Constructing a Heli Grow Chamber

[Jeremiah]

Hello all,

I just wanted to post a few photos of my newly setup Heliamphora grow chamber. A huge thank you goes to Butch for all the great advice to help me set this up similar to his.

Here is a great thread with advice from him.
www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123304&page=2

I have been growing a lot of these plant for 5 years or more in my greenhouses but they really have never done a whole lot for me. Last winter I decided I would build a new grow chamber to really try and succeed with the genus. Butch grows some of the best looking Heliamphora around so I asked his advice.

My chamber is not 100% identical but I'm hoping it will do the trick.

The chamber is 2' x 4'. I'm using a 4' T5 8 bulb fixture that is on for 14 1/2 hours a day. At 6:30am my humidifier (Sunpentown SU2000) turns on at 7am one fan (120mm 800RPM S-Flex 33.5 CFM @ 8.7dBA.) turns on. The lights and the other fan come on at 7:30am everything then run all day. The temps seem to max out at 74F, at 9pm one fan and the lights shut off. The other fan then runs until 9:30 and cools the chamber to about 60F. At 10pm the humidifier then turns off but will come on for 1/2 an hour at midnight and 3am. The humidity durning the night stays at about 85% to 90%. Now that the chamber is full it stays at 75% at the far end of the chamber durning the day.

The chamber is surrounded on three sides with foam board with a reflective aluminum side facing the chamber. The viewing side is drop plastic that I will velcro to seal. There is nothing covering the top other then the lighting which covers just about everything other then a 1" gap at the opposite end then the fans. For the racks I use three Chrome Whitmor Supreme Small 3-Tier Shelves with lighting egg crate on the growing shelf.

I have only had it up and running for a few days now so I will have to add new photos as things progress.

Now for the photos...





















Here is a quick video...




Shopping list
$200 Lighting Sun Blaze T5 48 - 4' -8 Lamp - Includes 6500deg K Bulbs
3 x $40 Chrome Whitmor Supreme Small 3-Tier Shelves
$10 foam backing
$6 2' tubing to go from the humidifier to the chamber
$65 Sunpentown SU-2000 Ultrasonic humidifier
2 x $15 Power Supply with 4 Pin Molex (2000mA)
2 x $10 Scythe S-FLEX 120mm Case Fan, 800RPM, Model: SFF21D DIR4669962
$5 Power strip
$5 Velcro for the plastic cover

$456 total

I already had
3 programable digital timers (about $20 each)
clear plastic to cover the front
Thermometer and humidity gauge
1 power strip

I'm still going to build a large tray for the whole chamber to sit in so it does not leak water. I am also woking on a way to hook the humidifier to a small float valve so I don't have to fill it once a day.

After only a little over two weeks in the chamber they have already stared to color up.

H. pulchella on May 3rd grown in the greenhouse



Now on May 20th.


Thanks
-Jeremiah-

[Brian Barnes]

Nice setup!

Indeed those little ultrasonic humidifiers work wonders. I use one in conjunction with a small portable swamp cooler and I seem to get a nice drop in temperature (below 75F in summer) during the day when used in combination at timed intervals. Night are usually 68F.

Those should begin to color up quickly for you!

Happy Growing,

Brian

[Jeremiah]

few photos from the chamber....

[Myles]

Jeremiah, your helis are an inspiration to me! I love your setup, I am gathering supplies to setup a highland nep/heli chamber at the moment. I am attempting to use a chiller as well as humidifier because the room just won't be cool enough at night without one.

How often do you find the plants to need watering with the high humidity environment? Also, do you top water or water through the trays?

I have a thread newly starte for my terrarium build, not to exciting as there are no pictures but I'd love your incite!
icps.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=indoor&thread=5536