FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

It’s a 36 watt bulb also

You could probably back the lamp off a few inches and still be okay. I'm not overly educated on DLI, PPF, etc., but at one foot the PPFD is shown as 265 at one foot height. This would give you a DLI of a little over 13....barely "fair" lighting. If the inverse square law applies to this and if I've got this right, then dropping the light to six inches above the plant changes the PPFD to 1060 and giving a DLI of 53+ which is really good. This is *if* my ciphering (as Jethro would say) is correct...no guarantees there. But, at six inches I would think the 36W bulb should be plenty. It's going to create a small patch of light that is "good", though....as you get to the edges the PPFD starts dropping rapidly...think of probably a plate size area of "good" light. Maybe 8 inches would be good and give more coverage. There's an app called Photone that works pretty good at measuring DLI with your phone camera...it's a few bucks to get the LED tool for it.

This is appears to be a good website for studying lighting. It has some calculators on it for help with lighting. There's also a chart that you can use of what different carnivorous plants require in regards to DLI...you can use the chart along with the Photone app to fine-tune the height of your light. https://curiousplant.com/light-carnivor ... ts-part-2/

I'm just a newbie, myself, and sharing this for you to use or not use...hopefully I'm in the ballpark with all of this and the linked website is good.
Best wishes!

Just be sure the light isn't burning or drying your plant out.

It isn’t too far from it it’s about 6 inches and it’s covering 3 abt 5 inch pots!

Sounds like you've got it going good. Did the clamp light work ok for you?

Yes it did, kinda unstable since I have nothing but a ledge to put it on, its on there but like not completely clamped on so I’m not sure what to do there

If you post an image we might could come up with some ideas to help.

Can do! I’ll get one when I get home tonight and post it

Sorry it’s late! But here’s what I’m working with! The 2 in the orange pots are Lowe’s rescues, the one in the front is from PP, the back 2 look dente? But they’re probably typical sas they’re from Lowe’s lol

Also, do they have to be perfectly under the light? As you can see there’s 3 and only one light so i jjsy wanna make sure that’s enough

Sorry, I'm on a very low-speed DSL internet connection and the larger files for some reason at times choke on me when I try to view them.

Raising the light up to maybe 9 inches above the plants should increase the diameter of the cone of light but it will also decrease its intensity. You may want to try that so as to more adequately cover the three pots. I *think* you will still be providing sufficient light to them. Flytraps and sarracenia require lots of light and require very good artificial lighting if grown indoors. Sundews don't require that strong of a light (but they still respond well to more light). The edges of the cone will always be the weaker light.

I could try to raise the light up but it would be hard as in the picture I don’t have anywhere to raise it up to thats the problem sadly, so I could maybe move something line a nightstand over there instead so that they’re not as low down to the light? But as the same time you said the higher up it is the less the intensity, so that makes me think I should keep it where it’s at

Ok, the photo came up this time. I see your limitation with your setup in regards to adjusting the height of the lamp. How much freedom do you have in rigging something up? In other words, do you have a significant other (room mate, parent, spouse?) that might not like a makeshift support?

A simple, quick solution might be a chair with a slat out of a pallet lashed to the back of it and then placed at the edge of the table and the lamp clamped to the slat might give you a few inches extra to work with.

A DIY PVC pipe support is another option...some glue, a couple of tees and a couple of elbows and a few feet of pvc pipe could make something like this...spray paint it black or silver or some other color, or leave it white. A finishing touch would be some end caps for the ends of the base pieces...and it'd look pretty good. Use a chain or cord to hang the light and you could adjust it as you needed to. I would make the top cross bar piece's length equal to the diameter of two of your lights plus probably 8-12 inches extra...in case you want to add another light later on. I would also make the uprights at least 1-1/2 to 2 feet tall in case you want to put taller (sundews?) plants beneath the lights later, too. The taller the uprights the longer the ground pieces need to be for stability. Or, if you figure you won't be increasing the number of your plants cut the top crosspiece just big enough for your light plus six inches on either side...maybe 20-24 inches across. A small hacksaw could do the cutting.

An idea on building a stand...
https://mylifeabundant.com/how-to-make- ... row-light/

Cheap hacksaw...
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hyper-Tough- ... hbdg=L1600

I've heard of people cutting pvc pipe with *string* but I've never tried it...looks like the hacksaw would be easier!
https://youtu.be/ZJUsvoa3t3M

Anyhow, maybe some food for thought for you? Just some rabid thoughts of mine.

I could look into it! Im nkt much of a diy person but I know basics ! I live in a apartment so that’s where the challenge is at, i founf a lamp with a pretty sturdy base that weighs abouut 8 lbs so i thikk I’ll do that ratehr then risking doing something I might not be allowed to do in my apartment! And it’s fully adjustable so I would be able to move it however high or low I want!