Is 4 hours enough?

[TomV]

Hello everyone,

Quick question: Is 4 hours of direct sunlight for mature Sarracenia enough? My home (in New Jersey) is mostly shaded by trees, however, I do have an area that receives direct sun from approx. 10:30am-2:30pm. I understand that these plants are sun lovers, I was just curious if anyone has had any luck growing them with this amount of light. Any replies would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Tom

 

[sarracenialuver]

Hello,
welcome to the forums, I would say that is O.K. for sarracenia, they should then have bright light, not direct, also for enough light. Mine are very colorful and happy at 5 hours of bright direct light, then just regular light for 1 hour. Hope it helps,
Kevin

 

[brisco225]

I would have to say that four hours is not enough for Sarracenia, which require ATLEAST six hours of FULL sun. However, a full days worth is required to show off their true colors. With too little full sun, Sarracenia will develop spindely, green pitchers.  Are you thinking of keeping them indoors?  Let us know your situation, and maybe we can come up with an alternate idea.

 

[TomV]

...I was thinking of keeping them on a screened in porch, under flourescents, but for tall sarracenias, the light will need to be quite a bit above the base of the plant. Any artificial lighting ideas for mature sarracenia? Thank you.

Tom

 

[brisco225]

It is really, really, really hard to generate enough light for tall Sarracenia under flourescent lights. For the intensity that Sarracenia like, flourescent lights are unable to generate. I would check out lighting 101 under the terrarium and bogs forum. Is there anyway you can keep them outdoors, but not under the screened in porch? What part of the country are you in?

 

[sarracenia]

In my opinion, 4 hours is enough light. However, they will likely not develop their full coloration, and overall vigor will probably be suppressed somewhat. I highly doubt the plants will perish. When I first started growing Sarr's, my backyard then only got about that much direct light a day. The plants all grew fine, if slightly stunted. When I moved to a place that got about 9 hours of sun/day, the results were unbelievable. Much more vigorous growth and intense coloration, compared to where I used to live.

 

[brisco225]

It also depends on what latitude you live in. Up in Washington State, we already have decreased light levels due to the curve of the Earth. Even with an entire days worth of direct sun, there are some color variations in some plants that will still not produce their true color due to this.

 

[TomV]

Thanks for the replies!...I am just worried that the mature sarracenia that I have recently acquired are going to suffer from low light levels. I have some really nice mature plants (like S. flava "coppertop," leucophylla, etc.). If 4 hours of direct sun will be enough for them to produce pitchers of proper structure, I'll be happy. I can live with the fact that they won't obtain their optimum coloration. I was also thinking of moving some of the smaller species (S. purpurea x flava ornata, S. purpurea x leucophylla, etc.) into a terrarium with two 40W flourescents. I am just worried that if I decide in the future to move them outdoors, they will be used to terrarium conditions and will die as a result of lower humidity here in New Jersey.

Tom

 

[Spectabilis73]

most of my sarracenia are outside, they get sun, usually full sun, from dawn to dusk. IMHO, 4 hours of direct sun is enough light for sarracenia

 

[TomV]

I'll probably see how they do with the 4 hours. If I see poor pitchers, I'll probably supplement the plants with some artificial light. I read the lighting 101 thread, but still have the following question: Do artificial lights need to be at least 12" away from the base of the plant, or the top of the plant? (Assuming we're speaking of flourescents). With a mature sarracenia, I could put the light a couple of inches away from the tallest pitchers, but the light source will be about 24" from the base of the plant.