FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Jimbonium wrote:Spring change light to 42w and move it 2-3 inch from plant and gradually build light time to 14 hrs over 2 weeks.

Move the light closer gradually as well. With a 42W you should probably have it around 4 -6 inches from the plant. 2-3 inches with a 23W. It's not an exact science, you just need to find the ideal distance so it gets as much light as it can without burning the plant. I'm giving you estimates.

Jimbonium wrote:And the w amount, my desk lamp says "120vac only" but it handles "60w max" and on my 42w cfl it doesnt say AC anywhere just "mini twister, 6500, daylight, lightoutput 2600 lumens, medium base EL/dT" but on the 23w its got the "120vac" on it. Would it still be okay to use the 42w light?

No idea. Generally though, a 42W CFL is going to be 120 volts unless it specifies otherwise. 120 volt (VAC is Volts of AC power)is pretty standard.

Jimbonium wrote:And it looked overgrown when I screwed it in the desk lamp, but I didnt plug it in cus I didnt know if it would work lol. If that is possible I will just have to make a reflector to fit into it. And how hot do these cfl's get after 14-15 hours of being left on?

I don't know what you mean by overgrown. You can fashion tin foil into a reflector. It won't be extremely effective, but it'll do (reflect off the shiny side, obviously).

The CFL's get to their hottest temps within a few minutes I think. It certainly doesn't take hours. They get hot enough that it'll hurt if you touch the light directly.

Right ofcourse using 42w at 2-3 inches would burn the plant lol. By overgrown I mean it looks way too big for the lamp, the bulb sticks out of the lamp a good inch and a half.But I briefly looked up the 120vac thing and apparently if it doesn't say 120 vDC (direct current) it should be fine. Maybe I can hang the 42w light on top of my window to make a suspended light right over the plant but keeping the heat just far enough.