What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Dewless

kccpguy

Carnivorous Plants KCCPGUY
Pygmy , graminafolia, spatula ,, Alicia are doing pretty well in my terrairum. They have water in little jars underneath and I also give them some top down water too(is this bad?). I give rain water. They are unless 2 GE grolights near 40 watts a few inches from their leaves.

My sundews are dewless. Some of them are sending up flowers . Anyway what I can get them "to do the dew."
 
It takes a lot of energy to produce the dew droplets, which means that good quality light is key. You said they are under 2 GE grolights, what size is that 4ft lights? What are the lumens on the bulb? In my experience its better to just buy ordinary flurescent bulbs. I mix 1 warm light and 1 daylight deluxe. This gives them a good spectrum of red and blue which plants use.

Also because I'm ignorant to the type of bulb you're using, they could be fine. If you just recently purchased, repotted, or introduced the plants to the environment its in it is normal for them to lose their dew. Just continue to give them good water and light and they will bounce back. You might not see any dew until they produce a new leaf.

Another area that needs inspection is what kind of media are you using? What are you growing the plants in, a stand/shelf of some sort or some sort of tank? What's the temps like?
 
Thanks. The plants are in a Terrarium with 2 gor lite GE big Bulds from Lowe's . I have been told by CP experts (not from Lowes) they are bright enough. I have them about 4 inches under the lights on pedestal like pots.

Medium , I repotted with perlit and peat spaghnum this last March.
The climate is warm enough in the terrarium to grow my N.Ampulairia (growing like crazy) and the other pitchers are doing well.

They have been in the terrium ever since I got them oh 2 months ago or 3.

They are not doing badly though but I would like to see some Dew which I have seen in the terrarium before and outside with the tropical ones.

Thanks for answering.

I just put up a newCP blog to which will accompany my website.

So apparently there is something keeping from being dewless.
The sundews are all spouting up flowers .

The GE gro lites are a year old or so.
 
Lights should be replaced about every 8 months to remain effective for plant growth. If you continue with indoor cultivation, you need new lights. Also, any covering, even thin plastic wrap will greatly reduce the part of the spectrum plants utilize. If you terrarium has a cover, remove it. If the plants seem to object replace the cover for awhile, but work towards eliminating it . Finally, the closer you can put the plant bodies to the lights, the better. I believe the Law of Inverse Square apples...if the lights are twice as far away, they produce 4 times less usable light. The obverse also holds rue...if you halve the distance you quadruple the amount of usable spectrum reaching the plants.
 
Well I don't have plastic wrap on any sides of terrarium. Interesting because a lot of people like to use it. The top is open to let in ventilation.
The sundews are close to the lights. I decided after some people said some of the tropical ones are better outside to try that.
Last year before a hospital stay in which many of the sundews were killed because of lack of water (my wife did not understand what to do). They had great dew outside before that. So... I am gradually introducing them to the outdoors. They are shooting up flowers all over the place and are getting ready to open their flowers.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I believe the Law of Inverse Square apples...if the lights are twice as far away, they produce 4 times less usable light. The obverse also holds rue...if you halve the distance you quadruple the amount of usable spectrum reaching the plants.

i still need someone to give me an answer to: why can i get nice red compact plants 16 inches away from the lights when everyone else needs to place them inches away? all im using are the cheapest T8's i could find. this one still confuses me or am i the only one who has tried growing them farther away?
 
Hey Rattler,

I think Mitch (LleopardGecko) also grows his pretty much at the bottom of the tank as opposed to having them a mere few inches away from the lights, and his plants are gorgeous.

I took the cover off my terrarium and some of the dews have "de-dewed."  However, I'm hoping this will force them to regrow their leaves and adapt to the lower humidity.  They're about 5 inches below T12s and a 30 Watt CF bulb.  In my experience, some dews need more light than others.  My spatulatas remained green for a while until I affixed a 150 watt equivalent CF on top of it and now it's turning red.  My D. capillaris however, easily turned red under normal 100 watt equivalent CFs....maybe that's why they're called the "Pink Sundew?"

182993956_dc967a7f38.jpg

D. intermedia growing in Lowes cube underneath 150 watt eq. CFs

182993841_76c28b4bd8.jpg

D. spatulatas underneath same lights

182990915_7013e22f79.jpg

D. capillaris and D. burmanni seedlings

182991082_6487bf5217.jpg

D. aliciae
 
try the windowsill. It seems to solve all my 'dewless' problems.

The species you're growing should be able to benefit from it. Make sure you adapt them to the lower humidity slowly though.
 
  • #10
Rattler,

When my plants are indoors, they are that far away too. Everything colors up fine, flowers normally, etc. I actuaally get better color under my lights then in the sun. Just that it's cheaper to keep them outside for the summer.
 
  • #11
I have been told by Sarracenia Northwest that the sundews should be about 4 inches from the lights. Interesting others do fine without being that close.
SpyCspider your sundews are real nice. I am particuarly interested in the D. aliciae though. Some of your suggested that might get more dew if they went outside. However the hot kansas sun , well I thought it got "sunburned" as it was much redder. Do they turn red because the sun makes them naturally pink? The other sundews are fine though.
I am just afraid the Kansas sun is going to dry it out and burn them to a crisp. Some of the pitchers seem to be getting a little burned on the tops.
Thanks for adding to this thread and those nice pics.:)
 
Back
Top