Love you and your videos! The "disconnected" aspect is what resonated with me. It makes it seem precious and hands off. I'm always fiddling with and pawing my plants! Thanks for what you do!❤
I have an ikea cabinet because I live in the Sonoran Desert in the Southwest US. Surprise: tropical plants do not do well in a desert environment. (FYI, we are having a cool day today, the high is *only* 104°F/40°C .) We have very little humidity most of the year. I tried humidifiers, I was always buying distilled water, and the moisture just disappeared. I just couldn’t get the right conditions for tropical plants! I wanted an aesthetically pleasing way to see my plants and give some of them the conditions they want. Ideally, I’d love a room like yours for my plants. Or at the very least, a more amenable environment for plants. But I don’t. Is it the best? No. So I do what I must to have pretty plants.🙂
@@Houseplantygoodness They love it! I moved my Alocasia Micholitziana out last week, it’s not happy. But it takes up so much space in the cabinet! I want more but they are expensive to buy and set up!
I may have jumped the shark, but I cut holes for stainless mesh grommets in the bottom and AC infinity fans in the top to help mitigate the ventilation and heat issues. I’ve got them on a smart timer which I’ve tweaked to keep humidity in the sweet spot without getting moldy. I also have USB C Amazon fans blowing on low constantly for circulation. I got into the cabinets as a way to grow heliamphora which are SUPER finicky and my solutions have made them happy.
I’m 100% “do what works for you and your collection/home.” I personally haven’t jumped into ikea cabinets because cleaning it properly seems significantly more taxing than wiping a shelf or washing an acrylic prop box in the sink and letting it dry. That, and I live in Florida.😂 So I currently don’t have a need, but if I move somewhere unfavorable, I’d absolutely consider it if I need to. That said-for propping indoor plants, I use acrylic display boxes for special plants (I say this becaause I have various syngonium and philos propping window sills) and I vent them while I sleep. The humidity returns to 75+ within an hour or so after reclosing the boxes. Once everything has roots, I just keep the boxes open more and more until I’m just leaving them open nearly all day. By that point, there’s ample new growth and those plants are ready to move into other places in the house.😁 Thanks for covering the pros and cons of cabinets! I’m always telling people that cabinets aren’t the end all/be all of growing plants indoors.
You make some really good points. I’ve been considering buying one… food for thought. Also, I love On the Ledge!!! She’s amazing. I haven’t listened in a while- thanks for reminding me 😊 🤗
I was against cabinets for the exact reason on the disconnect with your plants. I have actually got a old 50’s drinks cabinet I converted into a plant cabinet and I mainly use it as a nursery for baby plants then worry when they come out 🤣🤣 I have been pretty lucky so far. I also have a few begonias in it which just won’t survive otherwise! I personally like it as it’s also a beautiful piece of furniture but I do still prefer my plants out in my room for me to enjoy
I love that you took up this topic ❤ Personally I don't like the look of most glass cabinets, because it often becomes a space where a lot of people shove in too many plants and it becomes really cluttered with plants. And then there are really rare and wonderful plants, but you cannot even fully appreciate them, because they are shoved in there with ten other plants But I would really like to set up a terrarium, form a nice landscape, have a moss grown background and some vining plants... A little mini jungle, also with plants that grow slowly or stay small. Not a closed terrarium, because I want to mess around with the plants, plant new ones, get others out. I wouldn't even put in any animals, just the nice landscape (and if I ever have the children of my friends around, I tell them there is a frog in there and have them occupied for hours looking for it 😂).
@@Houseplantygoodness unfortunately not, as I don't have the space yet. We are looking for a house, so as soon as I have one, I'll get a terrarium (which, to be honest, probably takes a few years 🥲)
I have 3 Ikea cabinets--2 tall, 1 long. They are the best ever for me. I use mini desk fans, reptile foggers, and full spectrum LED aquarium lights (with magnets). I specifically keep the expensive, dark, velvet Anthuriums and Philos, Episcia and orchids. I find it much easier to control the environment. I open them daily. No problems. Much easier to control insects & disease in my opinion. I've had greenhouses in the past and cabinets are far easier re: pests. I do have to chop and extend or remove larger stuff eventually. My Anthuriums are happiest in the cabinets--although I put some outside in summer. I'm 100% sold on the Milsbos. They're just modern Wardian cases. But you do need to understand the idea of terrariums.
@@Houseplantygoodness yes! An Anthurium doryaki cross, P. melanochrysum, P. gigas, P. verrucosum. luxurians x radicans, and a few other dark, rich bois. I love the Goth plants, but they're a bit 'precious', as you know!
I grow about 30-40 different plants in a 4x4 grow tent, I grow them off of a single overhead led grow light. The light I use has a maximum power of 400 watts. I typically keep this light at about 50% power. I keep the conditions in my garage at about 60-70°F, and Wisconsin humidity is usually around 50-60%. I run my grow light 14 hours, and time it to be on from 6 pm to 8 am in order to save a little on my electric bill, and have lights on time still work with my schedule. This has the added benefit of using the extra heat during the colder hours. Most tents have outlets for exhaust ducting, so I also use a programmable fan that can be set to exhaust at different temps/humidity. Airflow is very important, they make perfect tent fans that will clip to the pole, and even oscillate. I use 3, one blowing directly on my light, one at floor level, and one in the middle. Using this setup my humidity averages 70-80% humidity, and about 80-82°F with lights on. And around whatever temp the garage is with them off. In my conditions, the least important part is the exhaust fan. I only find it necessary on especially hot days (Wisconsin can hit 100°F in summer) I have a 4 way hygrometer that monitors my house temp, outside temp, tent temp, and garage temp from my kitchen. I have had wonderful results, and with the proper setup it will more or less manage climate control itself. Just pop in once a day to water and check on things! The single overhead light creates different light levels, ranging from 500 ppfd relatively close, down to about 60 ppfd at floor level. Great video as usual, I recently found your channel and quite enjoy it! 😊 Hopefully this info is helpful to somebody!
I started my collection BC (before cats 😼). I had no idea if the cats would go after my plants or not, so I gifted as many as I could part with to be safe. But there were a lot left that I wanted to keep. I wasn’t too excited about cabinets because of the disconnect, limited space, and required investment (of time and money). Fast forward two years, I have 3 Rudsta wides with no shelves, housing most of my mature plants that fit, and I use the top for plants too so there’s a nice inside out balance. I have anither room with 9 cabinets that look built-in that are also from IKEA, but aren’t typically used as greenhouses. My hubby finished out the insides so there are no holes for shelves and there are no shelves. There are fans and lights everywhere with cords managed to a point that you’d have to look hard to find them. It took almost a year to take them from functional to nice looking and there was a fair bit of plant rotating. The pest bits happen, but once I stopped having to move plants around a lot while we were working on the cabinets, the pests have become more or less contained. Meaning I can treat just a cabinet instead of everything. Keeping cabinets clean is easy because I’m a careful waterer. I pull out plants when I treat, and that’s when I do a deep clean when I treat for pests but the effort isn’t too taxing. The barrier bit is not the problem I expected. I love how my plants look like snapshots of botanical art. Large plants go in the back, and I fill in everywhere else. Lights mounted around the door, on the inside, light up all the areas and all the plants towards the glass front doors. I also love the way the grow lights brighten up my spaces. I don’t seal my cabinets, so fungal issues are not a problem. But I do provide 10% humidity in my cabinets on average and my plants love it. I’m so glad I created designated areas for displays and that I have some rehab areas too but I intentionally keep out-of-sight areas to smaller spaces because I love seeing my plants. What doesn’t fit, is gifted. What stays, is well looked after. And they add to the overall look of my home. I rarely buy plants anymore because everything grows so well and I am set on setups too so now it’s all about enjoying and taking care of what I have. If I have these setups for the next 4 years (the minimum length of time I plan to be in this house), the average amount of plant investment stuff doesn’t hurt too much. I tell myself it was less expensive than spending time and money on the things I would have instead and it was/is so much more rewarding. Cabinets were a way to keep my large collection safe, but they ended up being so much more than that.
Are your 9 cabinets Milsbo? I have the Milsbo and love it. Did the foam background with driftwood, lights on timers and it looks like a jungle. I also purchased an electric sprayer to make watering easier. Any chance that you posted a picture of your wall of cabinets on social media? I would love to see something amazing like that!😊
@@surgeinc1 - the non-Rudsta cabinets are BESTÅ cabinets. I would love to create a cabinet where plants could grow in what looks like a more natural setting like what you described but I’m sadly out of space. I mean… maybe there’s space in my bedroom? But my hubby puts in the hard work of cable management and wiring everything up and that poor man’s list is long with more projects so I’m holding back (or considering becoming more handy myself 😳).
The typos on my original comment 🫣 I can’t make edits but I think it’s worth clarifying one point. My cabinets stay at a humidity level that’s about 10% higher than the humidity levels in my house. We can go as low as 35% in my house 🫠 so that 10% boost makes a big difference. I’m in SoCal but I’m an hour from the coast. When my cabinets aren’t up to providing the necessary higher levels of humidity for my pickier plants, I put those plants in enclosures (usually glass vases with the top covered).
I never got anything extra for my plants except a humidifier, that I threw out after a few wks as I couldn’t keep it clean & it causes mold. My plants & I live within the same environment. Thanks for sharing Memo!
Thank you for this segment. In the Gulf Coast region of Texas, I grow houseplants outside on the balcony so there is no problem with high humidity (example, late July outside this morning was 85% humidity & a reasonable 27.7C (80F). It’s during the months of Aug - Sept where it’s still humid but temperatures are 32-37.8C (90-100F). However, to get around the hot temperatures in the summer, I’ve been pondering whether I want to get an Ikea cabinet.
@@Houseplantygoodness no, I haven’t given lots of thought to what to do with the balcony plants in the hotter months. What helps is that the balcony is covered and faces to the north. I will say that I had the passing thought of trying one of those misting fans, but since the idea is that these misting fans lower temperatures by the water mist evaporating and thus lowering temperature, I mixed that since I am guessing the high humidity in Gulf Coat of Texas might keep the misting fan from being effective. I suppose the misting fan might work in a desert climate.
I bought an Ikea cabinet (milsbo) as a prop box. Now it is in the living room functioning as a plant display (for smaller plants). It has fans and growlights, no humidifier no weatherstripping. I dont air it out, it gets opened about once a week to water the plants (all plants are taken out, put on the table, watered and put back in). The humidity in there is about 10% higher than out in the room (between 60% and 80%). So moving things out into the living room is not a big shock for plants. After years of using it, no mold/fungal ickyness on plants. The cabinet doesn’t overheat for me, it gets an hour or two of afternoon sun in the summer (most of it through a macrame curtain) and it doesn’t get much warmer than the living room gets (the barrinas that I imported emit some warmth but not heat) Every now and then I put in some beneficial bugs as a pest prevention and their remnants and fallen flowers/leaves are about the only thing that really need regular cleaning. We clean the glass and the shelves about every 2 months, that takes like 10 minutes, maybe 15? So not a lot of work. Theres a Hoya tent upstairs to provide light and protect against cold airflow in the colder months. I prefer a cabinet over the tent, but the tent keeps temperature and humidity more consistent and is a lot cheaper than a cabinet (well unless you want a duct system 😂) Tent humidity gets massively high, the arial roots on some Hoya get long (so those don’t need as much humidity as the tent provides, while some others do) The tent gets opened every day or every other day or sometimes several times a day. I open it and sit in front of it, just spending time with the plants. No issues in there so far either Beneficial bugs thrive in the tent, they last much longer than in the cabinet I think that the ones that arrive are reproducing and then die out due to lack of food (as they are used preventative) When I bought the cabinet I could not oversee what it would cost. Theres the cabinet, the lights, the fans, the fan holders, the drill bit for cable management, I wanted triangular half shelves, the smartplug, a powerconverter since I imported my lights and fan. The total was more than twice the price of just buying the cabinet, it is absurd. Would I have done it if I knew? No. Do I regret it? Absolutely not, I love the thing
Re your question on ventilation - I have 2 small PC fans in there and haven't had any issues with mold, fungal issues, etc. I do occasionally open the cabinet to let in 'fresh' air and how much the humidity drops very much depends on the humidity in my home at the time. But once I close it up again it's back to being in the 90's within an hour. Temperature on the other hand isn't as controlled and consistent. I'd say the cabinet is maybe 2-3 degrees warmer than my home so I use a heat mat in winter (which heats up the metal on the bottom of the cabinet quite nicely tbh). It does get waaaaay too hot in peak summer though and since summers in South Africa are quite dry, opening the cabinet to let it cool down also releases a lot of the humidity. The only workaround for this is to put a small humidifier inside the cabinet during this time, which defeats the purpose of the cabinet haha. But it's usually only a week or 2 that the heat is really THAT bad.
I've also had thrips in my cabinet and honestly it was much easier to get rid of them in there vs the plants outside my cabinet that I had to quarantine separately😬 (they were too big to shove in the cabinet and treat in there with the other victims). I managed to get rid of the thrips in the cabinet after a few weeks vs the ones I had to quarantine separately took months (and I'm still finding the occasional thrips here and there in my ambient collection)
I currently have a 20 gallon fish tank with a custom made acrylic lid (courtesy of my husband), a large Akerbar ikea greenhouse, and a plant display cabinet from Amazon. I liked the ikea glass display cabinets, but I couldn’t spend that much on one so I looked through Amazon and found a metal cabinet with glass doors for about half the price. It holds a lot of weight per shelf and it’s bigger so it holds more plants. I have a few reasons for all these displays, but mostly it was because we got 2 kittens last year and they keep chewing on my plants. I have plenty of plants that aren’t pet safe, but besides that they are destroying my plants! I had to find a way to put a barrier around ALL of my plants! 🤦🏻♀️ In addition to that, we keep our house pretty chilly all year round. In the southeastern US, that means there are a lot of cold drafts to blow on my plants from the AC right now and some of them won’t even grow in the summer months. I had to put heat mats in or under all my plant displays just to keep them warm. I also closed my master bathroom off from the rest of the house and closed the AC vent in it. It has a large window that gets full morning sun. My plants in there are extremely happy right now. Especially all the Hoyas. 😊
Ooh good topic! I'm in Vegas and have been debating getting one for anthuriums. A humidifier is pointless I think, I had one and I don't think it did enough, was just annoying to me and the plants were crispy still. 🍿
I’ve been successful growing anthuriums (and other plants. Hoya, e.g.) in cabinet and then transitioning them out to RT (in high plains, 35 - 60% RH over the year). Cabinet is really great at getting plants going after prop box and then can move out. I use a lot of PON in my cabinets as well as soil blends. Cabinet nice addition to LR.
With my son and grandson moving in with me, I have lost my plant room. This fall will have to probably set up some kind of tent room. Will definitely be a DIY. 🤞🏻🤞🏻
Sadly my crested gecko died a few weeks ago. I do plan to plant up his old viv when I'm ready. Not any time soon as as much as he hayed me I miss they grumpy shite. I have the plants in my head. Apart from where it will be. I want a small planted jungle in my house. And some fancy over the top orchids. I can see why people don't like and love them. Until I set it up I don't feel I can voice my opinions. I don't love the look of the the plants on shelves but i see the point. Great video Have fun
I can definitely see the benefit of the higher humidity making small plants need less watering and babying. I do have a small grow tent that I bought used with pink lights so it’s super ugly. But I use it for propagations, to organize plants I have for sale, or for imports. Most of the time I don’t even close it up so it’s basically just shelves with lights. I also have a small bio-active terrarium made from an aquarium that I love but it’s permanently planted (with mostly common things) and it’s just to enjoy next to my bed. Terrariums are the real winner here in my opinion, but it’s a totally different vibe from collecting plants in pots.
Honestly if I had the space and the money, I’d like to set up an ikea cabinet at some point. It would just be nice to stick the small baby plants in there (especially Hoyas) and still look nice.
These have never appealed to me for: price, and size. As you said, those plants growing so beautifully are going to have to be transitioned out, which means something else is going to be purchased to fill its place ... and so on and so forth. But, to each their own, of course. Cheers from Iowa City.
@@Houseplantygoodness I do over-winter the finicky Hoya (heat lovers), and everything I'm growing for Spring sales, in a tent. Believe me, with as much work as it is, I see *plenty* of those plants 🤣😅🤣
I have a ikea cabinet, i use it like an intensive care unit for slightly fussy stuff, looks pretty too. Also the cheap led strips are great because they dont give off much heat... And theyre cheap. Also i watched fb marketplace and bought mine second hand and cheap.
hi friend! I have to agree that there are a lot of issues with cabinets, but with children, it has saved me a lot of headache. and I agree that grow tents look very bad, and carry a bit of a stigma, but I think that contributes a lot to the used price of such items. I have one in my basement to get things like tomatoes started for the very short norwegian summer, and I got it for very cheap!
I love my ikea cabinets! I live in the high desert where humidity is ~15% on average. I found two cabinets on marketplace for pretty cheap and spray painted them a color I liked. The plants will likely eventually outgrow them, but I feel like that’s a plant problem in general, as in they can outgrow the space you have for them outside of a cabinet as well. Also, I’ve really struggled to find (non cabinet) shelves that have enough height between shelves to even put most of my plants, in the cabinet I can put shelves on only one side or take them out completely and actually have much more vertical space than I do on other shelving units. They don’t make me feel disconnected from my plants at all. I would personally never get a grow tent for houseplants because it’s ugly and what’s the point if you can’t see the plants?
High humidity plants, I prefer to purchase as young plants if I can, so I can acclimate them to my climate. I live in a very dry climate (Co, USA) and use humidifiers in the winter, but leave them off generally in the spring and summer. Mostly, I really do not want to deal with the maintenance of cabinets on top of regular plant chores. I’ve also found browning etc of leaves is usually a watering issue, and not humidity.
Great video! But Memo, I was entirely distracted by your hotness. No, I'm not coming onto you 😂 just paying a compliment where it's due! As for the cabinets & enclosures - I want to feel like I can touch my plants anytime I like. I use humidifiers to create microclimates and they benefit the rest of my family too! I've seen some amazing cabinet terrariums - it's just not for me. I'm a very live and let live kind of person so I won't be debating the topic 💚
I live in a house with 4 windows and all are North Facing. Also one of those windows is in my bedroom and I dont want plants in my room. Glass Cabinets have helped me display plants in a controlled env. I own my home and would never run a humidifier and run risk of mold and weird shit like that. Plus they get gross lol
I think you got lighting effect on heat mixed up -- we use LED now mostly due to it's lower energy requirements/lower amount of heat produced, vs older styles of lightning heat things up more as they're less effiencent. I could be wrong. I find ikea cabinets a bit ugly to me for my potted plants, but I love vivariums/terrariums -- I like building lil worlds for my plants. Springtails are delightful. My lack of heat becomes an advantage, tho I do lower the lights on the rare days above 80F for the terrariums with frogs that want to be below 85. For vivariums with UVB, the UVB may help with pests and getting indoor sun stressing :) To each their own tho.
@@Houseplantygoodness I like to experiment but my main gotos - Fluval planted 3 lights due to the bluetooth light controls (tho looking for alternatives that are perhaps less expensive and work for taller vivariums -- too low light at the bottom). it's much calmer for both occupants and me to have sunset/sunrise functionality that slowly changes changes the light intensity, and bluetooth is easier. There's some cheaper version that have remote like controls, but they tend to not be as smooth. - I seem to be into vivs around 36 inch tall, 17inch+ wide, it allows a nice amount of space for variety of plants and other items, tho has the issue with bottom not getting enough light. - I paint the metal on vivariums to match the plants better, like my red themed vivariums are painted red - substrate is close to an aroid mix, but with some organic matter/leaves for the cleanup crew. Varies based on what I have stocked - I typically use sprayfoam for backgrounds, but trying to switch more to used but clean Styrofoam so I can reuse it existing foam instead of creating. There's a brick themed vivarium with this Styrofoam usage on my insta (same username iirc) - gorilla glue sometimes to stick substrate to background - Drylok + non-toxic acrylic for painting foam - I clean nursery pots to use in backgrounds to reuse those to plant in backgrounds (+ then expanding foam or gorilla glue)
I like that you're tackling this subject with the understanding....to each his own. I'm not a fan of the Ikea Cabinets. 1. Plants will outgrow the shelves. 2. It is expensive to properly set up. 3. I don't feel that it's practical or sustainable long-term (Can a finicky plant be able to acclimate to one's living environment?). 4. I'm not trying to sell plants. I do wonder what the next trend will be after the "draw" of them have worn off.
I ordered two Dischidia Ruscifolia | Million Hearts Plants by mistake. So now one is in a cloche, the other out in the open. The cloched one is the healthiest. The stems are greener and thicker, growth is plentiful and the aerial roots are wild. Live and learn. Would I buy a cabinet no but cloches yes.
So far I’m completely happy with my cloches. They fit my small apartment. And I’ve been able to have persnickety plants happy and thriving. End of this
My plants outgrow cabinets too fast. So I basically use it as a giant prop box. After the new plants come out of actual prop boxes. I like that I don't have to worry about watering as much. I have a Rudsta. I only sealed off the side panels (with black silicone). The doors are not sealed. And I have two fans in there.
My "Benji Box" is currently collecting dust in the basement..after many hundreds of investment dollars(euro). Love Benji. No tea, no shade but the box was ill fitting for my climate(Northern Europe) and my skill level as a craftsman and plant lover. For all the aforementioned reasons, I'd definitely caution newbies against it and its ilk. Could really put you off plants. Maybe they'd think, "if not here then where??"
@@Houseplantygoodness Only once in a terrarium. Works really well. I did notice at the hydroponic supply store yesterday, that Co2 systems were available on the shelves being sold.
I´m not fan of IKEA glass cabinets. We have 60 % humidity at home without any humidifier (old house), so I don´t have the need to increase the humidity. Also it is very costly and inflexible when plants grow up. I´d very much prefer the Biorb terrarium instead :-) (if I still had space for it :-D ). Memo, you do have Biorb, don´t you? How do you find it? Perhaps a review video of the Biorb and your terrarium set up could be cool 🙂
Yes, I did have a Biorb! I loved it for its design and functionality. I think I did a review a few years back! 🌿✨ I would still have mine, but the main element failed and to replace it was the same as buying a new orb 😲😬
I do not find IKEA cabinets attractive. However, there are many other display cabinets on the market. They are offered to showcase wine, dishes, figurines, etc. I found some cabinets to match my aesthetic preferences. I have running fountains inside, it provides humidity and moving air to a certain level, and doors are not sealed. I have the lights OUTSIDE of the cabinet. During past 3 years no problem occurred.
@@Houseplantygoodness I said "fountain" but actually it's more like waterfall imitation. I am an experienced aquariumist and can set up different displays using a water pump. The middle shelf was taken out to provide more height for falling water. Average humidity is 70. Up to 90 on the day when I water plants.
Yeah its a personal thing,but for me I dont do cabinets..its the disconnect from the plants..I lije them in the toom with me for that jungle vibe 😃🪴🌴🌵🌿🌾
@Houseplantygoodness for me I have a couple of trailing pothos on my unit next to my sofa with anthurium, alocasias and hoyas, next to my tv I have 2 x 6'6" moss poles for my Monstera deliciosa and deliciosa albo variegated, also a large Jacklyn, cuprea, micholitziana and hanging from a rail in front of my patio doors a 4' long linearis together with hoyas, wishbone cactus, aporocactus Melanie cuttings I've just potted up and cactus on my windowsill ..there are more dotted around..yucca, siltepecana, adansonii...I love it 😃🌾🌿🌵🌴🪴
@@Houseplantygoodness I am no expert, I look to you for advice 😊 My home, because of the woodwork in our home, is at about 50% humidity, I have nice large windows and I pay close attention to my plants. Now I’m sure there are many plants that I don’t have that would require more humidity. I have about 120 plants, about 30 are orchids, Hoyas, monsteras, philodendrons, alocascias, palms, banana, ficus, begonias, some cactus, and some I’ve probably forgotten. They are very healthy. I do have some vandas and a couple dendrobiums that probably wont flower until I get my conservatory built. Which construction should begin soon. Then I can offer more humidity. And I have learned through my orchid collection to research which plants to bring in, but I’ve just seen people putting many of the plants I do have in cabinets, like Hoyas, just one example I don’t get.
Grow Tent has been superb for me - humidity and temp sits at around 70-90% and 25ish deg respectively. Need to crack a vent throughout the day and run a fan every so often to keep everything from going stale. Philodendron Atabapoense for example shooting out one leaf per week, bigger than the last each time. If ya don’t stay on the airflow, it can be very easy for fungus growth though.
No, not a fan. My plants will have to survive in the environment that I live in and if that's not werking out, they' have to go. Survival of the fittest!
I use supplemental light and humidifiers in the winter. It's a survival of the fittest scenario in my home. Lol. I have over 200 plants that seem to do very well in my ambient conditions.
Love you and your videos! The "disconnected" aspect is what resonated with me. It makes it seem precious and hands off. I'm always fiddling with and pawing my plants! Thanks for what you do!❤
I have an ikea cabinet because I live in the Sonoran Desert in the Southwest US. Surprise: tropical plants do not do well in a desert environment. (FYI, we are having a cool day today, the high is *only* 104°F/40°C .) We have very little humidity most of the year. I tried humidifiers, I was always buying distilled water, and the moisture just disappeared. I just couldn’t get the right conditions for tropical plants! I wanted an aesthetically pleasing way to see my plants and give some of them the conditions they want. Ideally, I’d love a room like yours for my plants. Or at the very least, a more amenable environment for plants. But I don’t. Is it the best? No. So I do what I must to have pretty plants.🙂
Desert conditions can be tough for tropicals! How are your plants adapting in the cabinet? 🌵
@@Houseplantygoodness They love it! I moved my Alocasia Micholitziana out last week, it’s not happy. But it takes up so much space in the cabinet! I want more but they are expensive to buy and set up!
I may have jumped the shark, but I cut holes for stainless mesh grommets in the bottom and AC infinity fans in the top to help mitigate the ventilation and heat issues. I’ve got them on a smart timer which I’ve tweaked to keep humidity in the sweet spot without getting moldy.
I also have USB C Amazon fans blowing on low constantly for circulation.
I got into the cabinets as a way to grow heliamphora which are SUPER finicky and my solutions have made them happy.
That sounds like a brilliant solution! How are your heliamphora doing with the setup? 🌿
I’m 100% “do what works for you and your collection/home.”
I personally haven’t jumped into ikea cabinets because cleaning it properly seems significantly more taxing than wiping a shelf or washing an acrylic prop box in the sink and letting it dry. That, and I live in Florida.😂 So I currently don’t have a need, but if I move somewhere unfavorable, I’d absolutely consider it if I need to.
That said-for propping indoor plants, I use
acrylic display boxes for special plants (I say this becaause I have various syngonium and philos propping window sills) and I vent them while I sleep. The humidity returns to 75+ within an hour or so after reclosing the boxes. Once everything has roots, I just keep the boxes open more and more until I’m just leaving them open nearly all day. By that point, there’s ample new growth and those plants are ready to move into other places in the house.😁
Thanks for covering the pros and cons of cabinets! I’m always telling people that cabinets aren’t the end all/be all of growing plants indoors.
Absolutely, it's all about finding what works best for you! Your method sounds very effective. 🌱
You make some really good points. I’ve been considering buying one… food for thought. Also, I love On the Ledge!!! She’s amazing. I haven’t listened in a while- thanks for reminding me 😊 🤗
Glad you found it helpful! Let me know if you decide to get one. 😊
I was against cabinets for the exact reason on the disconnect with your plants. I have actually got a old 50’s drinks cabinet I converted into a plant cabinet and I mainly use it as a nursery for baby plants then worry when they come out 🤣🤣 I have been pretty lucky so far. I also have a few begonias in it which just won’t survive otherwise! I personally like it as it’s also a beautiful piece of furniture but I do still prefer my plants out in my room for me to enjoy
Your converted drinks cabinet sounds lovely! Do you have a favorite plant that thrives in there? 🌿
@@Houseplantygoodness my two begonia Rex are thriving in it and I have a very young melocrysum that’s loving live in there
I love that you took up this topic ❤
Personally I don't like the look of most glass cabinets, because it often becomes a space where a lot of people shove in too many plants and it becomes really cluttered with plants. And then there are really rare and wonderful plants, but you cannot even fully appreciate them, because they are shoved in there with ten other plants
But I would really like to set up a terrarium, form a nice landscape, have a moss grown background and some vining plants... A little mini jungle, also with plants that grow slowly or stay small. Not a closed terrarium, because I want to mess around with the plants, plant new ones, get others out.
I wouldn't even put in any animals, just the nice landscape (and if I ever have the children of my friends around, I tell them there is a frog in there and have them occupied for hours looking for it 😂).
Your mini jungle idea sounds amazing! Have you started setting it up yet? 🌿🦋
@@Houseplantygoodness unfortunately not, as I don't have the space yet. We are looking for a house, so as soon as I have one, I'll get a terrarium (which, to be honest, probably takes a few years 🥲)
I have 3 Ikea cabinets--2 tall, 1 long. They are the best ever for me. I use mini desk fans, reptile foggers, and full spectrum LED aquarium lights (with magnets). I specifically keep the expensive, dark, velvet Anthuriums and Philos, Episcia and orchids. I find it much easier to control the environment. I open them daily. No problems. Much easier to control insects & disease in my opinion. I've had greenhouses in the past and cabinets are far easier re: pests. I do have to chop and extend or remove larger stuff eventually. My Anthuriums are happiest in the cabinets--although I put some outside in summer. I'm 100% sold on the Milsbos. They're just modern Wardian cases. But you do need to understand the idea of terrariums.
Totally agree!🌿
Sounds like you've got a fantastic system in place! Do you have any favorite plants in your cabinets? 🌿
@@Houseplantygoodness yes! An Anthurium doryaki cross, P. melanochrysum, P. gigas, P. verrucosum. luxurians x radicans, and a few other dark, rich bois. I love the Goth plants, but they're a bit 'precious', as you know!
Gosh you’re great. Thanks again for another thoughtful video!
Thank you so much for the kind words! I really appreciate it. 🌿😊
I grow about 30-40 different plants in a 4x4 grow tent, I grow them off of a single overhead led grow light. The light I use has a maximum power of 400 watts. I typically keep this light at about 50% power. I keep the conditions in my garage at about 60-70°F, and Wisconsin humidity is usually around 50-60%. I run my grow light 14 hours, and time it to be on from 6 pm to 8 am in order to save a little on my electric bill, and have lights on time still work with my schedule. This has the added benefit of using the extra heat during the colder hours. Most tents have outlets for exhaust ducting, so I also use a programmable fan that can be set to exhaust at different temps/humidity. Airflow is very important, they make perfect tent fans that will clip to the pole, and even oscillate. I use 3, one blowing directly on my light, one at floor level, and one in the middle. Using this setup my humidity averages 70-80% humidity, and about 80-82°F with lights on. And around whatever temp the garage is with them off. In my conditions, the least important part is the exhaust fan. I only find it necessary on especially hot days (Wisconsin can hit 100°F in summer) I have a 4 way hygrometer that monitors my house temp, outside temp, tent temp, and garage temp from my kitchen. I have had wonderful results, and with the proper setup it will more or less manage climate control itself. Just pop in once a day to water and check on things! The single overhead light creates different light levels, ranging from 500 ppfd relatively close, down to about 60 ppfd at floor level. Great video as usual, I recently found your channel and quite enjoy it! 😊 Hopefully this info is helpful to somebody!
Love terrariums, but cannot do the glass cabinets at all. Like the +/- vids!❤
Thanks for the love! Terrariums are awesome too. What do you find most challenging about glass cabinets? 🌿
I started my collection BC (before cats 😼). I had no idea if the cats would go after my plants or not, so I gifted as many as I could part with to be safe. But there were a lot left that I wanted to keep.
I wasn’t too excited about cabinets because of the disconnect, limited space, and required investment (of time and money).
Fast forward two years, I have 3 Rudsta wides with no shelves, housing most of my mature plants that fit, and I use the top for plants too so there’s a nice inside out balance.
I have anither room with 9 cabinets that look built-in that are also from IKEA, but aren’t typically used as greenhouses.
My hubby finished out the insides so there are no holes for shelves and there are no shelves.
There are fans and lights everywhere with cords managed to a point that you’d have to look hard to find them. It took almost a year to take them from functional to nice looking and there was a fair bit of plant rotating.
The pest bits happen, but once I stopped having to move plants around a lot while we were working on the cabinets, the pests have become more or less contained. Meaning I can treat just a cabinet instead of everything.
Keeping cabinets clean is easy because I’m a careful waterer. I pull out plants when I treat, and that’s when I do a deep clean when I treat for pests but the effort isn’t too taxing.
The barrier bit is not the problem I expected. I love how my plants look like snapshots of botanical art. Large plants go in the back, and I fill in everywhere else. Lights mounted around the door, on the inside, light up all the areas and all the plants towards the glass front doors.
I also love the way the grow lights brighten up my spaces.
I don’t seal my cabinets, so fungal issues are not a problem. But I do provide 10% humidity in my cabinets on average and my plants love it.
I’m so glad I created designated areas for displays and that I have some rehab areas too but I intentionally keep out-of-sight areas to smaller spaces because I love seeing my plants. What doesn’t fit, is gifted. What stays, is well looked after. And they add to the overall look of my home.
I rarely buy plants anymore because everything grows so well and I am set on setups too so now it’s all about enjoying and taking care of what I have.
If I have these setups for the next 4 years (the minimum length of time I plan to be in this house), the average amount of plant investment stuff doesn’t hurt too much. I tell myself it was less expensive than spending time and money on the things I would have instead and it was/is so much more rewarding.
Cabinets were a way to keep my large collection safe, but they ended up being so much more than that.
Are your 9 cabinets Milsbo?
I have the Milsbo and love it. Did the foam background with driftwood, lights on timers and it looks like a jungle.
I also purchased an electric sprayer to make watering easier.
Any chance that you posted a picture of your wall of cabinets on social media? I would love to see something amazing like that!😊
@@surgeinc1 - the non-Rudsta cabinets are BESTÅ cabinets. I would love to create a cabinet where plants could grow in what looks like a more natural setting like what you described but I’m sadly out of space. I mean… maybe there’s space in my bedroom? But my hubby puts in the hard work of cable management and wiring everything up and that poor man’s list is long with more projects so I’m holding back (or considering becoming more handy myself 😳).
I’m not super active on Instagram but I post as aplantprocess. I hope it’s okay to share these details. If so, I’d love to see your pics too.
The typos on my original comment 🫣
I can’t make edits but I think it’s worth clarifying one point.
My cabinets stay at a humidity level that’s about 10% higher than the humidity levels in my house. We can go as low as 35% in my house 🫠 so that 10% boost makes a big difference. I’m in SoCal but I’m an hour from the coast.
When my cabinets aren’t up to providing the necessary higher levels of humidity for my pickier plants, I put those plants in enclosures (usually glass vases with the top covered).
Your setup sounds amazing and well thought out! Cabinets can really enhance the aesthetic. 🌱✨
I never got anything extra for my plants except a humidifier, that I threw out after a few wks as I couldn’t keep it clean & it causes mold. My plants & I live within the same environment. Thanks for sharing Memo!
Thank you for this segment.
In the Gulf Coast region of Texas, I grow houseplants outside on the balcony so there is no problem with high humidity (example, late July outside this morning was 85% humidity & a reasonable 27.7C (80F). It’s during the months of Aug - Sept where it’s still humid but temperatures are 32-37.8C (90-100F). However, to get around the hot temperatures in the summer, I’ve been pondering whether I want to get an Ikea cabinet.
Balcony growing sounds wonderful! Have you considered any other methods for the hotter months? 🌿
@@Houseplantygoodness no, I haven’t given lots of thought to what to do with the balcony plants in the hotter months. What helps is that the balcony is covered and faces to the north.
I will say that I had the passing thought of trying one of those misting fans, but since the idea is that these misting fans lower temperatures by the water mist evaporating and thus lowering temperature, I mixed that since I am guessing the high humidity in Gulf Coat of Texas might keep the misting fan from being effective.
I suppose the misting fan might work in a desert climate.
Great video. Very informative 😊
Thank you so much! Glad you found it helpful. 🌿😊
I bought an Ikea cabinet (milsbo) as a prop box. Now it is in the living room functioning as a plant display (for smaller plants).
It has fans and growlights, no humidifier no weatherstripping. I dont air it out, it gets opened about once a week to water the plants (all plants are taken out, put on the table, watered and put back in). The humidity in there is about 10% higher than out in the room (between 60% and 80%). So moving things out into the living room is not a big shock for plants. After years of using it, no mold/fungal ickyness on plants.
The cabinet doesn’t overheat for me, it gets an hour or two of afternoon sun in the summer (most of it through a macrame curtain) and it doesn’t get much warmer than the living room gets (the barrinas that I imported emit some warmth but not heat)
Every now and then I put in some beneficial bugs as a pest prevention and their remnants and fallen flowers/leaves are about the only thing that really need regular cleaning.
We clean the glass and the shelves about every 2 months, that takes like 10 minutes, maybe 15? So not a lot of work.
Theres a Hoya tent upstairs to provide light and protect against cold airflow in the colder months.
I prefer a cabinet over the tent, but the tent keeps temperature and humidity more consistent and is a lot cheaper than a cabinet (well unless you want a duct system 😂)
Tent humidity gets massively high, the arial roots on some Hoya get long (so those don’t need as much humidity as the tent provides, while some others do)
The tent gets opened every day or every other day or sometimes several times a day. I open it and sit in front of it, just spending time with the plants.
No issues in there so far either
Beneficial bugs thrive in the tent, they last much longer than in the cabinet I think that the ones that arrive are reproducing and then die out due to lack of food (as they are used preventative)
When I bought the cabinet I could not oversee what it would cost.
Theres the cabinet, the lights, the fans, the fan holders, the drill bit for cable management, I wanted triangular half shelves, the smartplug, a powerconverter since I imported my lights and fan. The total was more than twice the price of just buying the cabinet, it is absurd. Would I have done it if I knew? No. Do I regret it? Absolutely not, I love the thing
That sounds like a perfect setup! It's great to hear how well it's working for you. 🪴
Re your question on ventilation - I have 2 small PC fans in there and haven't had any issues with mold, fungal issues, etc. I do occasionally open the cabinet to let in 'fresh' air and how much the humidity drops very much depends on the humidity in my home at the time. But once I close it up again it's back to being in the 90's within an hour.
Temperature on the other hand isn't as controlled and consistent. I'd say the cabinet is maybe 2-3 degrees warmer than my home so I use a heat mat in winter (which heats up the metal on the bottom of the cabinet quite nicely tbh). It does get waaaaay too hot in peak summer though and since summers in South Africa are quite dry, opening the cabinet to let it cool down also releases a lot of the humidity. The only workaround for this is to put a small humidifier inside the cabinet during this time, which defeats the purpose of the cabinet haha. But it's usually only a week or 2 that the heat is really THAT bad.
I've also had thrips in my cabinet and honestly it was much easier to get rid of them in there vs the plants outside my cabinet that I had to quarantine separately😬 (they were too big to shove in the cabinet and treat in there with the other victims). I managed to get rid of the thrips in the cabinet after a few weeks vs the ones I had to quarantine separately took months (and I'm still finding the occasional thrips here and there in my ambient collection)
Your setup sounds efficient! How often do you open the cabinet for fresh air? 🌱
@@Houseplantygoodness around once a week when I water ☺️
I would love to have a greenhouse or conservatory but alas I don’t think anything other than household conditions 😀🇨🇦
Household conditions can work wonders too! What's your favorite plant to grow indoors? 🌿
I currently have a 20 gallon fish tank with a custom made acrylic lid (courtesy of my husband), a large Akerbar ikea greenhouse, and a plant display cabinet from Amazon. I liked the ikea glass display cabinets, but I couldn’t spend that much on one so I looked through Amazon and found a metal cabinet with glass doors for about half the price. It holds a lot of weight per shelf and it’s bigger so it holds more plants. I have a few reasons for all these displays, but mostly it was because we got 2 kittens last year and they keep chewing on my plants. I have plenty of plants that aren’t pet safe, but besides that they are destroying my plants! I had to find a way to put a barrier around ALL of my plants! 🤦🏻♀️ In addition to that, we keep our house pretty chilly all year round. In the southeastern US, that means there are a lot of cold drafts to blow on my plants from the AC right now and some of them won’t even grow in the summer months. I had to put heat mats in or under all my plant displays just to keep them warm. I also closed my master bathroom off from the rest of the house and closed the AC vent in it. It has a large window that gets full morning sun. My plants in there are extremely happy right now. Especially all the Hoyas. 😊
Ooh good topic! I'm in Vegas and have been debating getting one for anthuriums. A humidifier is pointless I think, I had one and I don't think it did enough, was just annoying to me and the plants were crispy still. 🍿
They're fantastic for Anthuriums!
@@deaschofield9394 thanks!
I’ve been successful growing anthuriums (and other plants. Hoya, e.g.) in cabinet and then transitioning them out to RT (in high plains, 35 - 60% RH over the year). Cabinet is really great at getting plants going after prop box and then can move out. I use a lot of PON in my cabinets as well as soil blends. Cabinet nice addition to LR.
Anthuriums would love the controlled environment! Have you tried other methods for humidity? 🌿
With my son and grandson moving in with me, I have lost my plant room. This fall will have to probably set up some kind of tent room. Will definitely be a DIY. 🤞🏻🤞🏻
A DIY tent room sounds like a great project! Good luck with the setup! 🌱
Sadly my crested gecko died a few weeks ago. I do plan to plant up his old viv when I'm ready. Not
any time soon as as much as he hayed me I miss they grumpy shite. I have the plants in my head. Apart from where it will be.
I want a small planted jungle in my house. And some fancy over the top orchids.
I can see why people don't like and love them.
Until I set it up I don't feel I can voice my opinions.
I don't love the look of the the plants on shelves but i see the point.
Great video
Have fun
I'm sorry to hear about your gecko. Your future jungle setup sounds exciting! 🌿🌺
I can definitely see the benefit of the higher humidity making small plants need less watering and babying. I do have a small grow tent that I bought used with pink lights so it’s super ugly. But I use it for propagations, to organize plants I have for sale, or for imports. Most of the time I don’t even close it up so it’s basically just shelves with lights. I also have a small bio-active terrarium made from an aquarium that I love but it’s permanently planted (with mostly common things) and it’s just to enjoy next to my bed. Terrariums are the real winner here in my opinion, but it’s a totally different vibe from collecting plants in pots.
Honestly if I had the space and the money, I’d like to set up an ikea cabinet at some point. It would just be nice to stick the small baby plants in there (especially Hoyas) and still look nice.
Terrariums are definitely winners for certain plants! What's your favorite plant in your terrarium? 🌿
These have never appealed to me for: price, and size. As you said, those plants growing so beautifully are going to have to be transitioned out, which means something else is going to be purchased to fill its place ... and so on and so forth. But, to each their own, of course. Cheers from Iowa City.
Hey Dave exactly everyone has their preferences! What's your favorite setup for your plants? 🌿
@@Houseplantygoodness I do over-winter the finicky Hoya (heat lovers), and everything I'm growing for Spring sales, in a tent. Believe me, with as much work as it is, I see *plenty* of those plants 🤣😅🤣
One thing that I love about mine is I’m able to keep plants that are toxic to my cats without risking them getting to them
That's a great use for cabinets! What are your favorite cat-safe plants? 🌱
I have a ikea cabinet, i use it like an intensive care unit for slightly fussy stuff, looks pretty too. Also the cheap led strips are great because they dont give off much heat... And theyre cheap. Also i watched fb marketplace and bought mine second hand and cheap.
hi friend! I have to agree that there are a lot of issues with cabinets, but with children, it has saved me a lot of headache.
and I agree that grow tents look very bad, and carry a bit of a stigma, but I think that contributes a lot to the used price of such items. I have one in my basement to get things like tomatoes started for the very short norwegian summer, and I got it for very cheap!
Children and plants can be a tricky mix! Sounds like your setup is working perfectly. 🌱
I love my ikea cabinets! I live in the high desert where humidity is ~15% on average. I found two cabinets on marketplace for pretty cheap and spray painted them a color I liked. The plants will likely eventually outgrow them, but I feel like that’s a plant problem in general, as in they can outgrow the space you have for them outside of a cabinet as well. Also, I’ve really struggled to find (non cabinet) shelves that have enough height between shelves to even put most of my plants, in the cabinet I can put shelves on only one side or take them out completely and actually have much more vertical space than I do on other shelving units. They don’t make me feel disconnected from my plants at all. I would personally never get a grow tent for houseplants because it’s ugly and what’s the point if you can’t see the plants?
AC Infinity products are the best in my cabinets!
AC Infinity makes great products! What's your favorite piece of equipment from them? 🌿
High humidity plants, I prefer to purchase as young plants if I can, so I can acclimate them to my climate. I live in a very dry climate (Co, USA) and use humidifiers in the winter, but leave them off generally in the spring and summer. Mostly, I really do not want to deal with the maintenance of cabinets on top of regular plant chores. I’ve also found browning etc of leaves is usually a watering issue, and not humidity.
And I'm so jelly of your big Phil Esmeraldense? Looks like it's putting out 2 new big leaves.
Thank you! It's been growing beautifully. Have you got one too? 🌿
@@Houseplantygoodness no but I want one, maybe if some real estate opens up lol
Great video! But Memo, I was entirely distracted by your hotness. No, I'm not coming onto you 😂 just paying a compliment where it's due!
As for the cabinets & enclosures - I want to feel like I can touch my plants anytime I like. I use humidifiers to create microclimates and they benefit the rest of my family too! I've seen some amazing cabinet terrariums - it's just not for me. I'm a very live and let live kind of person so I won't be debating the topic 💚
Haha, thanks for the compliment, Meredith! 😊 Glad you enjoyed the video. Do you use humidifiers for all your plants?
I live in a house with 4 windows and all are North Facing. Also one of those windows is in my bedroom and I dont want plants in my room. Glass Cabinets have helped me display plants in a controlled env. I own my home and would never run a humidifier and run risk of mold and weird shit like that. Plus they get gross lol
Also, my alocasia refused to groe well in my ambient 🤗
North-facing windows can be challenging! How have your plants adapted to the glass cabinets? 🌱
I think you got lighting effect on heat mixed up -- we use LED now mostly due to it's lower energy requirements/lower amount of heat produced, vs older styles of lightning heat things up more as they're less effiencent. I could be wrong.
I find ikea cabinets a bit ugly to me for my potted plants, but I love vivariums/terrariums -- I like building lil worlds for my plants. Springtails are delightful. My lack of heat becomes an advantage, tho I do lower the lights on the rare days above 80F for the terrariums with frogs that want to be below 85. For vivariums with UVB, the UVB may help with pests and getting indoor sun stressing :)
To each their own tho.
Thanks for the feedback! It's always great to hear different perspectives. Do you have a favorite setup for your vivariums? 🌿
@@Houseplantygoodness I like to experiment but my main gotos
- Fluval planted 3 lights due to the bluetooth light controls (tho looking for alternatives that are perhaps less expensive and work for taller vivariums -- too low light at the bottom). it's much calmer for both occupants and me to have sunset/sunrise functionality that slowly changes changes the light intensity, and bluetooth is easier. There's some cheaper version that have remote like controls, but they tend to not be as smooth.
- I seem to be into vivs around 36 inch tall, 17inch+ wide, it allows a nice amount of space for variety of plants and other items, tho has the issue with bottom not getting enough light.
- I paint the metal on vivariums to match the plants better, like my red themed vivariums are painted red
- substrate is close to an aroid mix, but with some organic matter/leaves for the cleanup crew. Varies based on what I have stocked
- I typically use sprayfoam for backgrounds, but trying to switch more to used but clean Styrofoam so I can reuse it existing foam instead of creating. There's a brick themed vivarium with this Styrofoam usage on my insta (same username iirc)
- gorilla glue sometimes to stick substrate to background
- Drylok + non-toxic acrylic for painting foam
- I clean nursery pots to use in backgrounds to reuse those to plant in backgrounds (+ then expanding foam or gorilla glue)
I like that you're tackling this subject with the understanding....to each his own. I'm not a fan of the Ikea Cabinets. 1. Plants will outgrow the shelves. 2. It is expensive to properly set up. 3. I don't feel that it's practical or sustainable long-term (Can a finicky plant be able to acclimate to one's living environment?). 4. I'm not trying to sell plants. I do wonder what the next trend will be after the "draw" of them have worn off.
Totally agree, everyone's setup is unique! What's your favorite way to grow plants? 🌿
I ordered two Dischidia Ruscifolia | Million Hearts Plants by mistake. So now one is in a cloche, the other out in the open. The cloched one is the healthiest. The stems are greener and thicker, growth is plentiful and the aerial roots are wild. Live and learn. Would I buy a cabinet no but cloches yes.
Interesting comparison! Which one do you think is doing better overall? 🌱
So far I’m completely happy with my cloches. They fit my small apartment. And I’ve been able to have persnickety plants happy and thriving. End of this
My plants outgrow cabinets too fast. So I basically use it as a giant prop box. After the new plants come out of actual prop boxes. I like that I don't have to worry about watering as much. I have a Rudsta. I only sealed off the side panels (with black silicone). The doors are not sealed. And I have two fans in there.
Hey Tanya, using it as a prop box sounds like a smart idea, I know a few people who do the same! So with your set up is the ventilation good??
@@Houseplantygoodnessit is. Loads of airflow. Sits at about 80%. A bit higher after watering.
So far, haven’t been a cabinet person, if a plant can’t survive in my ambient conditions, too bad, but you never know
Totally get that! Have you found a favorite plant that thrives in your home conditions? 🌿
My "Benji Box" is currently collecting dust in the basement..after many hundreds of investment dollars(euro). Love Benji. No tea, no shade but the box was ill fitting for my climate(Northern Europe) and my skill level as a craftsman and plant lover. For all the aforementioned reasons, I'd definitely caution newbies against it and its ilk. Could really put you off plants. Maybe they'd think, "if not here then where??"
Sorry to hear it didn't work out! What setup are you using now? 🌿
If a pest problem is out of control in a cabinet or tank, as a last resort, seal the tank and use Co2.
Great tip for extreme cases! Have you had to use this method often? 🪴
@@Houseplantygoodness Only once in a terrarium. Works really well.
I did notice at the hydroponic supply store yesterday, that Co2 systems were available on the shelves being sold.
I´m not fan of IKEA glass cabinets. We have 60 % humidity at home without any humidifier (old house), so I don´t have the need to increase the humidity. Also it is very costly and inflexible when plants grow up. I´d very much prefer the Biorb terrarium instead :-) (if I still had space for it :-D ). Memo, you do have Biorb, don´t you? How do you find it? Perhaps a review video of the Biorb and your terrarium set up could be cool 🙂
Yes, I did have a Biorb! I loved it for its design and functionality. I think I did a review a few years back! 🌿✨ I would still have mine, but the main element failed and to replace it was the same as buying a new orb 😲😬
@@Houseplantygoodness I understand. It sucks when the main elements costs as nearly much as the whole thing. I´ll find the review on it
Thankfully in my state (WA) what you are growing in there? Is not an issue.
That's great, Paula! 🌱 I wish that was the case in more places around the world.
I do not find IKEA cabinets attractive.
However, there are many other display cabinets on the market. They are offered to showcase wine, dishes, figurines, etc.
I found some cabinets to match my aesthetic preferences. I have running fountains inside, it provides humidity and moving air to a certain level, and doors are not sealed. I have the lights OUTSIDE of the cabinet. During past 3 years no problem occurred.
It's great that you found cabinets that match your style! How do the fountains help with humidity? 🌿
@@Houseplantygoodness I said "fountain" but actually it's more like waterfall imitation. I am an experienced aquariumist and can set up different displays using a water pump. The middle shelf was taken out to provide more height for falling water.
Average humidity is 70. Up to 90 on the day when I water plants.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌿💚
Thanks for the stars! 🌟🌿
Yeah its a personal thing,but for me I dont do cabinets..its the disconnect from the plants..I lije them in the toom with me for that jungle vibe 😃🪴🌴🌵🌿🌾
Totally understand! What plants give you that perfect jungle vibe? 🌿🪴
@Houseplantygoodness for me I have a couple of trailing pothos on my unit next to my sofa with anthurium, alocasias and hoyas, next to my tv I have 2 x 6'6" moss poles for my Monstera deliciosa and deliciosa albo variegated, also a large Jacklyn, cuprea, micholitziana and hanging from a rail in front of my patio doors a 4' long linearis together with hoyas, wishbone cactus, aporocactus Melanie cuttings I've just potted up and cactus on my windowsill ..there are more dotted around..yucca, siltepecana, adansonii...I love it 😃🌾🌿🌵🌴🪴
Hi Memo
Thanks for watching, Moira! 🌿😊
I grow most of the plants I see other people put in those cabinets in home conditions quite successfully. Seems over kill to me.
That's impressive! What's your secret to growing them successfully at home? 🌿
@@Houseplantygoodness I am no expert, I look to you for advice 😊 My home, because of the woodwork in our home, is at about 50% humidity, I have nice large windows and I pay close attention to my plants. Now I’m sure there are many plants that I don’t have that would require more humidity. I have about 120 plants, about 30 are orchids, Hoyas, monsteras, philodendrons, alocascias, palms, banana, ficus, begonias, some cactus, and some I’ve probably forgotten. They are very healthy. I do have some vandas and a couple dendrobiums that probably wont flower until I get my conservatory built. Which construction should begin soon. Then I can offer more humidity. And I have learned through my orchid collection to research which plants to bring in, but I’ve just seen people putting many of the plants I do have in cabinets, like Hoyas, just one example I don’t get.
Glass cabinets are not for me.
That's totally okay! Everyone has their own preferences.🌱
@@Houseplantygoodness I don't have the floor space or power sources, I do have two skylights and a sun room though.
Grow Tent has been superb for me - humidity and temp sits at around 70-90% and 25ish deg respectively. Need to crack a vent throughout the day and run a fan every so often to keep everything from going stale. Philodendron Atabapoense for example shooting out one leaf per week, bigger than the last each time. If ya don’t stay on the airflow, it can be very easy for fungus growth though.
Sounds like a perfect environment for your plants! How do you manage airflow? 🌿
I don't like the look of plants behind glass, even though it would be useful to keep my kitties off the plants
Keeping plants safe from pets is always a challenge! Do you have any other pet-proofing tips? 🌿
@@Houseplantygoodness no tips, sorry. I just keep the toxic ones in a room that the cats can't get into
No, not a fan. My plants will have to survive in the environment that I live in and if that's not werking out, they' have to go. Survival of the fittest!
That's a practical approach! Which plants have thrived best in your environment? 🌿
@@Houseplantygoodness epipremnums, scindapsus, alocasia, monstera, syngonium, not all of them ofcourse, but some of the species are really tough!
Plant cabinets are the new knickknack cabinet your grandmother's have. I understand why people use them but I will pass.
That's an interesting comparison, better said then the way I was trying to describe it 😅🤦♂️! What do you use instead for your plants? 🌱
I use supplemental light and humidifiers in the winter. It's a survival of the fittest scenario in my home. Lol. I have over 200 plants that seem to do very well in my ambient conditions.
Cabinets are not for me.. I like to enjoy my plants within my space.