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Is this ok for atleast healthy IF NOT thriving

vraev

Carnivorous plant enthusiast
Admin
Hi guys,

Finally I went from the OTT-Lite 13watt lamp to this::

2 x GE Britestik Fluorescent lights

stats each:

3500 K
56 CI
750 Luminex
34 watt

I am using 2 of them

Firstly my positioning...

Since I have no dome and no means to support that big tube over such a small tank, there is a overhang of 15 cm.

This is what i did. To avoid heating issues and tube failure...I used a piece of paper and made a wedge which I put over the sill of the tank on either sides.

I rested the tube with the fixture facing outwards.

As u notice the light going to plants is very low. So as a dome...I used a piece of regular box cardboard which coincidentally has a white outside and made a dome with the white over.

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[b said:
Quote[/b] ]crappy cell phone cam
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The light has improved. As for the overhang...I am trying 2 methods to grow live sphagnum that I just recieved. When I just put the red and green dragons...the displaced media gave me an idea to try 2 methods if one doesn't work.

I put some blond live sphagnum as a ground cover...kinda pressed it in a little. then I put some green sphagnum over it. I sprayed it and put quite some rain water in it.

In the terrarium...a couple of VFTs are closely spaced...but hopefully it shouldb't be too bad.

the surface was cleaned or most of the old dry "wetted" dead sphagnum was removed except for some parts where there was signs of green..ness and a piece of carpet moss.

Then I spread over the blond sphagnum...all of it on the ground cover. Then I once again placed the remaining scarce amount of green sphagnum on it.

Remember the drain hole I had on side through the media to see water level...well....I acutally put some blond sphagnum in there and put a little green on top...then I poured water in there...kinda to try a mini marshland and see if the moss survives.

I tried these 2 scenarios for the moss.

Now the lighting is the part. I have gone from my earlier one 13 watt lamp to 2 tube lights totalling a 68 watts and around 1500 lux.

I noticed that the heat production is kinda high now. So....I have this regular household revolving fan. I face it towards the terrarium and put on low.

I can notice the air inside moving as some of the vft leaves do move as well. Hopefully...the humidity should stay high, temp inside DID definately increase...and there is now aircirculation as well.

Hopefully the VFT's should now atleast grow well without any signs of low light...I don't care red traps...I just want them to be growing healthyly.

cheers,

varun
 
Should be better. I've never grown them inside so I can only give a hypothesis.

Should be time for them to start going dormant.

Varun is an awesome name. Is that Arabic? It's a really cool name.
 
I'm not an expert and can't begin to comment on most of what you've written, but the color temperature (3500K) seems a little low. I think plants do most of their photosynthesis in the 5000+ range; so it may be worth moving up the spectrum next time you're in the market for lights. With 68 watts, though, I'm guessing they'll get enough useful light to do well enough for now.
 
@ justlikeapril,

Lol! varun is a hindu indian name. The god of rain is varuna.

The plants are off tissue culture and keehns (from whom I bought them) told me it might be ok to let all of my 5 plants (only 2 exceptions) grow all yr till next winter. The plants need time to sync up. if I force dormancy, they may die

--

About the color temp.....darn.....I cannot find any other lights with like smaller bulbs or higher stats. darn......

I notice that my main B-52 VFT is like stalled...i.e., the small leaflet isn't growing compared to yest. is it becos, they are adjusting to the new light???
 
Are you indian? hindu? that's so cool. I think the indian culture is awesome and their clothes and music are beautiful! I can't understand the lyrics but I like the music!
 
lol! well...I am now kinda a indo-canadian. I am hindu and I did live in india for my first 15 yrs. yet...interestingly, I am not too much into indian films and music. If anything I like the old mythological telugu indian movies that came out in 1950's or 60's.

I am more of a english music listener and more of a western movie watcher.

Its interesting to know that another culture from a different part of the world finds the indian culture fascinating. I normally only hear ppl saying that they only like indian food ;) .

----

So guys....do u think this is ok for now? Is the temp thing too big of a deal? Becos if it is then I'll try to look for other replacement tubes of this size with higher rating.

But I really don't and can't afford to keep spending money. I would like to stay with these lights atleast till next summer break. Is this ok for the VFT's? There are 7 in there now and a small one whose lives depend on this.

-growlist-

Dionea Muscipula

B-52 Giant
Typical "red rosetted"
Dentate
Typical
Green Dragon
Red Dragon
--might be a second red dragon as accidentally a leaf with the white part came off and I put it on the peat..and covered it with a small layer of peat ;) --

Drosera

capensis : green form

----

cheers,

vraev
 
Hey vraev, it sounds like you more or less have the right idea. In the future, though, forget the Ott-Lights - they're not worth the extra expense, despite their pretty packaging. Ordinary cool or warm white fluorescents work almost as well, if not better.
You probably don't have enough plants to occupy the space beneath them, but it will actually be much cheaper for you to buy some of those four-foot, two-bulb fluorescent shoplights the next time you're in the market for lights. The four- and eight-foot varieties are a sort of industry standard, so they're far cheaper than smaller fixtures and bulbs, which are pretty much just used as accent and utility lighting in homes. I got my shoplight fixtures for under $10 US each, and a case of twenty tubes is like $20-$25.
Don't worry about low humidity in your tank! VFTs do fine in low humidity! So long as you don't let your plants grow for several months in a sopping wet tank and then move them into a desert climate, they should be just fine. If anything, high humidity will cause problems in the long term, causing your plant to make thin, weak leaves and inviting mold and other pests.
Best luck,
~Joe
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (vraev @ Sep. 20 2006,1:14)]
So guys....do u think this is ok for now? Is the temp thing too big of a deal? Becos if it is then I'll try to look for other replacement tubes of this size with higher rating.
Color temperature is a big deal, but like I said yours is not bad, just not quite optimal.  Think of it this way: you're stuck in the desert and come across a large cup.  Would you prefer that cup filled with: damp sand (standard incadescent light bulb), tap water ('cool white' 3500K lights), or sparkling filtered spring water ('daylight' 5500K lights)?  Your lights are like the tap water.  Not quite optimal, but perfectly healthy.  I was just pointing out the termperature for when you need to replace these bulbs.

Of course, my expertise would be more in physics than horticulture, so take my comments with a grain of salt...
 
lol.... don't worry..I totally understand the mechanics and the energy reasons, the spectrums needed etc.
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. As a uni student that was included in what I had to study to get here. ;)

Anycase, I got something to report. I returned the lights. I saw a GE plants and aquarium F33 or something like that. It apparently contains specific phosphates which amplify the light released in the red and blue regions...which plants normally prefer. it is a 24 inch tube, 90 CRI, 750 lumens, 20 watt and no temperature detail...yet....let me consider around 4000 maybe??

I was about to get that...when I noticed I need a fixture....then I noticed that this specific canadian tire carried only one fixture WHICH does NOT have a wall plug output...its like the ceiling wires.

At the end.. Instead of converting all and so on.....I decided on the following:::

1) My plants 'were' growing "ok" as you mentioned...surviving with the ott-lite and the bright shade of sunlight. All plants (except the two new green and red dragons) were producing more offshoots. I do not exactly know what etoliated leaves mean...but I can guess that my plants MAY show that symptom. Yet..still all are growing ok. I am not too worried about red traps as long as the plant can LIVE and grow fine. (maybe not at a fast pace).

2) However, once the winter break arrives or when I go home next month to mississauga...I'll have at my disposal a whole array of hardware stores nearby. I can : get a fixture, try getting the good tubes. Totally get 2 of them to replace the ott-lite ...and along with that...probably a timer.

In the meanwhile...I'll leave the plants alone. Hopefully they will manage. I spent like 8 hrs going around places....taking buses to and fro canadian tire 6 times already without any fruitfulness. So, after all this...what is the point of going for something that is not good enough. If the plants can live ok now.....atleast that gives me some time to concentrate more on school and then when the opportunity arises...get them a present that can make them light up.
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so what do u guys think?? Do VFT's die in "low light" (not entirely as I have bright sunshade from a north facing window...and a ott-lite that is turned on for atleast 17 hrs along with the daytime) ?? Do I have time to get to them later???

thanx for all the help and suggestions.

Once I can get everything going...I will make my own VFT blog with info on my techniques (guide for a mississauga VFT newbie) ;)

http://vraev.blogspot.com/
 
  • #10
Varun- they should be able to hold on til you can get it together properly- most of yer plants are fresh outta TC anyways, are they not??

I grow mine under some MIGHTY unimpressive lights, moving them to the windowsill for dormancy, and they flower every year and grow nicely (oddly enough, the ones I left outside overwinter grew this year, but didn't flower for me, whereas the windowsill "milder dormancy" ones perform REALLY well)

and before anyone mentions that I should grow them outside in summer to take advantage of the higher light- I KNOW that lol but I somehow forget to move them pretty much every year!!

I'll keep my fingers crossed for your little collection- if there's any problem, it will DEFINITELY not be for lack of effort on your part though, I am real impressed with the amount of time (time you say you don't even HAVE lol) that you have put into this so far, good show man!!
 
  • #11
Thank you for the kind words carl. I really appreciate it.

Yeah....I decided that its enough time I spent on them already. Once in a day...or twice or three times....lol! darn....maybe 10 times I just look at the plants....see the tiny shoots growing...look for the moss showing any progress and so on.
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I just got some AL foil from home and some good home food. (Yum!) & some ziplock bags...kinda big...but meh.....
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The only small VFT is actually kinda slowing down. Nearly all VFT traps are becoming sluggish...I guess dormancy is kinda approaching them. Depending on how slow they get I will just remove them....wash with aquafina distilled (yeah! no sodium as compared to dasani which has sodium)
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...and use some of the dry moss that Rick has sent me to wrap it damp and shove it into the small fridge I have.

If any fungus grows....I am sorry for the plant..becos I did all I can at this stage of my life...I cannot just spend any more effort for it. Atleast until I get into medschool + after residency
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when I will honestly try to make a REAL MINI CAROLINA...spend the money....use land for creating various habitats.
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Until then....I rather work my teh butt off than spend too much time on the plants.

Sorry that I didn't follow up regarding the seeds carl. I will get them from you later...when I can really afford spending time with these amazing plants.

In the meanwhile...I hope the moss grows and the VFT's all live.

cheers,

varun
 
  • #12
OOH! I want to go to medschool after I go to college, too!
 
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