Re: BUILDING WARDIAN CASE
John Rising (peredur@usa.net)
Tue, 14 Feb 1995 18:50:49 -0700 (MST)
The case I built, although not a true wardian case, might serve as a useful
comparison. I built a 3 foot high case with wood sides and clear heavy
plastic for the front and back. The case fit over 2 cat litter boxes
where I put the plants sitting in water. This made the case about a metre
wide. My lighting consisted of two 2' long workshop flourescent light
fixtures with Vita Lights for a total of 4 bulbs. The problems I
had were 1) the lighting was insufficient for the smaller plants 2) the
lighting was to weak for the Sarracenia (they grew thin weak pitchers
even with the addition of one extra side light) 3) the ventilation was
inadequate even with the plastic raised to expose a 4" long slit in the
front 4) the humidity was inadequate. Contrary to what I've read about
sitting plants over trays of water I have yet to see any verifiable
difference in humidity. The growing box had the same humidity (35-40%) as
the house humidity when checked with a hygrometer. Lava rock added to the
bottom made little difference and rapidly mineralized. 5) the temperature
was too hot and killed off my Darlingtonia and damaged several of the
Sarracenia during the summer. This has been my only experience and is
serving to guide my future growing area that I will be building in the
basement. I hope this is helpful.
John Rising
peredur@usa.net