JOIN NOW LOG IN
iVillage GardenWeb iVillage GardenWeb THE INTERNET'S GARDEN & HOME COMMUNITY ADVERTISEMENT
Blogs
Garden Voices
Forums
Garden Forums Home Forums Nature Forums
Photo Galleries
Garden Galleries Home Galleries
Ask The Experts Tools & Directories
Organization Directory Events Calendar Hortiplex Glossary Zone Finder Garden Bazaar
       
Return to the Tropical Plants Forum | Post a Follow-Up

o
Indoor Rainforest

clip this post email this post what is this?
see most clipped and recent clippings
Posted by justafarmer VIC (My Page) on
Sun, Sep 2, 07 at 9:26

I'm looking to create a "tropical" look to my conservatory. It's 6m high and has 2 inground concrete planters. A water theme would be nice.

Where can I get some Tropical/ Subtropical trees/ understorey plants in/ near Melbourne?

Also, any suggestions regarding trees/plants would be appreciated. I'd like to get away from the run-of-the-mill and into the exotic/unusual but don't know where to look.

Mike

Follow-Up Postings:

o
RE: Indoor Rainforest

clip this post email this post what is this?
see most clipped and recent clippings

Mike...have a look at www.exoticrainforest.com This guy Steve lives in America and was explaining about how to do this on another forum, but the web site will give you some tips. Try Dracaenas, Cordylines, any Aroid including Philodendrums, Alocasia, Colocasia, Anthuriums. Also Asplenium Nidus (Birdsnest Ferns), Bromeliads etc. I need to know what the minimum temperature is in winter before I can give specifics like palms, cycads and the like. Let me know

Ed

o
RE: Indoor Rainforest

clip this post email this post what is this?
see most clipped and recent clippings

Thanks, Ed, for those suggestions.
The minimum night temp in the middle of winter can be as low as 0 (degrees C), but is usually 5-10. The ave day temp in winter is probably 14-16.
In the conservatory, I should expect maybe 5-8 degrees higher than outside temperature, as it faces north although on a grey day that might be less.
I see you're from Brisbane. I've been in touch with a nursery in Logan (Logan trees I think) who can freight me some advanced trees for the purpose of giving me a head start, in terms of establishing a rainforest appearance, but I'm looking for a supplier in Melbourne region for some understorey/ ground level specimens as well. The tree I'm considering is Harpullia Pendula.
Any other ideas out there?
The website looks fantastic - I'll explore in detail in the days ahead (it is quite extensive)

o
RE: Indoor Rainforest

clip this post email this post what is this?
see most clipped and recent clippings

This link might offer a bit of help. I'm the "Steve" referred to above. Our atrium is 24 feet by 24 feet with a 17 foot ceiling. The floor is all specially prepared soil designed to approximate a rain forest. The skin of the buiilding is Lexan Thermoclear which holds the heat well. With a small natural gas heater we can keep the temp to 55 degrees F in the middle of winter.

http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Build your own tropical rainforest.html

I've tried to give a step by step explaining how we built our "rain forest". Hope you find this useful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Build a rain forest anywhere

  
 

 

 


Click here to learn more about in-text links on this page.



iVillage GardenWeb: The Internet's Garden & Home Community
Join | Garden Forums | Home Forums | Exchanges & Trading | Member Pages | Contact Us
© 2006 iVillage Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Policies FAQ | Advertising
  
  iVillage Home & Garden Network