Cool growing in house

I do! Most of my truly cold growing orchids in modified wine coolers (just temperature controlled with an InkBird, and with fans & a light inside). For terrestrials I just put them in the refrigerator. For more intermediate or IC things, I just grow them in a tent and rely on the A/C or regular temperature fluctuations in my house.

 

I grow a couple of hundred species (true cold to cool growers) in a grow tent that is connected to AC through CoolBot. CoolBot programs AC to maintain temperatures much lower than it normally would. This way I'm able to maintain 52F nights and 74F days year-round. My grow tent is in the basement so all the hot air from the AC is released into the basement as well. I was worried that it would get very hot in there but in fact, the temperature got increased by 2F only. I'm very pleased with this system.

 

Wow, coolbot is not cheap... I've been trying to think of ways to setup a cool growing setup since I want to get into Dracula's more. It's now getting 77 degrees in my tank with my D. vampira and wish I could lower it. Ice gel packs only drop it to 72/73 but only for a few 3 hours max.

 

@ryan248 If you want to go cheap, you have to get creative!

A friend of mine grew disas hydroponically by drilling a hole in the top of a dormitory refrigerator and circulating the solution through coils of tubing inside of it.

A customer of mine drilled a hole in one big enough to fit a small muffin fan, and another, small, “return” hole, then literally constructed the enclosure on top of the fridge. A thermostat turned the fan on as needed.

 

I live in south Louisiana and it is hot with a very high humidity. My house has central air/heat and I keep my house at 73 degrees all year long. I grow nothing but miltoniopsis in my house. I keep them in a spare room that gets early morning sun. The light provided by the sun is the only light that they get. I have a small oscalating fan that runs all day and night. These plants are supposed to be cool growersbut mine bloom and put out new growths all the time. I never put them outside. I haven't killed a plant yet but the so called warm growing miltonias always die under my care. I don't know why they die but my favorite kind are the miltoniopsis. When my milts. bloom, they smell like roses and you can smell them in every room. I find that miltoniopsis are easy to grow if you keep them at the temperature that you are comfortable with. Another thing that I do is never use a chemical fertilizer like Miracle Grow. These plants have thin roots that burn very easily. I only use organic fertilizer like Dr. Earth that you can get at Home Depot or WalMart. I fertilize them once every two weeks. The only thing that I'm not crazy about is the fact that you have to water them frequently. I really enjoy them and when I see the blooms, I realize that the extra care is worth it.