FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello everyone!

As some of you may know I have a few flytrap seedlings closing in on their fourth week of growth after germination. These VFTs are also my very first so naturally I am wondering about a few things.

A few days ago I took my seedlings out of their terrarium and put their pots on a plate so I can water them from underneath. Was this a good time to remove them from their terrarium (their traps have started opening up if that is any indication)?

Im currently using a 28W 6500k CLF light which I have situated about 1-1.5 inches above the pots. I have used the so called barry factor (sarracenia.com) to measure the light intensity using my camera and came up with a barry factor of 200%. So my question is, is this enough lighting? Even during the dark winter months? Which also brings me to my next question.

Dormancy, should I let my tiny almost-4-week-old seedlings go dormant or not?

Yes, I always remove the humidity dome by the time I see traps.

Be sure to gently top-water at the soil at least twice a month to oxygenate the soil; otherwise they will go into decline and many may die after two months.

Don't keep the tray sitting in water full-time. Under that light, a simple 4-inch plastic pot like that can go 3-4 days or more without needing to be watered again (and that's after the tray is completely dried out). If you overwater them, they could go into decline in a matter of a few weeks. If there's any empty space with no seedlings anywhere in the pot, a good test is to stick your finger about a half-inch into the soil - if it feels more damp than dry, no need to water yet.

The light is fine, and your barry factor is also fine - the light you have could be as far away as 6 inches and they'll still grow well, but you've got the right idea positioning it as close as possible. 6500K is what I use for seedlings as well, and 28 watts of compact fluorescent light is plenty for them.

The only concern I have is what is the ambient temperature being that close to the light? If it's 90-95 degrees F or higher, you're pushing too hot and you should back off the light till the temp is somewhere around 85-90 max, seeing as they'll be under it long-term. 95 degrees might even be OK, but I wouldn't trust it - I'd expect the seedlings' growth to be stunted at that temp, so try to keep it below that.

Change the bulb every year (you may not notice the light degradation over time, but your plants will). If you don't, again with them going into decline due to lack of sufficient light.

Run the bulb about 14 hours a day. I've done 15 hour and 16 hour cycles and it doesn't really seem to make a difference past 14 hours.

You can skip dormancy this year for sure. Let them go dormant next year.

Good luck!

Thank you for answering my questions Veronis!

I had no idea that I had to water them from above like that.

The temperature doesn't seem to rise very much, I can hold my hand extremely close to the bulb and just feel a very comfortable heat. Also it's winter and the pots are close to a semi-poor insulated window so the temperatures doesn't get abnormally high.

Nyxen wrote:I had no idea that I had to water them from above like that.

Another advantage of occasionally watering from the top and allowing water to drain, then discarding the drained water, is to help remove any accumulation of soluble material in the growing medium, which over time can harm or even kill the plant(s) if it becomes to concentrated (TDS (total dissolved solids) too high in PPM (parts per million)). Good luck!