Tin foil reflectors

[adymitruk]

It' the middle of winter. The sun is low. I have some tiny VFTs in a pot that's a little too deep in the pot for them to get full sun exposure (they're in a south facing window). Some of their leaves get a bit of sun.

So here is my strategy. I've made little reflectors out of tinfoil and toothpicks:

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These reflect the sun back onto the plant. My worry is that the plant receives double sun exposure on a couple of leaves. With reflections coming off the surface of any standing water, would these plants not get a similar amount of light in the wild?

Since they are skipping dormancy, I'd like to get them as much "food" as possible.

Is this "over-parenting"?

Thanks in advance!

Adam

PS. I also have 3 X 40W CFL on them for 14+ hours a day. They drop down to 2-3" above them once daylight is gone. During daylight, the lighting is raised just enough for all sunbeams to get through.

[DelawareJim]

Sounds like overkill. From my experience with VFT's in the wild when I was down in Wilmington, NC, they were often hidden down in grasses and small forbs. So with all that overhead growth and the sun lower on the horizon, light is significantly reduced. You should also raise your lights and cut back on the hours to no more than probably 12 hours.

I put mine in my unheated garage for the winter here in southeastern PA. They get about 15 minutes of direct morning sun each day through a window and have been perfectly happy.

Here's some pics from Barry Rices site of habitat like I saw back then.

www.sarracenia.com/photos/dionaea/dmusc060.jpg
www.sarracenia.com/photos/dionaea/dmusc074.jpg

Cheers.
Jim

[Aidan]

Adding your location to your forum profile would give us an idea of your climate.

That said, under most circumstances it is pretty much impossible to give Dionaea "too much" light. Your plants should be fine as they are.

[adymitruk]

having been transplanted in Dec, they were forced to skip dormancy by being given growlights so that their root systems could recover. Once they did that, it was too late to start reducing hours of light to simulate dormancy. They were supermarket rescues.

I'm in Vancouver Canada.

Thanks for your answers,

Adam

[DelawareJim]

Depending on the type of growlights you're using, you can line the fixture with heavy duty mylar above the bulbs to reflect that portion of light back down to the plants. Or you can go to an on-line source like A H Supply and get parabolic reflectors.

Cheers.
Jim

[adymitruk]

I think they're doing well enough to make it through the year. I'll look into some more heavy duty setup for next winter for any tiny VFTs that I may have.. Thanks for all your suggestions!

Adam

[ryanhellyer]

I have some plants on my window sill. The ones which are lodged in behind my curtains (which have a white back on them) tend to grow much better than those in the middle which aren't always behind a little bit of the curtain. I'm assuming this is due to the white backing of the curtains reflecting/scattering light back toward the plant.

[Richard Davion]

I've been-THERE Done-'Thart' Regarding Mirrors-&-Reflectors ... CHEAP-Polythene is-'Better'-than The Expensive Specialised Plastics and Lasts-Longer-than The-'One'-Season Everyone Talks-about.

As-Regards to-Your Current(?)-Pot .... Just cut-The-Rim-OFF and Let-The-Sunshine-IN, so-to-Speak!!! >(*U^)<