FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi everyone, I’m fairly new to nepenthes and am trying my best to learn as I go. I’m growing some Ventratas, a Suki, a Miranda, and a Bill Bailey, all beginner plants. My ongoing issue is lighting. I grow indoors because humidity and temperature in my area is not ideal. I’m struggling to find an adequate light for my plants. I first started with a 600w full spectrum led light designed for cannabis which was 30 inches above my plants and was way too intense turning all my plants red. I returned that light and got an 86 watt 3000 kelvin led. It’s at 24 inches above the plants but is not ideal because it’s rather small and I’d rather have a higher kelvin such as 6,500k or 5,000k. I have a timer set for 14 hours a day. Most people on this forum recommend T5s. I’m planning on buying a 2ft T5 fixture for my setup. I was looking at a 2ft Hydrofarm designer T5 or an Agrobrite T5 on Amazon. My question is wether to get the 2 bulb or the 4 bulb model. The 2 bulb puts out 48 watts and 4,000 lumens while the 4 bulb is 96 watts and 8,000 lumens. I can hang the light as high as 30 inches. So what should I get? Will the 2 bulb be enough light? Will the 4 bulb be too intense? I’m frustrated and don’t want to keep buying and returning lights, I really want to find one that will work for my setup. Thanks very much for you feedback!

I’m growing mine under cheap Yescom LEDs. Mine are 12” x 12” about 12” from some shelves with one shelf being much closer.

I have two little greenhouses in my house and I’m running 1 panel per shelf for now.

I loved my T5HOs but they put out a lot of heat in the summer.




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Good looking plants! So besides the heat factor of t5 I’m much more interested in the quality of the light. I’m giving up on LEDs for a while since my last few lights were a disappointment so I want to try t5. Would a 2 bulb unit or a 4 bulb unit be better for my setup? Again I can hang the lights as high as 30 inches above the plants. I want to make sure I’m giving the enough light but not so much that they get leaf burn. Some of my plants have turned really red with the past LED lights I had and they would have burned if I hadn’t returned it and gotten a lower wattage one. I have air conditioning and fans so heat won’t be an issue for me. Please let me know which t5 unit I should get, a 2ft 2 bulb or 2ft 4 bulb? Thanks.

tropicalemporium wrote:I can hang the light as high as 30 inches. So what should I get? Will the 2 bulb be enough light? Will the 4 bulb be too intense?

The general rule of thumb for T5HOs is no higher than 12" from the plants. I had this exact 4 bulb and now have the 6 bulb version. Get the bigger one, trust me you'll be adding more plants in a later time.

tropicalemporium wrote:Would a 2 bulb unit or a 4 bulb unit be better for my setup?

Again, go with the 4 bulb. You can never have too much light.

tropicalemporium wrote:I want to make sure I’m giving the enough light but not so much that they get leaf burn.

I've had my 6 bulb T5HO as low as 10" from Neps, Drosera, Pings, and Sarracenia with no burn whatsoever. This is usually an issue with LEDs.

tropicalemporium wrote:Some of my plants have turned really red with the past LED lights I had and they would have burned if I hadn’t returned it and gotten a lower wattage one.

That's not burning. Most Neps, Sarracenia, and Drosera will turn deep red or get a red tint when exposed to intense light. Not harmful whatsoever to the plant.

tropicalemporium wrote:Please let me know which t5 unit I should get, a 2ft 2 bulb or 2ft 4 bulb?

2'/4 bulb IMO.

Thanks so much Ping!