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I have three terrariums with black aluminium frames, slide doors, glass top and holes in the bottom for drainage. Two are 28 cm high and about 150 cm long. They are for max 25cm high trees, inluding the pots. Third box is for max 30cm trees.
Moisture level can be adjusted by leaving doors open a little at the both ends.
Terrariums are in wooden boxes, painted black, and there is a matte black plastic background. That makes a huge difference.
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| In the evening glasses are very foggy. |
In the bottom shelf there is about 20 GU10 led spots, mosty Brillight 4W spots with Phillips leds. For middle shelf I bought 40 Brillight spots with 5W Cree cobs. These are very good! They are 12V, which is safer. Top shelf has 184W of fluorescents. I will order led spots to there too in near future.
A few words of led spots. These are about as efficient light source as fluorescents, but because these are spots, light intensities are much higher. Under flurescents one can get 10-25 kiloluxes, under led spots there are 60-100 kluxes for about the same wattages. I first bought 6500 Kelvin spots, but growth seems to be better under 4000K spots. I also dropped intensities a little, from 100 to 80 kluxes, and growth seems to be even better. I have bought spots from a few sources, and Brillight spots have been best so far. I prefer 35 degrees spots. 60 degrees are good if lamp is only 5-10cm from the plant.
A word of warning. Cooling is not adequate for these (or any for that matter) spots when they are in a cramped place like this. There is 3 computer fans behind the spots. That is a must, otherwise they will get very hot. (Leds are cool, they say... HAH). I also have adjustable driver, I run these for about 4W. Voltage is about 11.4. Spots are cooler and should last longer. Light is abundant, I don't need to worry about that.
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| Wife approved bamboo curtain. |
Terrariums have holes in the bottom, because standing water will get algae and smels quite bad after a while. Shelves have 2 cm walls and a rubber lining and some kitty litter. They are waterproof.
Enough for now! I will explain more if you ask.
Great setup! A lot of effort to grow bonsai in Finland. I have given up finally. Maybe if one day I move back to Spain I will grow them outdoors
VastaaPoistaNice to hear from you! A lot of effort indoors, true, not so outdoors. Too bad you gave up. I remember you had genuine interest in bonsai, but were reluctant to accept the equipment involved. This is very common. We (indoor growing enthusiasts, that is) are constantly trying to find ways to do things as simple as possible for newcomers, and making a lantern like in my previous post is one option.
VastaaPoistatosissaan on hyvännäköinen systeemi ja miksei toimisi hyvin :D omia viritelmiä vain odotellessa :D
VastaaPoistaThat is some serious moisture! What would be maximum % so that no fog would accumulate? Moisture is excellent but it would be good to see the trees & avoid fungus.
VastaaPoistaThe info in these posts is valuable and not only to newcomers. Thank you for sharing! Indoor/outdoor bonsai growing in northern latitudes is somewhat unexplored (in comparison) so a wealth of knowledge is waiting to be found to make the hobby more accessible. I thank you.
Ty (again? :), I will make an update after I have gathered some experience. I need to get decent humidity meters, I don't think my 20+ years old is calibrated properly any more :).
VastaaPoista