Indoor enclosure

[Anyfoot]

I'm growing quite a few things indoors experimentally for the first time. I think that a room like you're creating is breaking new ground Many of us will be watching you to see how it all works.

I tried growing a small young grape vine last year. It was doing well under my fluorescent grow light, but then one of my cats got to the plant (mine eat anything green) and it never recovered. I plan to try it again soon. I'm growing hibiscus inside for the first time and have wondered that too.

@Yellow Turtle01 & @Odin's Gma does your hibiscus flower indoors?

Well the aim is hopefully to have insulated it that well that once i get it to the right ambient temp I require it won't be too expensive to run. It's never going to be cheep to run, but neither is my existing tort room. Also the ultimate goal would be never have to buy food again. Not saying its possible, but I'm going to give it a shot. This should offset some running costs. Fruit is not a problem from may to November. Plenty of wild fruit trees around here. I also have an apple,plum and cherry tree in the garden. Need to get a fig tree, although I know where there is one on a river bank in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Prairie Mom]

You're right. It will never be cheap, but I think you're onto something when you talk about not having to purchase as much food. That definitely will help compensate. I always have a million grow lights inside every winter and people have belittled what I do by complaining that the energy costs outweigh the cost of what I'm growing etc. I've actually found that to be untrue. Mainly because once the lights go up, we become really strict about saving electricity every where else. I even unplug ovens, computers, etc when they're not being used so even the tiny electronic clocks on microwaves, stoves, etc are not draining any energy.

If you haven't seen this thread, you should check it out. A member in Germany named "Jemo" posted some smaller photos of his aldabra room that are really cool. http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...old-weather-people-do-it.107671/#post-1003313 Some day I want my indoor tortoise room to be a combination of what Jemo has and what you are creating here. I admire your work so much! Now, go dig up that fig

 

[Anyfoot]

You're right. It will never be cheap, but I think you're onto something when you talk about not having to purchase as much food. That definitely will help compensate. I always have a million grow lights inside every winter and people have belittled what I do by complaining that the energy costs outweigh the cost of what I'm growing etc. I've actually found that to be untrue. Mainly because once the lights go up, we become really strict about saving electricity every where else. I even unplug ovens, computers, etc when they're not being used so even the tiny electronic clocks on microwaves, stoves, etc are not draining any energy.

If you haven't seen this thread, you should check it out. A member in Germany named "Jemo" posted some smaller photos of his aldabra room that are really cool. http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...old-weather-people-do-it.107671/#post-1003313 Some day I want my indoor tortoise room to be a combination of what Jemo has and what you are creating here. I admire your work so much! Now, go dig up that fig

Just looked at that thread. Nice glass house
I considered using water pipework like that coming from a gas central heating boiler. I was going to run it outside under the ground too. But could have got too complicated with gas. The more pipework you need, the bigger the gas boiler needs to be, and you have to involve the gas authority's. Gas is about a third of the price of electric over here. The way I have done it I thought at a later date I could add solar panels to the roof. I've just seen tortadises thread today, about moving, he mentioned solar in that. I'll pick his brains further down the line. Lol.
Also taking it even further, what's to stop me growing stuff for us humans too (grapes,oranges,cucumbers,tomatoes) you get the idea. The more I can grow, the better food source is, less air to heat up and humidity is kept easier. Win win I hope.
Also in this room I'm hoping to create an area for juveniles and incubation. So if the ambient is lets say 80f, there's not that much more heat required for controlled areas at lets say 84f/86f. Your effectively using 1 huge source for every aspect of torting. At the moment I have 8 lights or heat sources plus a large gas central heating radiator keeping temps up. Not growing anything edible and my room is getting damaged with humidity, big time, and I believe no matter what, you can not provide the correct floor inside your home, unless you are willing to put a deep layer of substrate in the floor. Basically do what I'm going to do, but in your house. My tort room is warm, floor is insulated and fairly warm, however it's not a good texture for the torts to walk on. It's constantly trying to spray there legs apart. Not good for the torts health. Worries me a lot. I put some fake grass mats down for now, just to get me by. I can take then up and clean easy. But its not right.
Into the future and beyond. Yeah I watch kids programmes too. Lol

 

[Rutibegga]

This is so cool!

 

[Odin's Gma]

@Yellow Turtle01 & @Odin's Gma does your hibiscus flower indoors?

Apparently even when I try to stop them.
I DRAMATICALLY pruned Mr. Hibsicus just a couple weeks ago after leaving him outside after a frost, with the intent of scaling him back without the guilt of chopping off all of those beautiful, healthy branches (I just can't bring myself to do it, I have tried!)
So, I left it out through the first big frost and, as expected, all the leaves dried and fell off (I saved them all for tortoise hay additive!) It was much easier to chop off the branches when they appeared dead, and it brought him down to a more manageable size for bringing in and out of the house twice a year. He was up around 7 feet after the summer and in a 24 inch pot, EEK!
Now he is still in the huge pot, but only around 4 feet:


And coming back like gangbusters with a couple of tiny flower buds!



YAY!

And, BTW @Anyfoot , HO-LEE-SMOKES! I am loving your project! You've got my creativity wheels spinning!

 

[Anyfoot]

Apparently even when I try to stop them.
I DRAMATICALLY pruned Mr. Hibsicus just a couple weeks ago after leaving him outside after a frost, with the intent of scaling him back without the guilt of chopping off all of those beautiful, healthy branches (I just can't bring myself to do it, I have tried!)
So, I left it out through the first big frost and, as expected, all the leaves dried and fell off (I saved them all for tortoise hay additive!) It was much easier to chop off the branches when they appeared dead, and it brought him down to a more manageable size for bringing in and out of the house twice a year. He was up around 7 feet after the summer and in a 24 inch pot, EEK!
Now he is still in the huge pot, but only around 4 feet:
View attachment 155649

And coming back like gangbusters with a couple of tiny flower buds!

View attachment 155645

YAY!

And, BTW @Anyfoot , HO-LEE-SMOKES! I am loving your project! You've got my creativity wheels spinning!

Thank you. I bought 3 hibiscus a couple of weeks ago. Only £2 each. End of season sale. They are about 18" high. So if I bring them indoors the leaves will grow back.

 

[Odin's Gma]

Thank you. I bought 3 hibiscus a couple of weeks ago. Only £2 each. End of season sale. They are about 18" high. So if I bring them indoors the leaves will grow back.

They sure will! This is the second time in the years since I have had Mr.Hibiscus that I left him out after the first big frost and both times he has come back with a vengeance! The tiny one (as of yet unnamed) that spent all summer outside and last month was moved into the greenhouse, has already produced one flower so far. It's only about a foot high but has acclimated beautifully so far. Had a few leaves yellow and drop, but was fine after that.

 

[Prairie Mom]

Just looked at that thread. Nice glass house
I considered using water pipework like that coming from a gas central heating boiler. I was going to run it outside under the ground too. But could have got too complicated with gas. The more pipework you need, the bigger the gas boiler needs to be, and you have to involve the gas authority's. Gas is about a third of the price of electric over here. The way I have done it I thought at a later date I could add solar panels to the roof. I've just seen tortadises thread today, about moving, he mentioned solar in that. I'll pick his brains further down the line. Lol.
Also taking it even further, what's to stop me growing stuff for us humans too (grapes,oranges,cucumbers,tomatoes) you get the idea. The more I can grow, the better food source is, less air to heat up and humidity is kept easier. Win win I hope.
Also in this room I'm hoping to create an area for juveniles and incubation. So if the ambient is lets say 80f, there's not that much more heat required for controlled areas at lets say 84f/86f. Your effectively using 1 huge source for every aspect of torting. At the moment I have 8 lights or heat sources plus a large gas central heating radiator keeping temps up. Not growing anything edible and my room is getting damaged with humidity, big time, and I believe no matter what, you can not provide the correct floor inside your home, unless you are willing to put a deep layer of substrate in the floor. Basically do what I'm going to do, but in your house. My tort room is warm, floor is insulated and fairly warm, however it's not a good texture for the torts to walk on. It's constantly trying to spray there legs apart. Not good for the torts health. Worries me a lot. I put some fake grass mats down for now, just to get me by. I can take then up and clean easy. But its not right.
Into the future and beyond. Yeah I watch kids programmes too. Lol

I got your Buzz quote I too am interested in Solar panels. Yvonne G also has some and chatted about it a while back. She said it took quite a few years to regain the cost of installation and equipment. I'm sure in the long run, it's worth it. I think your temp plans for your multiple tortoise endeavors sounds great. It will be neat to see how everything works out.

As for growing human food. Pollination is he biggest issue. I've seen that plants can get huge indoors if given the space and lighting. Last year, I even managed to accidentally fertilize some "early girl tomatoes." I've been looking into "Parthenocarpic seeds" which do not require ferilization. Supposedly every flower will grow and produce fruit. I recently found one seed company in the US that has a full line of Parthenoccarpic tomatoes that I want to try out next year's winter season. I'll post how it goes in the garden chat.

I think it's good that you will be putting down a thick substrate. It seems more natural and will serve for easier clean ups. Good luck with your continuing project! Sorry to keep hogging your thread I find it all very interesting.

 

[Anyfoot]

I got your Buzz quote I too am interested in Solar panels. Yvonne G also has some and chatted about it a while back. She said it took quite a few years to regain the cost of installation and equipment. I'm sure in the long run, it's worth it. I think your temp plans for your multiple tortoise endeavors sounds great. It will be neat to see how everything works out.

As for growing human food. Pollination is he biggest issue. I've seen that plants can get huge indoors if given the space and lighting. Last year, I even managed to accidentally fertilize some "early girl tomatoes." I've been looking into "Parthenocarpic seeds" which do not require ferilization. Supposedly every flower will grow and produce fruit. I recently found one seed company in the US that has a full line of Parthenoccarpic tomatoes that I want to try out next year's winter season. I'll post how it goes in the garden chat.

I think it's good that you will be putting down a thick substrate. It seems more natural and will serve for easier clean ups. Good luck with your continuing project! Sorry to keep hogging your thread I find it all very interesting.

Hog away, doesn't bother me. Think I mentioned this before. I got into growing a lot of veg a few years back. Went a bit mad with it actually, I grew over 100 Roma plum tomatoe plants one year. Froze them, then dropped in boiling water. Skinned plum tomatoes, just like the tin says. Lol.
Anyway, you can get plenty all female veg plants. Cucumbers, tomatoes. Have a go at growing zucchini. I got in undated with them one year. Have s go at growing Romanesco broccoli. It's easy and right nice.
Purple broccoli and kale will be good in your climate. I was never successful at sprouts, everytime they blew. My favorite too.
Oh forgot, there's no such thing as off topic in my threads too. Knowledge is knowledge.

I grew loads of different squashes one year. Ended up with one plant that I'm convinced was an hybrid. It produced 19 squashes about the size of a rugby ball. Lived off homemade soup for weeks. Lol.
I'm going to get back into it after this project.
Now, plants and flowers, I know nothing about.

 

[Anyfoot]

I got your Buzz quote I too am interested in Solar panels. Yvonne G also has some and chatted about it a while back. She said it took quite a few years to regain the cost of installation and equipment. I'm sure in the long run, it's worth it. I think your temp plans for your multiple tortoise endeavors sounds great. It will be neat to see how everything works out.

As for growing human food. Pollination is he biggest issue. I've seen that plants can get huge indoors if given the space and lighting. Last year, I even managed to accidentally fertilize some "early girl tomatoes." I've been looking into "Parthenocarpic seeds" which do not require ferilization. Supposedly every flower will grow and produce fruit. I recently found one seed company in the US that has a full line of Parthenoccarpic tomatoes that I want to try out next year's winter season. I'll post how it goes in the garden chat.

I think it's good that you will be putting down a thick substrate. It seems more natural and will serve for easier clean ups. Good luck with your continuing project! Sorry to keep hogging your thread I find it all very interesting.

Well I just had to Google parthenocarpic. Am I understanding this right. It's a seedless friut?

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

I'm growing quite a few things indoors experimentally for the first time. I think that a room like you're creating is breaking new ground Many of us will be watching you to see how it all works.

I tried growing a small young grape vine last year. It was doing well under my fluorescent grow light, but then one of my cats got to the plant (mine eat anything green) and it never recovered. I plan to try it again soon. I'm growing hibiscus inside for the first time and have wondered that too.

@Yellow Turtle01 & @Odin's Gma does your hibiscus flower indoors?

Nope. A couple weeks after I bring mine in any flowers left die and all the seed pods drop. THey usually shedall their leaves too, but they always grow back.

Gosh, Anyfoot! This looks great.

 

[Lyn W]

Only just seen this Craig - it's looking fantastic!
Your torts are going to love that!

 

[Anyfoot]

Only just seen this Craig - it's looking fantastic!
Your torts are going to love that!

I hope so. I may move in yet. Lol.

 

[Lyn W]

I hope so. I may move in yet. Lol.

How about putting some bunks in the corner and offering a B&B Tort Experience?
That will help with the costs!!!

 

[Prairie Mom]

Well I just had to Google parthenocarpic. Am I understanding this right. It's a seedless friut?

Yes, I'm pretty sure that's the case for all the fruit/veg grown this way. The only experience I have eating them is seedless watermelon and grapes from the store. In the US seedless watermelon and grapes outsell seeded ones so much that they cost almost the same price in the grocery store as seeded varieties.

I've known nothing about these seeds until very recently and I'm still trying to find sources where I can buy them. I attended a local gardening conference on pollinators and encouraging garden biodiversity. (I mentioned it in the garden chat a while ago http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...ts-and-people-♫-♫.104546/page-66#post-1080148) One of the speakers gave an interesting talk about pollinating crops. In my area many gardeners use hoop tunnels and greenhouses even through the hottest part of the summer to deal with our difficult climate, but doing this can make it challenging to get crops pollinated. He mentioned that bumblebees do better than other bees when living captive in structures. They are not aggressive and less likely to continually bash themselves to death against windows. He also spoke about using parthenocarpic seeds for growing indoors or inside structures.

The seeds were never mentioned to replace veg outside (this was a conference about helping pollinators after all!), but they can be a very viable option for indoor gardening. I can't imagine tomatoes without the seeds, but I'm going to try it next winter after I use up more of my seeds this winter and next summer. I have so many lights going and other things growing that I would love to expand on the human garden indoors as well. These type of seeds would also really open up what can be done in cold frames too.

 

[Anyfoot]

Yes, I'm pretty sure that's the case for all the fruit/veg grown this way. The only experience I have eating them is seedless watermelon and grapes from the store. In the US seedless watermelon and grapes outsell seeded ones so much that they cost almost the same price in the grocery store as seeded varieties.

I've known nothing about these seeds until very recently and I'm still trying to find sources where I can buy them. I attended a local gardening conference on pollinators and encouraging garden biodiversity. (I mentioned it in the garden chat a while ago http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/garden-chat-photos-for-torts-and-people-♫-♫.104546/page-66#post-1080148) One of the speakers gave an interesting talk about pollinating crops. In my area many gardeners use hoop tunnels and greenhouses even through the hottest part of the summer to deal with our difficult climate, but doing this can make it challenging to get crops pollinated. He mentioned that bumblebees do better than other bees when living captive in structures. They are not aggressive and less likely to continually bash themselves to death against windows. He also spoke about using parthenocarpic seeds for growing indoors or inside structures.

The seeds were never mentioned to replace veg outside (this was a conference about helping pollinators after all!), but they can be a very viable option for indoor gardening. I can't imagine tomatoes without the seeds, but I'm going to try it next winter after I use up more of my seeds this winter and next summer. I have so many lights going and other things growing that I would love to expand on the human garden indoors as well. These type of seeds would also really open up what can be done in cold frames too.

What do you mean. "So many lights going"?

 

[Prairie Mom]

What do you mean. "So many lights going"?

grow lights sorry! Every winter I grow a lot indoors and since I've adopted my sulcata, I grow food for her as well.

 

[Anyfoot]

grow lights sorry! Every winter I grow a lot indoors and since I've adopted my sulcata, I grow food for her as well.

Try Mushrooms. No lights needed for some types. I've never done it. But my dad grows them in his shed in the dark.

 

[Prairie Mom]

Try Mushrooms. No lights needed for some types. I've never done it. But my dad grows them in his shed in the dark.

I'd love to

 

[AnimalLady]

This is so awesome, i sooo cant wait to see the tort in it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!