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Hello, I'm new to the forums and to the Carnivorous Plant world. I recently expanded my collection of plants from a whopping 1! to 2! thanks to Home Depot I got myself a Nepenthes.

I bought 2 twin tube T8 fixtures, and I put a mix of Daylight/6500K tubes and Warm Natural/3000K. I put one of each bulb in each fixture. Is this a good light setup? Or should I have went with all Daylight/6500K tubes?

I mounted the lights over a table, and then lined the walls with foil. I made a ghetto makeshift reflector out of foil as well. I get about 29-32 celcius under the lights with about 35% humidity. I placed my Nepenthes in a dome I made from a water bottle and I placed my hygrometer in it. I get about the same temps with 65% humidity during the day and about 70%-80% at night.

I bought a 20ix10.5x12 inch fish tank. I'm not sure how I should set it up. I was thinking either line the bottom with sphagnum and place the plants in their pots on top. Or just place them in the tank with trays. I'm going to be getting some more plants in a month or so, mostly Drosera thanks to petmantis!

Here's some pictures of my setup i have right now. Any suggestions or comments would be more than appreciated. Like i said I'm new to all this :).

This is how i have it during the day.

http://img22.imageshack.us/i/img0980b.jpg/

http://img36.imageshack.us/i/img0981r.jpg/

http://img97.imageshack.us/i/img0982jx.jpg/

http://img36.imageshack.us/i/img0983w.jpg/

Here's my VFT. I have 4 plants in the pot now, i need to separate the small ones and then place the bigger ones in hibernation asap. The messed up leaf was caused by a cage i had placed over it to stop my cat from eating the traps lol. didnt work. I now have it in the grow room locked up away from the beasts.

http://img88.imageshack.us/i/img0984n.jpg/

The Nepenthes had no pitchers when i bought it about a week and a half ago, now it's starting to grow it's first.

http://img337.imageshack.us/i/img0986.jpg/

http://img97.imageshack.us/i/img0985p.jpg/


Here's the Aquarium i just bought for 5 bucks and the Terrarium I have but dont really want to use due to it's awkward dimensions.

http://img97.imageshack.us/i/img0987os.jpg/
http://img97.imageshack.us/i/img0988b.jpg/
 
6500K is blue spectrum which promotes foliage growth (potentially bigger leaves/traps). 3000K is red spectrum which promotes floral growth (faster flowering). I should note that plants will flower under all-6500K, since 6500K, while blue, is considered full-spectrum. People use either-or. I've seen people swear by all6500K setups and other say the mix is better. I really don't think it matters enough to be too concerned. I use all-6500K and have great results.

If you're going to trim off any and all flowers you get and are only concerned with leaves, pitchers, and traps, I'd ditch the 3000K's and go with all-6500K.

Your Nep is a Ventricosa. You don't need the water bottle. 35% humidity for a ventricosa is plenty - they adapt very well. My Lowe's ventricosa often gets 20% humidity and still pitchers like it's going out of style. Acclimate it at this point though - take the dome off for a few hours at a time, more and more for about 10 days. Then toss it aside (keep it, you may need it for another plant later).

Many drosera don't need a terrarium either - granted some need more humidity than others - but their ability to create dew is much moreso due to getting adequate light than getting adequate humidity. The dew is produced via part of photosynthesis, which light has everything to do with. My sundew (dielsiana, 2 capensis, spatulata, and adelae) have no terrarium and live in the same environment as my Lowe's ventricosa and they dew up fine. When you get them in the mail, it takes a few weeks to start creating dew as they adapt.

Having them in a terrarium is fine, I'm not telling you 'noooooo terrariums are bad' - I'm just saying it's not required for what you're growing.

You can probably stand to move your VFT and Nepenthes a few inches closer to the light. I can't judge well from the pics, but they should probably be about 6" from the lights themselves. Most sundew (and many neps, for that matter) often find being that close a little too warm for their liking - considering you're at 90 degrees F in there as it is. It'll be even warmer in a terrarium under there.

Happy growing. :)
 
Hey Veronis,

Thanks for all the input, I really appreciate it. I think i might switch to all 6500K's lke you recommend as i dont have any flowering plants as of yet.

The Terrarium is mostly to stop my cats from eating the plants. One of them has a taste of VFTs.

The lights are 10 inches from the top of the pots. Should it be 6 inches from the tips of the plants? I can lower the heat in the room by turning down the heater if i move the lights closer.

I just recently put the dome on the Ventricosa. It was pretty dried out when i bought it from Home Depot. Do you think i should just ditch the dome right now? it's only been on for about a week.
 
Flytraps (temperate plants in general) and terrariums typically mix very poorly - VFT's are high on the list of being a no-terrariums plant. It's much harder to get them into dormancy (you have to take them out of the terrarium to do so) while they are simultaneously trying to adapt to much lower humidity. It should actually be going dormant now.

And yes, I'd move the plants or the light to get them a few inches closer. Even 8" is okay, but 6" is better. 10" is a little farther away than is ideal for that setup.

Definitely turn down the heater regardless or close the vent in that room. The light is putting off plenty of heat (some would say it's a few degrees too hot) for them considering your current temps.

You can remove the dome from the Nep over the course of a couple days since it's only been under it a short period. Considering that, I'd cut a few holes (1/4-inch wide slits) into it one day, a few more the next day and at the end of the third day, remove it completely. Granted, you CAN just remove the dome with no acclimation, but that forming pitcher will be more likely to get stunted and grow poorly. It shouldn't hurt the plant.
 
hey im a noob also so i have no imput but i like the foil comtraption you have over it lol :)

:cool:
 
By the way, while your humidity dome isn't necessary for the ventrata or ventricosa you have there, it's an excellent design for a humidity demanding species you may find yourself growing in the future.

VFT's are definitely outdoor plants. The sun always does them better.

Your foil light deflection is top notch. Is that setup in your living room or kitchen? My wife would kill me.
 
Lol thanks for all the positive feedback on my 'ghetto makeshift' reflector. Ya it's not setup in my kitchen. I have a spare room thats really too small for anything, so I set it all up in there.

I definitely need to put my VFT into dormancy as you are all saying. I have 4 plants in the pot, I have 3 mature plants and 1 tiny baby one. Should i place them all into dormancy? or just the mature ones and leave the small one under the lights for the winter?

I have another room in my house which is not heated but doesnt get that much light. would it be ok to place the VFTs in there to get them started into dormancy? or maybe between the two sets of windows so that it's kinda cold but not freezing? the temps at night get to about -1 Celsius right now and 5 during the day. Could i just place them outside or is it too cold already? I'm going to place them in the fridge for the winter.

I need to read up on how prepare them for the fridge.
 
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