FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hey all,

As I mentioned in my intro, I have two CP's (and one Aloe Vera ). I just recently got the two CP's, as I wanted to get back into growing.

Current Setup:
1. Drosera spatulata
1. Pinguicula medusina

Both plants were recently purchased, so they are pretty small and had to suffer through 5 days of shipping (because of the TGD holiday).

I have both plants in 3" pots, each in a bowl with about 3/4" of RO water in them that I top off each day.

I have one 26w GE 5000K Daylight CFL (100w equivalent) light that is hovering about 2" above/between the two plants (the AV is further away) to supplement the poor Montana winter light coming in from the nearby windowsill. I also have a cardboard backdrop that I have covered in reflective foil that surrounds the plants on 3 sides. FYI - The 26w bulb was the highest I could find at the local store.

My main question, is if the current lighting/water setup is enough, or should I invest in something more? I was thinking of getting a socket splitter and a second 26w bulb, perhaps a 6500K.

I don't mind spending a reasonable amount of money if it'll get my plants healthy, I just don't want to waste money on something that's not going to do the job.

I have no problem shopping online, and have a feeling that is where I'll have to go for supplies.

Thanks in advance for your help.

A second 26W would be almost necessary if they're getting 0 to little sunlight - or a single 42W; surprisingly, Wal-Mart carries these but places like Home Depot often doesn't. 6500K is ideal - get a name brand like GE, Philips, or Sylvania, their light output is better than the generic brands.

What's the color temp of your current 26W? 5000K? Lower?

2" might be a little closer than necessary and may actually burn leaves, especially on the ping. If you had them under a 4-foot 40 watt T12, 2 inches would be good, but CFL's as compact as they are also put out a bit of heat, so you'd be better off at 4-6".

In case you were unaware, both of these plants can be propagated vegetatively (with your eyes closed). Any part of a leaf that's touching the soil will likely sprout a plantlet. I've already pulled about 6 or 7 plantlets out of under my spatulata - let them grow a bit, then use tweezers to carefully extract and move them if they're buried under the plant.

You should mainly water the trays, and 3/4 to 1" of water will do. Every few days, be sure to top-water to pull oxygen into the soil.

If you want to shop online and just get a good bulb and be done with it, I recommend something akin to this one: http://www.1000bulbs.com/65-Watt-Compac ... nts/34238/

It's a solid light that gives you enough intensity that you can add a couple pots of other plants and it'll still handle it. Make sure whatever you're screwing this into will be able to take this size bulb - it's standard screw-in but what I mean is it's almost 10 inches from end to end.

Thanks for the quick reply!

My current 26w GE is 5000K.

Thanks for the watering advice, I'll make sure to top water every couple of days.

It's funny that you brought up that site, as I was looking at it when I saw your reply . So a 65w 6500K CFL would be enough? Is 6500K the "ideal" color temp for CP's? The lamp I'm using is a standing type that has a flexible neck, so I should be able to adjust it to accommodate for the almost 10" bulb.

Thanks again for the help, I'm strongly leaning towards getting the 65w 6500K bulb you provided the link to.

The "ideal" color temp for CP's would probably be 1x 6500K (blue spectrum for leaf growth) and 1x ~2700K (red spectrum for flowering). How many of each you would use depends on the bulb wattage, etc.

A lot of people (like me) use all 6500K ("full spectrum") since it has enough red to support flowering, just not as much as a 2700K. 6500K is more blue spectrum.

I use this bulb around 10" above my plants and have about 8 or 9 pots under it at the moment, all growing like weeds. http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/pr ... 03999.html

Two of the sundews are flowering.

Just wanted to thank you again for your help. I just ordered the 125w light you're using. I do plan on expanding my collection as I have been dying to get a VFT since my last one died over 6 years ago .

Fortunately, thanks to you and the many helpful people/threads on this forum, I have the knowledge to combat the low light conditions of Montana.
Current conditions - 23F w/ ~4in. of snow last night .

That fluorescent light you just ordered will certainly eliminate your lighting problems. Keep it high enough that you don't have heating problems and you'll probably get rid of your tin foil encasement - it doesn't need help. If you can have the light above the plants and it's not getting too hot with the encasement in place, though, then by all means keep it. If you're consistently pushing 90-95+ degrees during the day at the plant-level, it's probably too hot for most CP's.

Put it on a timer so you don't have to remember to turn it on and off - they're are about 6-8 bucks at places like Lowe's or Home Depot. I run mine on 15 hour cycles starting at 7am; typically you'd run it 12 hours over winter, but I have a bunch of TC plants under it and I want to make sure they get good light.

Just in case you ever need it, here's what houses mine: http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/pr ... 05070.html

It's the least expensive solution I found, plus it DOES support Mogul-base fluorescents (comes with an adapter for standard screw-in bulbs).

If you stick to your standing light (which I assume is wide open at the top), try to rig up something to reflect any light that's headed toward the ceiling back at the plants.

I ended up ordering the fixture today. I thought about rigging something up to the lamp once I get the bulb, but it's far more practical for me just to spend the money on a dedicated fixture that's built for what I'm doing.

I was also worried that the 125w CFL might be too much for the lamp.

In the meantime, I'll switch to a 26w 6500K CFL (I'm replacing the lights in my apartment, so it can go into a room light socket once the fixture arrives) until the fixture comes next week. It sucks to have to wait (I should have ordered them together), but it's better than blowing out a $40 light! Hopefully the 26w 6500K keeps the plants stable until then.

Thanks again for your help!

I know this is late, but hey Veronis.. What fixture do you use to support that high of wattage?

Ae9803 wrote:I know this is late, but hey Veronis.. What fixture do you use to support that high of wattage?

I use this - http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/pr ... 05070.html

They (Farmtek) also have a 200W CFL that the fixture can support just fine, but frankly the 125W is plenty.

Ya, I see. I found a reptile hood lamp that can support up to 125w that I found for 20 bucks I think ima use.

Thanks

Jake