heating advice
 

Hi, All,

I am looking for the most suitable method to heat my new orchid growing set up, about 1m cubed in size, 6mm glass, to go in my house, in which sadly the temperature is often only about 12 degrees centigrade. I was intending to fill the base of it with hydrolica beads. I have been considering heating cables underneath this??
now im not sure if it would heat the air enough.

What do you guys use, or can you recommend some thing.. Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks folks

Such a small device should be easy to heat. People I know have used for this kind of application:
- A heating mat designed to be used under a reptile cage;
- A waterbed heater;
- Standard seedling bed heating cables.

I think the best solution is something under the terrarium rather than having another cable running into it. Heat mats under the terrarium may cause damage to surfaces underneath, so plan on preventing this.

You don't mention whether you will supply artificial light. A light fixture may produce enough heat while it is on. Sometimes they produce too much heat. Most orchids like a change in temperature from day to night and this may be all you need.

I suggest you set up your terrarium without plants, set the light fixture, if any, on a timer, and record the temperature at various times of the day. This will give you useful information.