FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I have a South-facing window that's been working moderately well for my CPs, but it's been abnormally cloudy for at least a month now, and I have some plants that are not enthusiastic about that. My sundews, Neps, and a few assorted non-CPs are doing well, but my VFTs aren't coloring up at all, and two of my three sarrs are etiolated. The third sarr is normally shaped, but not coloring up or growing.

Therefore, I'd like to hang a light fixture over them, preferably LED. I found a couple of lights I think might work. Any input?

I basically just need to better illuminate a 2' by 4" section of my grow area, that's where my really high-light plants are. I can put the bulbs about 3-4" above the soil level of the VFTs, about 6-7" above soil level of the sarrs due to differing pot heights.
My priority is healthy growth of the plants. Added color would be nice, but it's not a requirement. I'd prefer fixtures that aren't that painful bright purple, if possible.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Utilitech-24-i ... 1000088077

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AKKUBDQ/re ... YybYYTBDY4

I've never had an LED light so I don't know how to spot good vs. bad components, but as far as the intensity and spectrum it should work well. I'm a little skeptical about it being priced so low and why does it say 4200LUMENS in the title but Lumens: 6000-7000lm in the description? 4200 L might be a little low for the advertised 6x6 ft area, but for 2 sq ft it should be plenty if it's the right shape (i.e. if you can direct most of the light at your plants). There are also LED strip lights you can buy, but they're not as common.

Have the plants in question ever colored up at this time of year? It's common for some VFTs, and especially some sarrs not to get a lot of, or any color until later in the growth season.

Yeah, on closer inspection, I don't trust the seller. All their negative reviews have to do with lights, and most of the positive ones seem to be for things like stickers. I'll look elsewhere.

Do the light strips really have enough power? I've seen those, and they look like they might fit the space pretty well, but they always seem to have just a bunch of teeny lights.

I've only had these plants since, at earliest, December, so I don't know what they're supposed to look like at this time of year.
It's not the color that concerns me right now, it's the growth. Two of the sarrs are just making weird noodles of growth instead of pitchers, they're clearly very etiolated. The flytraps, I'm not sure about, since they're all just coming out of dormancy, but I think they could also use a bit more light.

EDIT: I took a look at things, and figured out that a very small Christmas cactus was somehow contriving to block the sunlight from the two unhappiest sarrs. I've moved it, and the sun came out very briefly.
When the sun is out from behind the clouds, my hand over the plants casts a clear-edged shadow from almost a foot above them. The trouble is, the sun's been behind the clouds most of the day for awhile now.

Fishkeeper wrote:Do the light strips really have enough power? I've seen those, and they look like they might fit the space pretty well, but they always seem to have just a bunch of teeny lights.

They can. Some very powerful LED grow lights now are just two or even a single LED. It's just making sure the one you're looking at has enough juice. Check this one out:
http://growershouse.com/jump-start-t5-l ... 48w-4-foot
Not necessarily the best option, but I would expect it to work nicely. I would probably use two of them on my 4x2 ft shelves. Of course it's full spectrum so you're using up and paying for wattage producing light the plants won't use, but on the *bright* side, it's nicer for when you're looking at them not to have purple plants IMO.

Fishkeeper wrote: It's not the color that concerns me right now, it's the growth. Two of the sarrs are just making weird noodles of growth instead of pitchers, they're clearly very etiolated. The flytraps, I'm not sure about, since they're all just coming out of dormancy, but I think they could also use a bit more light.

Being in a window I don't doubt it. Since it's a southern window, that means they're receiving less and less light as summer approaches too, right? That might be throwing them off since they would normally be getting increasing light as they come out of dormancy. However, it's also pretty normal for sarrs to throw up a lot of phyllodia (non carnivorous leaves) in the spring. So you may be seeing a mixture of normal spring growth and some sluggishness from light deprivation.

I'll shut up now and let someone more experienced with LEDs answer.

Ah, you meant the fixture kind of light strip. I thought you meant like this sort of thing: http://www.ebay.com/itm/5M-5050-SMD-Whi ... SwmtJXUPv1
I'm looking for something smaller than a 4' fixture like that, though. And, preferably, a bit less expensive.

Photobucket is once again not cooperating, but here's what the two unhappiest sarrs look like: http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/crazy ... g.html?o=0

The third one in the corner has two pitchers that are upright and open, but narrow. Its growth is very slow, but it had already grown a lot of malformed pitchers in the death cube bag it was in, so I think it burnt all its starter energy trying to escape the bag and used the last of it on the two relatively healthy pitchers. It wasn't behind the cactus, either, so it had the most light available in that window.

The greyish-green fronds hanging down into the picture are from a couple of thin tillandsia hung nearby, they in no way block the sunlight.

We're in the Northern hemisphere, so our backyard (where the window is facing) gets a lot more light in the summer. It outright kills shade plants, so I thought I might have a shot at keeping CPs happy in a window facing that way, but apparently not for the really high-light ones.

I'm currently trying to decide if I want to get a supplemental light, or if I want to just switch to keeping mostly neps and other plants that are happy in slightly lower light. I have U. Sandersonii, U. Longifolia, N. Sanguinea, D. Capensis, and D. Nitidula happy, plus a few assorted orchids, so I definitely have options. The only ones that aren't happy are VFTs and sarrs. Evidently I can keep high-light plants in this window, but not ultra-high-light ones.

I found a couple of lights I think might work. Any input?
I basically just need to better illuminate a 2' by 4" section of my grow area, that's where my really high-light plants are. I can put the bulbs about 3-4" above the soil level of the VFTs, about 6-7" above soil level of the sarrs due to differing pot heights.
My priority is healthy growth of the plants. Added color would be nice, but it's not a requirement. I'd prefer fixtures that aren't that painful bright purple, if possible.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Utilitech-24-i ... 1000088077

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AKKUBDQ/re ... YybYYTBDY4