FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I've been growing a variation of plants in a new tank I set up using two GreatValue BR30 Reflector LED bulds (picture below). The fixture runs for 12hrs a day. The plants started off doing alright but I've noticed some leaves turning yellow and some of the ends of my Drosera binata and Drosera multifida extrema are turning black. My Cephalotus and Heliamphora have also halted in growth, but my Pinguicula moranensis is doing just fine. I read online this may be a result of too much light. Should I turn the time down a few more hours?






The Pinguicula moranensis mean while is doing great!

Could we see a couple more pictures, especially of the entire plant? For Drosera, cephalotus, and heliamphora, there is almost no such thing as too much light, so they might just be getting used to their new conditions. Again, more pictures would help though.

I've having trouble telling what plant that is that's having problems, which leads me to believe it was light-starved before and why it's burning now. If you leave it there, new growth should be healthy.

mo_carnivore wrote:Could we see a couple more pictures, especially of the entire plant? For Drosera, cephalotus, and heliamphora, there is almost no such thing as too much light, so they might just be getting used to their new conditions. Again, more pictures would help though.

I also forgot to mention that none of the sundews are producing any dew.

How long have the plants been under those lights?

nimbulan wrote:How long have the plants been under those lights?

Two months

I think you may not have enough light in there. The sundew is growing like it's light-starved and I don't see much color on anything else.

If it was burn from the light there would be way more damage all over the leaf, as well as some areas of red colored tissue. To me it looks more like root rot has set in from the conditions being a bit too moist. The ceph is not that bad though.

nimbulan wrote:I think you may not have enough light in there. The sundew is growing like it's light-starved and I don't see much color on anything else.

Are you sure? The butterwort is developing a deep pink on its new leaves and the spag moss around the base of the plant it also turning black.

I've had D. Capensis and find it don't really need a lot of humidity. I had Capensis under high light and the leaf tips blackened. Both it and my Pings are doing great in a southern exposure window that gets maybe 3-4 hours of indirect sunlight, when it's sunny.

I agree with nimbulan about the low light levels. That combined with high humidity will lead to the rot conditions like sundewwolf mentioned. A high light heterodoxa will turn deep red through the whole body of the pitcher. That one has very little color to it.

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boarderlib wrote:I agree with nimbulan about the low light levels. That combined with high humidity will lead to the rot conditions like sundewwolf mentioned. A high light heterodoxa will turn deep red through the whole body of the pitcher. That one has very little color to it.

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I appreciate the responses. I turned up the timer on the light from 12 hours to 15 hours. I'll post updates if I notice any changes.

spruill771 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 27, 2018 1:26 pm I turned up the timer on the light from 12 hours to 15 hours. I'll post updates if I notice any changes.

I don't think it's a problem of how long the photoperiod is but how much light they're getting (brightness, light wattage, lux, however you want to think of it). If you can up the brightness on the lights, as well as extending the amount of time those lights are on, that might help.

Also the moss for the Drosera looks a bit mushy to me. You've got a fogger and water in the bottom of the tank, or at least it looks like there's water in the bottom of the tank, so it's probably pretty humid in there. I don't have a tank to put the plants in but I know some people here do, so maybe they'll have more advice.

But to give you something actionable:

Try turning up the brightness on the lights or get brighter lights.
Monitor the

• color
• wetness
• smell

of the moss for signs of mold.