Mylar Tropical Enclosure

[Redwood Ryan]

Hi everyone,



I began working on a new enclosure for my ficus today. It is your typical PVC frame, but it is wrapped in mylar, which is really, really reflective (from what I've seen so far). Here's what I did.

I took an old frame with a light sitting above it (light removed in this picture):

I then made it taller, wider and longer:

Began to wrap it in mylar:

And I am almost finished:

There is obviously a big area between the top of most of the trees and where the light sits, so that's why the mylar is there. It will reflect the light. I still need to completely cover the front of the enclosure, and add some drop cloth to the top to keep heat/humidity in, but it should turn out pretty nice.


Feel free to leave comments.

 

[JudyB]

Do you think you'll have trouble venting it at all, or is the top open?

I think you should look into a career in law enforcement, you certainly like to put your trees in jail!

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Do you think you'll have trouble venting it at all, or is the top open?

I think you should look into a career in law enforcement, you certainly like to put your trees in jail!

Well, with the other one that is completely enclosed in drop cloth, temperatures stay in the high 80s, low 90s, with no venting. I don't think I'll need to vent this one. We'll see what happens when I enclose it fully though.

Funny you mention the law enforcement, I'm actually considering that being my major in college

 

[JudyB]

too funny!

 

[Redwood Ryan]

too funny!

I've worked on this a bit more since the last pictures. I added a roof:

Added the poles where the door will go:

And added the final mylar:

 

[Redwood Ryan]

I added a door:

And we are ready to grow:

 

[daygan]

looking very sci-fi

 

[biglou13]

why this vs. outdoors

 

[Redwood Ryan]

looking very sci-fi

Thanks, I agree lol

why this vs. outdoors

I dunno, it's just not time to move the trees outdoors yet, but once it is I'll probably move a good amount of them outdoors.

 

[mat]

Interesting set up. You're obviously very into Ficus. I can't help but think that you should just move to South Florida when you graduate and put all of them out in your back yard. It'll save you lot of time & effort trying to improve on mother nature. Actually, with the plants shown, you could even just get a condo and put them on your back porch.

 

[stacy allen muse]

Or on a boat in the marina...

 

[Alex DeRuiter]

Or you could totally get the MacGyver houseboat!

 

[linlaoboo]

Thanks, I agree lol



I dunno, it's just not time to move the trees outdoors yet, but once it is I'll probably move a good amount of them outdoors.

Sup yo, all I grow is ficuses and here in NJ which is colder than where you are, I've had some developing ones potted in my outdoor grow bed for a month with pvc and plastic covering. low temps had been in the 30s and 40s and they've done fine since the mulch and soil keep the roots warmer than air temperature. This week's going to be in the 70s and all my finished and unfinished ficuses are all outdoors for good. I have a south facing deck where it gets full sun. Unless your ficus is done growing I suggest leaving them outside asap. Ficuses are tough trees and I propagate them and air layer them all year around and do all kinds of grafting and fusion projects with them is alot of fun.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

You all are too much Florida, I wish

Sup yo, all I grow is ficuses and here in NJ which is colder than where you are, I've had some developing ones potted in my outdoor grow bed for a month with pvc and plastic covering. low temps had been in the 30s and 40s and they've done fine since the mulch and soil keep the roots warmer than air temperature. This week's going to be in the 70s and all my finished and unfinished ficuses are all outdoors for good. I have a south facing deck where it gets full sun. Unless your ficus is done growing I suggest leaving them outside asap. Ficuses are tough trees and I propagate them and air layer them all year around and do all kinds of grafting and fusion projects with them is alot of fun.

Yeah Ficus are a lot of fun to play with. I think I'll leave a good portion of them indoors this year, and only move some of them outdoors. They seem to be growing very well, so why fix what isn't broken, ya know??

 

[Redwood Ryan]

I built a new enclosure today using mylar and PVC again. This one, however is different in a key way. This one has aluminum food/serving trays at the bottom of it. The trays are filled with gravel and a small amount of water. They act as humidity trays as well as they allow the roots to grow down through the drainage holes in the pots down into the gravel. After an hour with the hygrometer set inside of it, I'm getting a reading of 99%. Comments welcome.

 

[FrankP999]

How are you attaching the mylar to the PVC?

Thanks

 

[Redwood Ryan]

How are you attaching the mylar to the PVC?

Thanks

Good ol' tape

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Boy, I thought I knew what mylar was. Until I got a roll from a different company. Now THIS is reflective stuff.

Old roll:

New roll:

Wow, there's a huge difference.

 

[edprocoat]

Looks good Ryan, be careful though its innocent little projects like this that start one down the road towards being a " Mad Scientist " .

ed

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Looks good Ryan, be careful though its innocent little projects like this that start one down the road towards being a " Mad Scientist " .

ed

Thanks Ed.

So you mean a 4 foot tall, 4 foot wide box with mylar walls doesn't already make me a mad scientist??