FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

In Vitro, do You use the same level of light as You would an Ex-Vitro Plant?
I know the plantlets are getting everything they need but having strong light should better prep them for Ex-Vitro.


Even if not much light is required, Can One Use stronger light?
Mine are all pretty powerful.

What about temperature?
If it gets up to 85 degrees or more under powerful lights, will the water distill out of the media and coat the walls or drown the plantelet?

Or Do I need to go to Home Depot and get a standard, cheap 2 bulb t12 fixture for a little light?

I have a couple of books, but didn't see anything in it; but maybe I wasn't thorough enough.

goldslinger wrote:Even if not much light is required, Can One Use stronger light?

I've been keeping my cultures about 18 inches under T12s and they seem to grow great. I recently moved some cultures up to 9 inches under them to see if the growing is noticeably faster. I doubt it will be. I don't think the strength of the light matters that much because most of the growth comes from the sugar water they're in. One important thing to note though is that if you're using explants, it's better to not give them too much light right away as that will increase the phenolic bleeding and cause faster browning of the tissue. My first success with the 'Cupped Trap' leaf I kept it in the dark for a week before moving it under lights.

goldslinger wrote:What about temperature?

Between 72°F and 82°F is ideal. I've had mine as hot as the high 90s°F and they didn't seem to have any serious negative affect.

goldslinger wrote:will the water distill out of the media and coat the walls or drown the plantelet?

I've not seen this happen. If I do notice water building up in the culture, I'll open it up and drain it.

goldslinger wrote:Or Do I need to go to Home Depot and get a standard, cheap 2 bulb t12 fixture for a little light?

That's what I use. You can get a t8/t12 fixture with two t8 bulbs from wal-mart. I think the fixture is $10 and the bulbs are $7 or $8.

I have some seedling heating mats that will help in the cooler basement this Winter as I suspect the T-8'S not to put out much heat.

Until I get more lights, I don't suppose it is a good idea to put the Cultures near My regular plants, even if the cultures are in bags? They are only a few inches below the lower powered T-12 setup I have; the top shelf light.

If it isn't alright, is it okay to at least have the cultures in the same room as the plants?

I think it's not a good idea to keep plants close to cultures, but I have little choice in my setup. I have jars sitting on the shelf right next to some plants and in the same room that I do my TC work.

Okay, thanks Matt.

So You have Your cultures sitting in the same light level as Your plants, I suspect.

Yeah, but only a few of them though. I ran out of room in the terrarium that I keep my cultures in so I just sat some of them on a shelf next to my plants. The cultures contain mostly sarracenia seedlings and VFT seedlings. They seem to be doing fine in the stronger light levels. Most of them I keep in lower light levels.

i use in my lab for each rack a 39W T5 lightbulb they are around 100cm long.
TC plants dont need so much light.