FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

OK, for some time I have been searching for a cheap LED solution to grow CPs.
Where I live (Israel) the LED fixtures for plants cost a small fortune, even when shipped from abroad.

After trial and error, I ended up torturing a capensis typical under a fixture of my own design.
The LED bulbs I purchased from China/Hong Kong on Ebay, for less the 4 USD each, including shipping.
I decided to conduct this small experiment of mine in my living room terrarium, where I had a 12V system already setup.



Mind you – this is not a scientific experiment, but a home trial.
It may give ideas for further experiments by other hobbyists.
I intended to add blue, but I received the wrong voltage LED bulb (my fault), but in the future I will try with this color as well.

The soil is 45/45/10% Peat/Perlite/Coir, all washed thoroughly before planting.
The Drosera itself suffered some abuse by my cat before going into the terrarium, tipping it over to get at the water for a drink (Those darn pest cats... )
Temperature and humidity change with the season, and aren't constant.
There are several fans that work according to temperature (standard computer fan controller).

The fixture is basically a square electrical conduit, I cut into shape to focus the light on the plant.
The fixture is about 10 cm (about 4.5 inches) from the plant.



Left: 660nm red LED 9W 12V
Center: Cree LED Cool White 12W 12V
Right: Warm White LED 9W 12V

The plant also gets some light from a bunch of fluorescents way up, on the top.

After a month under the fixture, I can say that the Drosera shows a difference in color, with a lot more red visible.
The plant has great goo goblets on it, and keeps growing. And now it's now putting up a flower stalk.

First Week Image for the Drosera capensis typical:



The same capensis after one month under the LEDs:






I scattered some seeds on the media, to see if any will germinate, and compared the coloring and size to seed I germinated in a mini-bog, in full sun.
Both germinated simultaneously, with the same size, but there is a substantial difference in coloration. The seedlings from the LED fixture show a lot of red coloration, as opposed to the seedlings getting sunlight, that are green.

Seedlings from the LED fixture. The image was taken in full sun, not under the red light. The color is all seedlings:



Seedlings grown in a mini-bog, in full sun:



I will keep posting in the future.

That's actually quite an interesting difference in colour. Are these all seeds from the same batch?
Keep up the experiments

Pretty much. Just took the stalk and crushed some dry flowers over the soil.
Basically, all my capensis came from the same mother plant, that was self polinized

Wow, that's a big difference in colour then. Wondered if it could have been different parents.
Keep us posted on the progress. Do you feed your plant?

These two batches came from the same parent, when I used some seeds on one pot, and others on the mini-bog, just sprinkling them around.
They grow like weeds everywhere.
I feed them once every two weeks a bloodworm or two.

You can actually see in the bottom of the image that there is a green one, where the red light doesn't reach, because of the angle of the red LED. It does get plenty of white light.
I imagine once it grows a bit, it will be exposed to the red, and change color.

Even on the large plant I can see a lot of red coloration, as opposed to other capensis from the same batch that I grow outdoors.

Any chance you could post a link to where you bought these? Extremely interested in trying them out

Good diy led there.

9w led with 3 diode means 3w led each. Im so surprised t
It wont overheat. There must be some kinda heat sink in the buld assembly.

Very nice diy and your plant love it

Sent from my SM-N9005

I actually got it on ebay. Do a search for 660 nm red led.
When I get the chance, I intend to try it with a blue LED as well. Maybe I will get smurf drosera

Sent from my phone, so sorry for mistakes.

opcorn:

Sent using my Galaxy S6 edge

I can't wait to see if you do get a blue Capensis

I'd rather vote for dark green Drosera

I want to see Blue drosera

Very interesting indeed! Keep us updated