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Pink?

I know that when a vft has a pink tinge on its leaves that its happy. But what is required to make the vft happy? Is it meerly the right growing conditions, water, and plenty of sun? Or do you have to feed it? Also, under proper conditions, how long does it take for the plant to "pinken"?
 
Well, in my experiance, it's the sunlight that makes it 'pinken'. But most of my VFTs don't 'pinken', they turn deep red in the middle, blood red.
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Light is the BIGGEST factor, then temperature. Humidity and an occasional feeding helps too
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Travis
 
Does it have to be sunlight or will artificial light work too (like from an ordinary lightbulb)? Because today is very overcast and it's not getting a lot of sun.
 
Either or...If kept outside not everyday has to be a bright sun shinny day. They only need about 5 hours (could be more but five hours would do) of direct sunlight (make sure you give them time to adjust so they do not burn). For artificial lighting they need about 10 to 12 hours of lighting.

Travis
 
For artificial light - the closer to the light the pinker the trap gets.
 
What is "direct sunlight" exactly? Do they have to be outside in the sun or will next to a window do? And how do I "adjust" them? Sorry I'm being so particular, I just want this to happen right.
 
Hybrid,
Well, to adjust them, just think about going to the beach after the winter....Do you go out in the sun for hours when all winter-white? NO WAY! You'de be in a world of hurt, right? Well, same thing. The first day, maybe 1 hour of direct sun, then back in the artificial light....Second day, a little longer. You gotta toughen them up.

Direct sun: being directly in the sun. I don't think it makes a difference if it's on the inside of a window unless your windows are treated to filter out UV....some one else better step in on this one.
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</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Travis @ April 22 2003,09:42)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">For artificial lighting they need about 10 to 12 hours of lighting.

Travis[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I give mine 16 hours a day, 2 40 watt 48 inch florecent grow lights, that's what made one of my green dragons have blood red traps.
-Spec
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  • #10
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Hybrid @ April 22 2003,10:28)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Does it have to be sunlight or will artificial light work too (like from an ordinary lightbulb)? Because today is very overcast and it's not getting a lot of sun.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
If your 'normal lightbulb' is an incandescent bulb, then I would recommend against using it.  Incandescent bulbs get too hot.  If you use one of the screw-in energy saver flourescent bulbs then that's OK.  Don't worry about overcast days too much either.  The occasional overcast day won't make much difference to your VFT.

I like growing my VFTs outside.  My plants look better and they feed themselves.  The only problem with feeding themselves is you may never see a trap open for more than ½ day before it catches a bug.  This wears the traps out quicker than if you fed the traps by hand one trap at a time once or twice a month.  I like to let nature take its course, but others like having the traps open for display.
 
  • #11
I would love to grow my vft outside but it's way too cold! Today's high temp only 42 degrees. Right now I'm just keeping it next to the window and it seems to getting enough sunlight.
 
  • #12
Same with me - I live in the uk in Wales and it's freezing usally! It's 15* at the moment - Outside that is!
 
  • #13
Don't feel too bad guys. Mine still spend most of their time inside. I put them outside on nice days to get some sun for a couple hours then bring them in at night. Later this summer when the nights stay warmer I'll leave them out 24/7. Right now tho' my weather is too unpredictable to leave them outside all the time.
 
  • #14
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Spectabilis73 @ April 23 2003,12:15)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Well, in my experiance, it's the sunlight that makes it 'pinken'. But most of my VFTs don't 'pinken', they turn deep red in the middle, blood red.
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[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Your very lucky to have blood red colored typicals.  From what I've gatherd in research, their is a series of genes that determin pigment, the more turned on, the redder the plant, the more turnerd off, the less red.  Because of the way these genes work, a bell curve is established with most being a medium pink with higher and lower color concentrations becomeing less and less frequent

Bad drawing:

Green                       Pink                            Red
                              **
                           *      *
                         *          *
                      *                *
                    *                     *
                *                            *
          *                                        *
   *                                                       *

Kind of nifty, but also anoying when you can't find the red ones (like me... I got an almost totally green though)
 
  • #15
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (BigCarnivourKid @ April 23 2003,09:50)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Don't worry about overcast days too much either.  The occasional overcast day won't make much difference to your VFT.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

No kidding, LOL, think about where the things grow in the wild![/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
No kidding, LOL, think about where the things grow in the wild!
 
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