FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

tannerm wrote:

FLTropical wrote:Keep in mind these can grow in the shade too. I live in the subtropics, and am forced to keep them in medium shade. It's bright, but no direct sunlight.


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There's a difference between growing and thriving


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Actually the pitchers get bigger in shade...


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FLTropical wrote:

tannerm wrote:

FLTropical wrote:Keep in mind these can grow in the shade too. I live in the subtropics, and am forced to keep them in medium shade. It's bright, but no direct sunlight.


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There's a difference between growing and thriving


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Actually the pitchers get bigger in shade...


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Bigger because they're not getting enough light and are trying to compensate.


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tannerm wrote: You need to invest in proper lighting and you need to maintain higher humidity and good airflow, else your plant will NOT be happy.


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I'm not really sure what else you consider proper lighting other than being outside in the sun. Many people successfully propagate carnivorous plants even under just T8 lighting. The Eden Black in the photo has only ever seen fluorescent lighting. That is the lighting the previous owner had it under ever since it was just a leaf pulling 2 years ago. A 23 watt CFL bulb in a lamp fixture providing light for 2 small pots from 6" away is much more light than even a dual T5HO can provide at a similar distance.

Smooter80 wrote:In the future, anything coming from 100% humidity should be bagged and acclimated to lower humidity. It's also not a bad idea for a lot of CPs after shipping.

Thanks for the tip. I did read that this is what a lot of people successfully do to their plants and I did considered it. On the contrary though, so much emphasis is put on proper air flow which is in direct contradiction to humidity domes. From a previous experience, I know how fast rot can set in. Since I do not have a big enough terrarium with a fan inside it, I was willing to risk a few pitchers from the humidity change rather than risk rotting the entire plant.

francisfaustino wrote:

Smooter80 wrote:In the future, anything coming from 100% humidity should be bagged and acclimated to lower humidity. It's also not a bad idea for a lot of CPs after shipping.

Thanks for the tip. I did read that this is what a lot of people successfully do to their plants and I did considered it. On the contrary though, so much emphasis is put on proper air flow which is in direct contradiction to humidity domes. From a previous experience, I know how fast rot can set in. Since I do not have a big enough terrarium with a fan inside it, I was willing to risk a few pitchers from the humidity change rather than risk rotting the entire plant.

The humidity in your house is probably 40%, I'm telling you that's not enough.


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tannerm wrote:The humidity in your house is probably 40%, I'm telling you that's not enough.


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Where are you even getting that number from. In my previous post, I said the relative humidity indoor is a constant 50%-55%. Though, that is only for now. I don't know what it's going to be in the winter. Please share your setup on how to achieve the perfect conditions for cephalotus.

francisfaustino wrote:

tannerm wrote:The humidity in your house is probably 40%, I'm telling you that's not enough.


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Where are you even getting that number from. In my previous post, I said the relative humidity indoor is a constant 50%-55%. Though, that is only for now. I don't know what it's going to be in the winter. Please share your setup on how to achieve the perfect conditions for cephalotus.

I didn't even read your post in its entirety. I'm by no means an expert, but I've seen good results and I've talked to Nauz quite a bit (he's an excellent Ceph grower).

1. Concerning root rot: it's not going to get rot in the 1-2 weeks it would have taken you to acclimate it to your humidity.
2. If you were super concerned about rot, you could just get some Great White and give it to them & bag up just part of the pot (leaving the bottom exposed so you can bottom water)
3. Humidity should be AT LEAST 60% for ideal conditions.
4. Concerning light: yes while people do grow under fluorescent lights, your single lamp isn't powerful enough. Also LEDs are ideal as they provide the proper wavelengths and boost growth/color plants up substantially.

Best of luck.


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I guess the trick is figuring out how to raise and maintain humidity while giving it a good airflow at the same time.

I disagree with your comment about the light. A single 23w CFL bulb fixture provides more light to a 6" x 6" square area than even a 4 x T5HO fixture would for the same square area. The key phrase is "small area". A single CFL can concentrate more wattage of light in a very small area. Compare a 23w CFL to a 2-foot 24w T5HO. No reflector available will be able to focus all that light coming from a 2' bulb into a 6" x 6" area.

The only thing better as far as wattage per square area are bulbs such as metal halide.

I did considered LED but since I do not have a dedicated grow area, I don't want the red and blue LED's hurting our eyes.

francisfaustino wrote:I guess the trick is figuring out how to raise and maintain humidity while giving it a good airflow at the same time.

I disagree with your comment about the light. A single 23w CFL bulb fixture provides more light to a 6" x 6" square area than even a 4 x T5HO fixture would for the same square area. The key phrase is "small area". A single CFL can concentrate more wattage of light in a very small area. Compare a 23w CFL to a 2-foot 24w T5HO. No reflector available will be able to focus all that light coming from a 2' bulb into a 6" x 6" area.

The only thing better as far as wattage per square area are bulbs such as metal halide.

I did considered LED but since I do not have a dedicated grow area, I don't want the red and blue LED's hurting our eyes.

They only hurt your eyes if you stare directly at them for long periods. *facepalm*


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francisfaustino wrote:I guess the trick is figuring out how to raise and maintain humidity while giving it a good airflow at the same time.

I disagree with your comment about the light. A single 23w CFL bulb fixture provides more light to a 6" x 6" square area than even a 4 x T5HO fixture would for the same square area. The key phrase is "small area". A single CFL can concentrate more wattage of light in a very small area. Compare a 23w CFL to a 2-foot 24w T5HO. No reflector available will be able to focus all that light coming from a 2' bulb into a 6" x 6" area.

The only thing better as far as wattage per square area are bulbs such as metal halide.

I did considered LED but since I do not have a dedicated grow area, I don't want the red and blue LED's hurting our eyes.

Your 23w CFL might have 1600lumens and since CFL's are in a coil the surface area isn't as good compared to a 24w t5ho that would have 2000lumens and more efficient surface area. Plus with those types of lights you'll need to keep the lighting closer without burning plants. I would personally prefer t5ho over that CFL any time. But then again you can get a blue/red led tube and have better lighting then the two of those. Not the best option then some other LED formats but still better then the later two.

The plants need to be acclimated because the grower had it at 100% and sometimes plants can't take that quick of a change in humidity. Yes it's a struggle to have humidity and airflow but that's something you can keep tweaking. It won't be totally perfect.

Only thing that I can see being harmful in a LED would be if UV was included in the lighting. Not all do.

I think what tanner and everyone else is just trying to help you make choices that will keep your plants healthy. No one wants to see you loose any plants especially since the price you have paid for them.

Update - tomorrow will be 4 weeks since I received the Eden Black. A week ago was when I was able to breathe a sigh of relief since it was the time when I became confident that the plant has fully acclimatized to our indoor climate. There were 26 pitchers on the plant when I received it and it lost half of those in the first 3-4 days because I did not gradually acclimate it to the lower humidity. I made the choice to go with air circulation rather than the risk of mold with a humidity dome. It did not lose anymore foliage after that initial shock.

I think the plant is putting out its first mature pitcher. I do not know what a developing adult pitcher looks like. This pitcher was just a small bud when I received the plant, but it is now much rounder and fatter than the typical juvenile pitchers that I see.

francisfaustino wrote:Update - tomorrow will be 4 weeks since I received the Eden Black. A week ago was when I was able to breathe a sigh of relief since it was the time when I became confident that the plant has fully acclimatized to our indoor climate. There were 26 pitchers on the plant when I received it and it lost half of those in the first 3-4 days because I did not gradually acclimate it to the lower humidity. I made the choice to go with air circulation rather than the risk of mold with a humidity dome. It did not lose anymore foliage after that initial shock.

I think the plant is putting out its first mature pitcher. I do not know what a developing adult pitcher looks like. This pitcher was just a small bud when I received the plant, but it is now much rounder and fatter than the typical juvenile pitchers that I see.

IMG_1311 crop.JPG

Oh cool, might be a mature pitcher. We will see.

tannerm wrote: 3. Humidity should be AT LEAST 60% for ideal conditions conditions.

I don't think this is entirely true. While cephs do seem to appreciate humidity in the 60% range, I know people grow them in less. and I have grown mine around 50 before, and I never bagged mine acclimate it, I just gave it the conditions that it would be exposed to in my grow space since day 1

I didn't bag the pot of three I got a little while ago either. I set them on my open rack under my lights. While the biggest one hasn't done much at all, the two smaller ones have been growing like beasts. The biggest one did open the pitcher it was working on and color up very nicely, but no new growth yet.

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boarderlib wrote:I didn't bag the pot of three I got a little while ago either. I set them on my open rack under my lights. While the biggest one hasn't done much at all, the two smaller ones have been growing like beasts. The biggest one did open the pitcher it was working on and color up very nicely, but no new growth yet.

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But what's your humidity?