Some Like It Cold - My Fridge Wardian Case.

I recently converted a fridge into a wardian case. An electrician friend put a variable thermostat on it so I can manually change the temperature for now. Eventually I will automate it so that it varies from 10-12c to 20-22c and back over the course of 24hrs.

I just added a mesh cage to hang mounts on and for stepped shelves. I also added a pane of glass sealed in with bathroom silicone at the bottom. This serves to catch water run off, as well as boost humidity. I will add a fogger soon.

If any of you are on Facebook, I run this group. I direct members back to this group too as there is so much good info to share here. https://www.facebook.com/groups/301381213230652/

Here are some pics from before I started adding plants.

Brett

 

I did a little deflasking yesterday.. These are flasks just done;

Telipogon thomasii
Fernandezia maculata
Lepanthes ophioglossa
Lepanthes grandiflora
Lepanthes caprimulgus
Lepanthes escobariana
Lepanthes effusa
Lepanthes ophioglossa
Dracula chiroptera yellow

Since I added the plants on aquamat, I am getting around 95% humidity.. I dont know if I will need a fogger with that amount of humidity.

Flasks I have yet to do;

Lepanthes ingridiana
Lepanthes nicolasii
Telipogon thomasii - got one more flask to do, but waiting to see how the first one goes with aquamat and a little live moss.
Fernandezia maculata - got one more flask to do, but waiting to see how the first goes with a little live moss and aquamat.

I have moved some plants, Den. cuthbertsonii, Chrytroglossa Ben Berliner, Neocogniauxa hexaptera and Lepanthes tsubotae into the fridge too. I am seeing an improvement on the first three in only a week. Its obvious they love the 10c night time drop. The Den. cuthbertsonii has even started a new growth, and the Chrytroglossa are plumping up and looking happier. The Neocogniauxa will take longer as they didnt like my intermediate case.

And these are flasks I have coming courtesy of Ecuagenera and Pepe Portilla. As you can tell, I need to grow these seedlings on the fridge case and move some on to new homes fast so I have room for more hahah;

Epidendrum escobarianum
Epidendrum kockii
Masdevallia decumana
Masdevallia lucernula
Masdevallia maxilimax
Dracula hirtzii 'xanthina'

Brett

 

The fresh air intake mechanism is me Alexey. I open the door in the morning to water the plants, so it gets a refresh then and I open it again at night. I am debating if I will use CO2 dosing.

Marni, my only irritation now is it seems the fridge's compressor is not good and I need to replace it.. It will still be cheaper than buying a new fridge, but I am mad at the shite who sold it to me for not being honest.

Brett

 

Hi Naoki

Yes, I got a piece of glass cut to size and used bathroom silicone to fix it into place. Bathroom silicone has anti-mould properties and can also bond to plastic and glass. You just cant put fish in there hehe..

I also blocked the water duct at the back of the fridge that would take water outside into the catchment pan above the compressor. The fridge produces too much water run of for that pan to hold it all..

I just siphon off the excess water when needed.

Brett

 

Thanks Naoki

I am wondering about the Zoomed Hygrotherm, if it could be wired to the refrigerators thermostat to control it. Also, does this product control the temperature hour by hour, or only have two settings for a day and night temp? The way I plan to have my fridge thermostat controlled is that it will have about 10 staged controllers, this will enable me to set them to 2c incriments for a set period. It will then rise by 2c until it reaches 10c from 20c and then head back the other way over a set time. I guess I am trying to make it as natural a climate as I can.

Chad you could put a drain in the bottom of the fridge, but I find by having a reservoir full of water there, it helps balance the temp in the fridge. When you run a fridge, it is normally full of food items. They hold the temperature. Plants take up a lot less volume and hold less cool. So the compressor has to work harder to cool the space. I have found with this fridge that the compressor comes on every 10 mins at night when set to 10c (this is less than when I had the reservoir) and it comes on every 30 mins at 20c during the day (that was more too before the reservoir). You could put a drain in no problem as long as there are no cables etc in the way, but a reservoir does make a huge impact to cooling, and that will make a difference to your electricity bill.

Brett

 

The Telipogon thomasii

 

The Fernandezia maculata

 

Some videos of the fridge since I put new fans in. Click the image to open.