So, I just joined the Ikea Greenhouse Club! I have a Milsbo Tall for my Monsteras, Alocasias and planning to add Anthuriums soon. I'm currently using Barrina T5 lights for my setup. There are 2x 2ft of the T5s on each shelf, and I have vertical lights set up all over too in the front corners. I'm not sure this is enough for my variegated plants as I measured with the Photone app and they are only receiving 150-200 umol of PPFd (although I am aware it is not that accurate measuring by phones)

A lot of my plants are variegated. To list some I have a Monstera Albo, Alocasia Frydek, Alocasia Bambino Pink, and I also have a Monstera Thai. They also have high variegation. I also have some other standard monsteras & alocasias. Most of them are juvenile plants (their height is below 1ft tall, with my Monstera Thai and Albo being the tallest at the moment). I am planning to add more variegated plants. However, I'm worried if the Barrina T5s aren't adequate enough for variegated plants.

Some lights up researching on is Viperspectra, AC Infinity and also considering Barrina T8 for an upgrade. I do worry about the comments stating them being overkill/burning their plants.

I have acrylic shelves in the cabinet: 1 Full Shelf, 1 Diagonal Shelf, 1 U-Shaped Shelf. Currently, I have a total of 6x 2FT Barrina T5 Lights spread across and 3x 1FT Barrina T5s for vertical placements. 4 fans in total for airflow too. Humidity runs 80-85% by itself.

Would appreciate any insight!

Finally done with my ikea milsbo build!

I put a smart humidifier there but haven't used it, though I think I don't need it as my humidity levels maintain up to 80%-90% on its own! I weather stripped all over the edges of the door with a foam strip, and also sealed the doors with a flap seal tape. There's two fans in here on the first two levels though I might add another more to the lower levels.

Cable management, biggest game changer was using cord hider kits! And for the wires that I couldn't line up to the cord hider I simply double-taped the wires to the backing/sides of the barrina lights where it can't be seen.

I also drilled a 2-inch hole on the bottom left side of the cabinet and put a 2 inch grommet. I made sure to put some electrical tape over the drilled edges as it is sharp (and to not risk it cutting any wires)

For lights, I'm just using a combination of 2ft & 1ft Barrina T5 Lights (Yellow). I also have them vertically placed on some areas so that my plants can grow towards the vertical light

A tip for securing/placing vertical lights is, utilise the cabinet’s screw holes w the barrina brackets that come along with it! Simply screw the bracket onto the side, and snap your vertical lights. It's more secure than adhesives (my adhesives come off a lot lol). The Barrina screws won’t fit but the ikea screws will. You do need more screws that fit the screw holes of the ikea cabinet if you want more vertical lights, I only had 3 left so I had to tape everything else. I might run up to ikea soon to get some more screws

If you wanna get the screws online, i think they are M4x10mm screws

Temperature fluctuates around 26-28, humidity levels maintain around 80-85% without a humidifier and up to 90% at night when the grow lights are off. Though if I were to use the humidifier, it would turn on by itself whenever the humidity drops below 70%. But I have it turned off for now and might take it out.

Everything is connected to a smart plug where I can easily set a timer for the lights to turn on and off by itself without me having to manually turn them on and off!

Really happy with the end result!

If yall have any links for the wide and tall Rudsta cabinets, please drop them below. I’m trying to find some cute variegated plant leaf handles for my cabinets!

Thanks in advance!

I just got myself an Ikea AKERBAR greenhouse (17 inches) after humming/hawing about it for a while, and I’m excited to start growing houseplants and terrariums again! I currently have two Glowrium G7 Puck Grow Lights, a Spider Brake Fern, a Nerve Plant, and a Living Stone in it (plus some planting/terrarium supplies whenever I figure out what container I want for a closed terrarium).

Does anyone have recommendations on how to improve it? I’m thinking of getting Modern Aqua’s pegboard kit, but I’m in Canada so I’m not sure if that’s feasible or if there are better alternatives?

Thanks in advance for your help!

EDIT: My plan is to have plants that need high humidity in closed terrariums, while neutral/dryer plants will be out in pots. I do have a backup plan to move the dry-needing plants somewhere else if they don’t end up liking the greenhouse. 😅

i got my rudsta last winter and it has grown so many happy plants in it since i first posted it :)

Finally exchanged the glass shelves with acrylic ones. Still struggling with the taller Alocasias (Polly literally seems to think sky’s the limit), but it’s much better already imo.

I'm a newbie and attempting my first IKEA Milsbo Wide conversion. I purchased two Soltech Grove lights and want to mount them to the ceiling without using the 3m sticky. Magnetically attaching them is ideal but I have no idea how to go about this. Any suggestions?

The 1st pic is of the mounting bracket. It magnetically attaches to the ends of the light.

Has anyone ever stacked four of the wide Milsbos? I know I would need to cut the feet on the top ones but wondering how viable this would be.

So I just got this Baggebo cabinet on Marketplace for $30 that I’m keeping at work. It’s going to be for an orchid I plan to buy, and seed starting and caladium tubers over the winter. May also keep an aroid/anthurium plant in there.

Here’s my issue. I don’t have a blow dryer so I can’t use the shrink window kit. If I get a plexi board cut to size, can I just put white electrical tape for it to hold?

This is at my job, so it can’t be too much of a project.

Also, I’m thinking of getting two pegboards, one to use as the pegboard and the other to cut as shelving. Because the shelving is pricey, so I’m hoping I can cut the pegboard to the size of the shelves. That way it has holes for circulation. I’d get it cut to size and not do this at my desk.

I’ve always used a heating mat to start seeds, and one won’t fit in there. Is the humidity enough?

Any tips on orchid care is appreciated. I took a class once but haven’t had the opportunity to put that knowledge into practice.

Hello plant friends new to the group! I have a Rudsta wide cabinet that’s humidity becomes higher at night. I only have 2 small pc fans at the top. I’m looking for better/ new fan suggestions to install top and bottom. I’m also looking for suggestions for better fan mounting to promote better circulation. Thank you in advance!

Hello, I have been looking for a tray to put in the bottom of my milsbo tall to catch the water that drips down. However because of the nonstandard dimensions, I haven't been able to find any products that fit perfectly.

Has anyone found something that fits exactly without going to 3D printed custom pieces? If not, I can use something smaller that approximately fits, but it'd be nicer to find a better match. Thank you!

final setup in the first image. It's on the outside of a balcony getting sun till 11am.

It started with a single pot, which lasted two years in my bathroom, which was the only room with some humidity, but north windows, no sunshine. It did exchange all the previous red leaves with ones with no backing, but since it wasn't etiolating I concluded it was adapting.

This summer though it went downhill rapidly, losing all but these two twigs. I repotted it, since I felt it was way too slow at drying and it might be root rot. The roots didn't look great. I added more sand and perlite and split the two plants, one in plastic and one in clay just to see if it helped.

Then I got this, hoping it meant I can move it to a better lit windowsill without as many humidity concerns. Gave them friends for more evaporation. I gave it 10 days with just a couple hours of sun to adapt too. Aand it's still dying.

Located in New England

I’ve been in the process of converting my rudsta into a greenhouse cabinet for a LONG time but sadly was unable to finish the project. I’m moving soon and wont have space to take the cabinet or materials with me so id love to find someone in this community thats local to take this off of my hands.

Tons of things included here:

-Rudsta (sealed with acrylic) with glass floor and barrier + drainage pvc pipe
- Fans
- 3 bricks of sphagnum moss
-10 cans of spray foam
-Lava rock
- Coospider fogger
-2 T5 Leds
-Screen Mesh
-Egg crate
-Transfer pump

Theres probably more that im forgetting, but if anyone is interested feel free to message me. Im selling this as a bundle. Thanks!

Hi guys!

Happy day, my Unicoly and Barrina T5s are here! 🥳 Can’t wait to build it this weekend!

I mistakenly ordered the yellow 2ft T5s after I changed my mind to whites following this sub’s suggestions and forgot to update my cart 😬 Somebody mentioned mixing yellow/white, so if I don’t like the yellows, I’ll try that.

I still need to figure out fans, though. I think I need one for each shelf (so 4) since I’m using the Unicoly shelves for now until I save up for a splurge on wire shelves.

Would you guys mind sharing your recommendations for fans? Also, how do you mount them? Looking to stay on a budget, and Etsy mounts seem expensive. I know I can’t wait on the fans, but the wire shelves and humidifier/meter will unfortunately have to wait a paycheck or two.

Thanks in advance!! 🙏💚

PS: plants are mostly begonias 🪴

Im getting super low ppfd measurements from inside the greenhouse - like half of what I had in the same place before without. Might the plexiglass screw with the reading or do you think there could really be such a significant drop?

I decided to go with the black unicoly cabinet. I am 3 hours away from IKEA & for my first cabinet i decided to go with the less expensive most convenient. My question is about the shelves. I have looked at the acrylic options on Etsy. I know wire shelves are also an option but I am not a huge fan. Has anyone used the metal shelves and drilled holes for air circulation? I feel like I need to just order the acrylic shelves but they are so expensive…I will be using the Barrina T5’s….Let me see your cabinets!

How do you all handle quarantining new plants? I’m fairly new to the plant cabinet world, and I’ve already made the mistake of putting a new plant right into my cabinet and it had mildew 😔😔

So I bought a little cabinet for new plants to live in when I first get them. When you get new plants, do you just keep them separate? What do you do if you buy several new plants at the same time? How long do you keep them separate?

I do mostly begonias so I’m riding the struggle bus right now 🤦‍♀️ please help me!

Most of the plants I originally had inside have outgrown the cabinet, but I keep buying new ones to make sure it stays nicely filled up ;)

Also added two custom triangle-shaped shelves in the corners and some netting to diffuse the light a bit for the top shelves.

new cabinet loading… far from finished, but this is milsbo tall 3. I need to choose a paint color for the wall behind it.

hey i have this ikea fabrikor greenhouse i just set up. i have 4 lights as annotated on the picture.
* the topmost ones are barina og09
* the middle shelf has diagonally mounted sansi puck lights.

when i measure the light at the bottom shelf, i consistently see 80 to 200 fc in the middle height of the lowest shelf.

i'm curious if the lowest shelf in this case is getting enough light to grow some plants, maybe like pothos or philodendrons, or do you think most of the energy gets filtered through the glass shelves that come with the fabrikor.

my light measurement tool works but it's not a real ppfd measurement so i'm curious how much of the energy actually gets lost and whether that's critical

I'm setting up my first cabinet and I haven't seen much covered around pest prevention. I see some ppl with satchels hanging in the background and stuff. I already have a horrible time with fungus gnats indoors and want to prevent and be proactive as much as possible. Does anyone have a good guide?

Right now I have alocasia mostly in the cabinet and everything in pon, but I will be bringing in soil plants for my terrarium collection.

Cabinet tax photo attached. 😊 Just finished building the cabinet last night and got a shelf and lights in until I can come back to it next weekend.

On display is: Eleanor, Florence, Gladys, Marge, Seraphina, Nona, Violet, and Beatrice. 😁