FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Finally, after days of planning, buying, and waiting....here it is! My new seed setup! I researched my eyes out to get it all together




The light is a 54 W, 4100 K T5-HO fluorescent bulb (this one: https://www.rona.ca/en/fluorescent-03175318--1). It's set on a 16-hour timer.
The fixture was actually harder to find than the bulb lol, thank goodness for Sunblaster having so many sizes of T5 fixtures and all 54 W. It's this one: http://www.buyagreenhouse.com/store/pro ... 147877a03c

And the soil I probably put more effort in than anything else. The sand was like almost impossible to buy! It was sold at only one place in Calgary, only open on weekdays, and closed at 5 (I normally get home from school at 4:30 and the rest of my family normally isn't even home yet). My dad left work early three days in a row to try and get this damn sand, and every time it was closed. >:O (But in the end we got it and I was very happy)
The sand is pure silica sand (this one: http://www.targetproducts.com/UserConte ... silsnd.pdf), grade #16 since #12 wasn't available and I washed it using the growsundews.com method.

The peat moss was the one thing I didn't take part in; my dad unexpectedly already had exactly what I was looking for, pure Canadian Sphagnum peat with no fertilizer or additives, I think the brand was Sunshine. I rinsed this too and picked out a lot of annoying sticks and things.

After that we mixed it in a 1:1 ratio (using plastic plant pots as measuring lol) and mixed it all together. After that, I put the soil in two of these sets: http://www.buyagreenhouse.com/store/pro ... 147877a03c (without the mat) and filled up the bottom trays with distilled water.


Awesomely enough, the seeds I ordered from two different people arrived two days in a row, so double the excitement! I've planted them in and just can't wait to see them grow. Here is my new grow list:
(Seeds from the awesome Shadowtski)
D. finlaysoniana
D. burmanni
D. sessilifolia
D. tokaiensis

50 mixed cultivar VFT seeds (I really can't wait to see how these ones will turn out, since they were taken from different cultivars pollinating in the same area, so who knows? :3) These ones: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/201683625297?redirect=mobile

And some seeds I salvaged from my last batch that didn't grow- N. ((Viking x Raff) x North) x (Thor x veif)- a hybrid of hybrids of hybrids! XD

Now- what do you think? Could my setup get any better than this? Haha no wait I should stop bragging- but I really am very proud!

It can get better you have empty space to fill with plants!

erikHIplants wrote:It can get better you have empty space to fill with plants!

It always can I suppose, nothing's perfect XD but it's as good as I can make it I think
And that's true! I don't know what to plant there...hmm...

Your setup looks good. We're all keeping our fingers crossed for you.

Good growing,
Mike

Shadowtski wrote:Your setup looks good. We're all keeping our fingers crossed for you.

Good growing,
Mike

Thank you

Just a suggestion based on the second pic. If you see how the light is shining straight out the sides past the reflectorand hitting the walls. I would add some more material to the reflector to direct that wasted light down at the plants. The flat white side of poster board is cheap and fairly efficient.

I think far to often people focus to much energy on what light to buy and not how to use the light in the most efficient manor.

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boarderlib wrote:Just a suggestion based on the second pic. If you see how the light is shining straight out the sides past the reflectorand hitting the walls. I would add some more material to the reflector to direct that wasted light down at the plants. The flat white side of poster board is cheap and fairly efficient.

I think far to often people focus to much energy on what light to buy and not how to use the light in the most efficient manor.

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Alright, thanks a lot for the advice And yes you're very right on that I probably did spend way more time looking for the right light, although I did look a LOT for fixtures, and sunblaster with that reflector was literally the best match I could find, and the only match for my bulb. Also, the bulb gets pretty warm while it is running for a while (but not enough to melt the plastic plant domes it seems), so would this be safe? And would tinfoil work instead?

Shelilla wrote:
Alright, thanks a lot for the advice And yes you're very right on that I probably did spend way more time looking for the right light, although I did look a LOT for fixtures, and sunblaster with that reflector was literally the best match I could find, and the only match for my bulb. Also, the bulb gets pretty warm while it is running for a while (but not enough to melt the plastic plant domes it seems), so would this be safe? And would tinfoil work instead?

I'm happy I could help a little, it looks like you got everything pretty spot on by the way.

Tin foil is actually less reflective than flat white surfaces. You should use the dull side if you go tin foil, believe it or not it's more reflective than the shiny side. I've used chicken wire wrapped in tin foil before. The chicken wire helps hold the shape pretty well.

I would check the temp inside your dome at the end of the day just to be safe, but it should be okay the way it is. That single bulb shouldn't heat your setup up to much.

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