Atroviolacia in a greenhouse. how hot is too hot?

17 years ago

I made a makeshift greenhouse w/ wood and the plastic that you put on the floor to cover when painting. I have my little Lako seedling, the Atro I just bought and my vittata in there.

I'm trying to keep the Lako and Atro in the "tropical" growing environment and it seems to be doing OK after a week but I'm still paranoid about what I'm doing.

I'm keeping the soil moist but when I checked the water level in the culm of the atro it was pretty hot. I checked the temp of the soil and it was 90+ degrees.

Is this putting it in danger? Could the heated water in the culm burn it or hinder the growth of the Atro? Though it's not in direct sun, how hot can it get without damaging my boo?

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Comments (4)

socalboo
17 years ago
Three things that I note in professional/commercial greenhouses that I see lacking in most 'home' greenhouses (including mine) - 1. circulation (i.e. fans) 2. vents that are thermostat controlled 3. drip irrigation on timers. I'd look into the vent issue and see what the manufacturers set up their vents/thermostats at to get a flavor how much heat is too much heat.

I just burned out a bunch seedlings in my greenhouse, as I had NO idea how hot it would actually get in there. My answer - really darn hot!

Seems to me that tropical clumpers, on the whole, would love the warmth on the roots as well as the humidity, of a greenhouse. But care should be taken not to flood and drown the roots.
robanalog
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks socal. It's been almost 2 weeks since they've been in there and it seems to be going good. I'll mist in the morning and water every 2 days. There has since been a new Lako seedling that has come up (bought from ebay), and the atro is continuing have some growth on on the branch cutting. I'll try to post pics later.
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PuraVida
17 years ago
If you live in zone 10 aren't you considered tropical? Why are you keeping them in the greenhouse? for the humidity? I have all three of the ones you listed planted outside, they go through a long windy distinct 6 month dry season and they lose a lot of leaves and don't look great, but they do fine without the humidity and come back each rainy season bigger and bigger every year.

good luck
puravida

Here is a link that might be useful: garden photo blog
socalboo
17 years ago
puravida, even in 10a/b, we still get down into the high 30's/low 40s during the winter. tropical clumpers slow to a crawl. they use very little water. really easy to drown them. makes any type of propogation really difficult.

if you can greenhouse the little 'ums during the winter, it makes a significant difference. the heat and humidity are both welcome to the little guys.

put it to you this way - the two preeminent bamboo nurseries in town both use greenhouses for their new 'props.

We might live in similar zones, but the weather in san diego and costa rica are pretty varied.