Willie,
sounds like you are doing the best you can for this plant right now..
honestly, you have picked the worst possible time of year to start growing a VFT..because its the dead of winter right now and the plant should be fully dormant..
the fact that is not dormant could cause it some problems later on..
this is what I would do if I were in your shoes..
forget the terrarium.
forget the aquarium.
forget buying any new lights.
you dont WANT the plant to be vigorous and growing right now..its not the right time of year for that.
The plant should be resting right now..
you cant give it a real, cold dormancy because its not prepared for that..sticking it 40 degrees would shock it and kill it.
so you need to give it the best kind of rest you can...its not ideal, but any rest is better IMO that trying to force it artifically back into summer right now.
I would stick the plant in ANY window..dont worry about the light...the light isnt important right now.
the plant shouldnt be growing much anyway.
if you have a cold drafty window, that would be better.
keep a small bit of water in the tray so it doesnt dry out.
leave it alone, except for watching the water level, until April.
In April, put it outdoors, anywhere that gets lots of full direct sunlight.
if it survived the winter, it will come back to life and start putting out new growth..
if not...well, it happens to all of us!
just start over, in april (best time of year to start) with some new VFTs..
but I suspect the plant will probably live..
then keep the plant outdoors until October, by which time you will already know what you are going to do about VFT dormancy for next winter..for your 5 VFTs and 3 Sarracenia you will have by then!
and you will also need to stop thinking in terms of days, and start thinking in terms of cyclical years..but that takes awhile...individual days are meaningless in the life and care of VFTs..
Scot
sounds like you are doing the best you can for this plant right now..
honestly, you have picked the worst possible time of year to start growing a VFT..because its the dead of winter right now and the plant should be fully dormant..
the fact that is not dormant could cause it some problems later on..
this is what I would do if I were in your shoes..
forget the terrarium.
forget the aquarium.
forget buying any new lights.
you dont WANT the plant to be vigorous and growing right now..its not the right time of year for that.
The plant should be resting right now..
you cant give it a real, cold dormancy because its not prepared for that..sticking it 40 degrees would shock it and kill it.
so you need to give it the best kind of rest you can...its not ideal, but any rest is better IMO that trying to force it artifically back into summer right now.
I would stick the plant in ANY window..dont worry about the light...the light isnt important right now.
the plant shouldnt be growing much anyway.
if you have a cold drafty window, that would be better.
keep a small bit of water in the tray so it doesnt dry out.
leave it alone, except for watching the water level, until April.
In April, put it outdoors, anywhere that gets lots of full direct sunlight.
if it survived the winter, it will come back to life and start putting out new growth..
if not...well, it happens to all of us!
just start over, in april (best time of year to start) with some new VFTs..
but I suspect the plant will probably live..
then keep the plant outdoors until October, by which time you will already know what you are going to do about VFT dormancy for next winter..for your 5 VFTs and 3 Sarracenia you will have by then!
and you will also need to stop thinking in terms of days, and start thinking in terms of cyclical years..but that takes awhile...individual days are meaningless in the life and care of VFTs..
Scot