FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

A little about my plant: I got a venus fly trap today from Walmart and I am very excited to take care of it! It's from rocket farms, it's about 2 inches tall and fills its container which is 3 inches in diameter. I have an old fish tank I am going to convert into a little terrarium. I want to get a light so I don't have to worry about the sun.

I have been researching for a while looking for the best light bulb. Someone said 6500 kelvin florescent light is ideal. Will my fly trap survive in lower or does it have to be exactly 6500? I also looked for 6500k lights, and they're all huge and blindingly bright. Do they have to be insanely bright for my plant to survive? My ideal light would be small, not very bright, but would also give my plant what it needs. I have space in the lid that is 9 X 3 inches I would like to put the bulb (I am also intending on wiring it to a switch and to a cord to plug it in myself).

Edit: I found a light made for aquariums, 6500k, made for underwater plants. Do y'all think it would be suitable for my plant? https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostor ... lb-1320513

Please help me, thanks in advance

I think brightness shouldnt be a huge factor in determining lightbulbs for growing VFT.Sure you'll get a better range of light, but if the light you give it is weak in wattage, it wont do much. I have some 12.5w light bulbs that say are 100w equivalent. They're very bright, but I wouldnt use them for my VFT. Can you put your plant outside or is this not feasible for you?

I haven't bought any in quite a number of years, but there used to be T12 and T8 shop fluorescent light fixtures and bulbs for sale at all the big box stores like Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart, etc. Two fluorescent 6500K bulbs and a 4-foot fixture would set you back about $20-$30 and were ideal for growing flytraps for a few months indoors. There were also 2-foot options.

Just did some quick shopping on Amazon. Looks like they're more expensive now, but they would still work well:
https://www.amazon.com/Luxrite-Fluoresc ... 0178H9C6U/
https://www.amazon.com/Two-Light-T8-Flu ... 000JQWKIA/

I would recommend a 2ft t5 fixture that supports high output bulbs. I actually just upgraded mine with active grow led replacements because cfls burn out too quickly for the price.


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Magic Mutt wrote:I would recommend a 2ft t5 fixture that supports high output bulbs. I actually just upgraded mine with active grow led replacements because cfls burn out too quickly for the price.

I too have a high-output T5 light (4 foot) and it is the best grow light I own. I agree with you though that the CFLs burn out quickly for the price.

When I get home later I will show you a very simple DIY light I made for similar purposes. It ain't the prettiest thing but it works great

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Ok so basically get a power strip and some of these adapters from home depot.


This is the tub I used, i already had it in my house


I used material from my kids medicine delivery which is very reflective. I suggest using white poster board instead, i will be changing this later and i will take a comparison photo. Use the matte side of the poster board not the shiny side.
This is the lights put together


And then added to the now reflective tub


I cut holes in 2 sides of the tub to fit a flat wooden paint-stirrer. The holes are in pictures below. Basically put the wood piece through both holes and zip tie the power strip. On one side you have to make the hole big enough for the plug to fit through.

I bought 4 2ft pvc pipes (1/2") 2 elbows 2 T connectors. Use a pvc pipe cutter to cut one of the pipes into 6" pieces for the feet.

Then push the pieces together like in the picture and use zip ties or something else to fasten the wood piece to the pvc. Just make sure the plug for each light fit snug in the power strip and are not in danger of falling down. If they are too heavy use something to fasten them to the power strip somehow.

Last note is to say that these cfls can build up a lil heat so i wouldn't use this in an enclosed space (like a tent) without ventilation. At the least make sure to keep an eye out on temp. This whole setup is very tweak-able for those inventive souls out there

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I'd like to add that the bulbs I used are the 100w replacements 23w cfls. 3 day 3 soft wht. Home depot sells em 4 for 9.99. If u want u can use all 6500k which would be fine and to move the pots closer to the light just put something under them. That way u don't have to adjust the pole height when u want to change it again.

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Magic Mutt wrote:Ok so basically get a power strip and some of these adapters from home depot.


This is the tub I used, i already had it in my house


I used material from my kids medicine delivery which is very reflective. I suggest using white poster board instead, i will be changing this later and i will take a comparison photo. Use the matte side of the poster board not the shiny side.
This is the lights put together


And then added to the now reflective tub


I cut holes in 2 sides of the tub to fit a flat wooden paint-stirrer. The holes are in pictures below. Basically put the wood piece through both holes and zip tie the power strip. On one side you have to make the hole big enough for the plug to fit through.

I bought 4 2ft pvc pipes (1/2") 2 elbows 2 T connectors. Use a pvc pipe cutter to cut one of the pipes into 6" pieces for the feet.

Then push the pieces together like in the picture and use zip ties or something else to fasten the wood piece to the pvc. Just make sure the plug for each light fit snug in the power strip and are not in danger of falling down. If they are too heavy use something to fasten them to the power strip somehow.

Last note is to say that these cfls can build up a lil heat so i wouldn't use this in an enclosed space (like a tent) without ventilation. At the least make sure to keep an eye out on temp. This whole setup is very tweak-able for those inventive souls out there

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That's some Macgyver sh** right there!

I might use flat white paint for the inside and maybe a bigger strip to fit a 4th light plug in, maybe later today.

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