FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Sponsored by FlytrapStore.com

Discuss Drosera, Byblis, and Drosophyllum plant care here

Moderator: Matt

User avatar
By P A U L
Location: 
Posts:  180
Joined:  Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:04 am
#310402
Hi.

I recently bought some venus traps... this is my first dabble into 'gardening' and became overwhelmed when I started researching proper care, watering, feeding, etc.

I have my plants sitting on the windowsill, leaning barely against the mesh net that covers the window. I live in an apartment on the NE corner, on the 10th floor, in Los Angeles. The north window has zero obstructions. All indirect light coming from there is whatever reflects from the ground, the roofs of apartments, etc.

The east window faces an office building taller than my apartment. There is a narrow 'window' of time when direct sunlight from the south hits my window for about a little under 1-hour.

I'm pretty sure the vft are going to die...or hate their life. I bought these to actually catch the gnats in my bathroom (that sometimes venture out to the living room). I had no idea about dormancy, and they should have been dormant already until April/May, I suppose.

My path-of-least-resistance-and-maximum-laziness had me looking into LED strips to place over the vft. I have also bought sundews to avoid the requirement for dormancy...but they still need bright light.

So...I understand that red light will stimulate flowering. I don't want that. I was wondering if I should use 6500K white lights or something bluer to promote, uhhh, healthier leaves.

Any tips?
User avatar
By xr280xr
Posts:  2807
Joined:  Wed Jun 22, 2011 3:29 pm
#310427
You're right, that won't be enough sunlight to keep them alive. 6500 K is perfect assuming its white light. If you're using special blue/red LED grow lights, I think the color temperature is lower. Venus flytraps probably won't help much with a gnat problem. Very small flytraps may catch a few but usually gnats are too small to trigger average sized VFTs and either way, they won't catch enough to control them. Sun dews will work better. A dish of apple cider vinegar with a drop or two of dish soap left sitting out works best.
User avatar
By P A U L
Location: 
Posts:  180
Joined:  Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:04 am
#310438
I'll be buying these lights for my plants: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MR ... 4WN81ZEM06

They're going on two windows...2-ft and 3-ft directly above the plants.

My vft/sundews sit next to 2 pots of peace lilies. Not sure if that's a good idea, but I put them there hoping the smell would attract the gnats and they'll eventually find their way to the flytraps. Some of my vft pots are tiny traps that are all low to the ground (top of soil)...they're in a HUGE cluster of leaves...like a shrub. The small traps might catch a gnat or two each month.

Anyone feed their vft Betta fish pellets? I read an article from this site that said the author fed re-hydrated bloodworm "meatballs" to the traps, and then gently massage/pinched the outside of the trap to simulate a live insect.

Fish pellets: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017 ... UTF8&psc=1

I read a different article (different website) where a person said she fed Betta pellets to her sundews. She wet it, and dropped it onto the sundew and let it do its thing. I was hoping the pellets may work for the vft instead of bloodworms.
User avatar
By xr280xr
Posts:  2807
Joined:  Wed Jun 22, 2011 3:29 pm
#310441
I'm not sure, but 6 watts spread across 20" sounds like it could be too weak, especially if you're planning to keep them 2-3 ft above the plants. You'll need a pretty serious light source (or a very directed beam) to keep them happy at that distance. You might try asking what the minimum you'd need would be and about those specific lights in the artificial lighting forum: artificial-lighting-f53.html
User avatar
By P A U L
Location: 
Posts:  180
Joined:  Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:04 am
#310463
:D i only have a few plants in 4" pots sitting side by side. i'm not too keen on investing a lot of money into expensive grow lights. i'll try these and adjust the distance to the plants as necessary.

i'll keep my other pots in the living room with indirect lights only and use this as some kind of reference to see how the plants under LEDs perform.

(i do plan on growing strawberries and roses indoors some day, then i'll start investing ridiculous amounts of money into proper growing.)
Transaction with Secretariat73

I purchased five varieties of Sarracenia from Secr[…]

Drosera germination time

Oh, and the Twister II seeds are in this germinati[…]

So far, not less than five days apart. Humidity va[…]

Argh! Just 4 days left in the photo contest and we[…]

SASE received. Order is fulfilled. Return envelope[…]

My Sarracenia x moorei 'Red Velvet' is turning out[…]

Hello, New to the forum

And if the deer runs, be sure to track it down. A […]

A greenhouse or a greenhouse terrarium? They do we[…]

Support the community - Shop at FlytrapStore.com!