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Post by Franky on Apr 12, 2011 21:54:16 GMT
Hi everyone. This is my first post here, and I have a question to ask. I have grown carnivorous plants in the past, and most of them were doing well. But when winter came, I didn't know what to do. Since the winters where I am are very cold, I had to do something for dormancy. So I left them in a cold room hoping they would make it, but none of them did. So this year I decided I would try again and buy a new VFT. I found this neat light online thats made for growing carnivorous plants. It looks like a good thing to give your plant the perfect amount of light throughout all the seasons. I was wondering if anyone here has used this before, and if they have could you please tell me if it's good or not? If this isn't good, what are some good light solutions for growing VFTs? Any replies would be much appreciated. Here is the link to the light: www.bugbitingplants.com/intelligent_plant_light.php
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Post by peterhewitt on Apr 13, 2011 21:55:28 GMT
Hi Franky, welcome to the forum. The plant light you show is probably not bright enough for VFT's. These pants prefer outdoor very sunny conditions. Plants good for these kind of lights might be Pinguicula or your smaller Drosera species/hybrids. Flytraps might struggle along very weak and floppy under flourescent light for quite some time, but its really not the best place for them. try natural light and tweak your dormancy plans rather. How cold is very cold?
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Post by Franky on Apr 14, 2011 0:31:54 GMT
So florescent lights don't work too well then? My flytraps were some of my plants that were doing quite well in natural light. My winter conditions are cold enough for snow. (I live in NH.)
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Post by Aidan on Apr 14, 2011 0:38:45 GMT
Fluourescent lamps can work very well, but 9w output is rather pathetic and as Peter notes likely insufficient to grow anything much with great success.
NH gets way too cold for Dionaea in winter, but a cool windowsill would be suitable. A good rule of thumb for winter temperature is 50F or lower, but not frozen!
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Post by clasby on Apr 14, 2011 1:44:06 GMT
I keep my flytraps in a fridge from the time it gets too cold to keep them outside (usually late October) to March and they always spring back famously.
The temp in there is perfect just make sure they don't dry out.
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Post by peterhewitt on Apr 14, 2011 9:17:20 GMT
A fridge "Dormancy" is also not something I would recomend. Even though plants do spring back well a few times, I'm not sure if plants experience true dormancy with below ground activity, whilst in a cold dark fridge. I know it can work, but I find plants "wake" far more robust and vigorous when given some light during dormancy.
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Post by Franky on Apr 14, 2011 11:23:01 GMT
I have two 40 watt lights that I can use, would 80 watts be enough? Or am I still better off growing with natural light for my flytraps?
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Post by peterhewitt on Apr 14, 2011 14:34:51 GMT
80 watts is fairly bright and if kept close enough to plants, it should be OK. Natural light is always better for Flytraps, but many people do grow them successfully under lights.
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Post by Franky on Apr 14, 2011 17:52:01 GMT
I think I will keep my Flytrap terrarium under my lights, but in a room with some natural light too. Thanks so much for all the help everyone!
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Post by Alexis on Apr 14, 2011 22:46:56 GMT
Add your location to your profile. Your winters are cold - but where do you live and where is NH???
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Post by lordpyro on Apr 15, 2011 0:52:18 GMT
He means New Hampshire which is in the NorthEast of the US
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Post by clasby on Apr 24, 2011 17:33:13 GMT
A fridge "Dormancy" is also not something I would recomend. Even though plants do spring back well a few times, I'm not sure if plants experience true dormancy with below ground activity, whilst in a cold dark fridge. I know it can work, but I find plants "wake" far more robust and vigorous when given some light during dormancy. I've been doing this a few years now and find it's been working great. What would you recommend? The winters here get to -20C and are obviously too cold to keep the plants outside. Anywhere else in the house (including the cold cellar) simply stay too warm to emulate a North Carolina winter.
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Post by kdodds on Apr 25, 2011 0:27:33 GMT
First, with that light, you're paying a whole lot of money for something that's more invested in looking good than working well. Check out aquatraders.com or ebay for very affordable T5HO fixtures that far outperform regular old T8 and T12 and CF (incandescent conversions and dedicated) fixtures. Look for the Odyssea brand. I've used them for years and they're very reliable. The lamps (bulbs) aren't the best, but can be replaced easily enough. The lamps have an effective life of at least a year, more like two years, which also is far better than other fluorescent types.
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Post by peterhewitt on Apr 25, 2011 17:11:02 GMT
As far as Dormancy is concerned, a cool windowsill somewhere in your house that is not heated a lot would work. whilst temperatures surely play a part in Dormancy, I think that light cues and watering have a greater effect. Photoperiod increase will also signal your plants that its time to flower in spring. You dont need to exactly mimic the plants natural Dormancy temperatures. I live where winter temperatures seldom go below freezing and day temperatures are much higher than in Dionaea natural habitat, but my plants all go dormant predictably and flower on cue in spring.
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Post by nepenthes77 on Apr 29, 2011 0:17:56 GMT
I grow them in natural light, artificial light may actually work, but it is in fact not cruicial. A cool windowsill will do, the best option, depending on your gardening zone, is to keep them outside for the winter. Make sure it is not fridge temperature.
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