I provide humidity to the grow tent with this.



It's a 5 gallon bucket with some 4" plumbing, a 120mm computer fan, aluminum dryer venting and a 5 disc ultrasonic pond fogger that produces lots of clouds.

I'm really good at creating humidifiers with these ultrasonic pond foggers thanks to several iterations on this one and a smaller version I have hooked up to a 40 gallon breeder aquarium I made a terrarium out of. Makes the ZooMed foggers look like one of those handheld cooling fans you see in the stands at a summer ball game.

Inside, I provide artificial lighting with three 4 bulb Hydrofarm EnviroGro T5 HO fluorescent lights with two more 2 bulb big box store T8 fluorescent shop lights on shelves with smaller carnivorous plants like Pings, Drosera, seedlings, etc.

At any rate, this is my current situation... and I'm no longer satisfied with it.
I'm going to take this opportunity to catalogue my transition as well as share the plants I enjoy so much with the interwebs.
Be sure to check back and feel free to leave me any feedback.

BT out!