My indoor tropical setup

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The Ficus Guy
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My indoor tropical setup

Post by The Ficus Guy »

Hey all,


I got some interest about how my indoor growing setup for my tropical looks, so I thought I would post here with pictures and techniques.

I grow my tropicals next to a large bay window in my dining room. I have one greenhouse and two aquariums that I use to keep the tropicals humid:
Image

Here's a closer shot of the greenhouse. There is a light with a built in reflector on top that has one cool and one warm CFL in it. I will occasionally stick a humidifier in the greenhouse if aerial roots or the likes are needed/wanted (the humidifier can sort of be seen at the bottom right of the picture):
Image

And here is a close up of one of the aquariums. I have a flourescent light on top and the tank is covered in plastic wrap. There is a layer of gravel at the bottom of the tank so taht the pots do not sit in leftover water. I leave the humidifier on in this tank for several hours a day:
Image

The results I get from leaving gravel at the bottom of the tank:
Image

And this is the other aquarium, which I use just for rooting tropical cuttings:
Image

A shot of the hose from the humidifier going into the tank to supply humidity:
Image

Hope this was interesting to some of you!


Ryan
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Re: My indoor tropical setup

Post by Bougy Fan »

Hi Ryan
You must really love figs to got to all that trouble. Here in Brissy I don't have to do anything special and it's prime growing conditions for about 9 months of the year. Thanks for a look at your set up :tu2:

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Re: My indoor tropical setup

Post by kcpoole »

Nice setup Ryan and thanks for showing :yes:

Just the same, I am glad i live here :lol:
I keep all my figs out side all year with no probs, and get continued growth all that time :-)

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Re: My indoor tropical setup

Post by The Ficus Guy »

Thanks guys. It must be nice living in down there in Australia where I'm sure it's warm most of the year, I'm very envious :tu:
Last edited by The Ficus Guy on September 21st, 2011, 12:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: My indoor tropical setup

Post by Andrew F »

What a waste of a perfectly good fish room :P

Looks good, look forward to updates.
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Re: My indoor tropical setup

Post by The Ficus Guy »

I've revised the $#*! outta my setup since last posting.

I've added two four foot, four bulb T5 lights and also built an indoor greenhouse. Below are pictures of what I did. Feel free to leave comments.
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Re: My indoor tropical setup

Post by Andrew F »

:o :o :o :o :o

T5 lighting for figs, sorry for my disbelief mate, we have it too easy here obviously, keep up the good work. How cold is it there???
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Re: My indoor tropical setup

Post by The Ficus Guy »

VelvetSicklid wrote::o :o :o :o :o

T5 lighting for figs, sorry for my disbelief mate, we have it too easy here obviously, keep up the good work. How cold is it there???
Yep, it's can be a bit rough during the winter months :D

We're in spring so daytime temps are around 65F (18.3C) and nighttime temps are still going down to around 40F (4.4C). Cannot wait for summer :lol:
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Re: My indoor tropical setup

Post by Andrew F »

The Ficus Guy wrote: Cannot wait for summer :lol:
I bet lol

I admire your dedication to keeping tropical trees, what variety of ficus is it?
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Re: My indoor tropical setup

Post by The Ficus Guy »

VelvetSicklid wrote:
The Ficus Guy wrote: Cannot wait for summer :lol:
I bet lol

I admire your dedication to keeping tropical trees, what variety of ficus is it?
Thanks! I've got Ficus salicaria, Ficus microcarpa, Ficus benjamina, and Ficus Ficus burt-dayii in here.
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Re: My indoor tropical setup

Post by Andrew F »

The Ficus Guy wrote:
VelvetSicklid wrote:
The Ficus Guy wrote: Cannot wait for summer :lol:
I bet lol

I admire your dedication to keeping tropical trees, what variety of ficus is it?
Thanks! I've got Ficus salicaria, Ficus microcarpa, Ficus benjamina, and Ficus Ficus burt-dayii in here.
:cool: :cool: :cool: i look forward to updates.
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Re: My indoor tropical setup

Post by kcpoole »

By the look of the frame, I thought you were going to use it as a Coffee table too :-)

Awesome setup and thank to the maker, I do not have to worry about that sort of thing!
About the coldest it gets at home is about +1 Deg C and next to the walls of the house it would rarely get below 5. I leave all my Figs outside all year :-)

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Re: My indoor tropical setup

Post by Bretts »

Hi nice setup and nice timing for me. I usually just bring my best figs in for Winter while the others take there chances in the shade house. I am thinking about getting a light for them this year to see if I can get continued growth through the winter. Could you recomend a small light for one tree.
Thanks
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Re: My indoor tropical setup

Post by Andrew F »

Aquarium T5 lighting might be the go Brett, although buy the bulbs from the big green shed as appose to an aquarium with their mark ups :shock: It will have the specifics as far as spectrum of colour on the packaging for the bulb. Hope this helps.
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Re: My indoor tropical setup

Post by Bretts »

Thanks I will look into them but I was thinking one of those round globe types :?:
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