FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Good Evening,

Just wanted to get some thought on this light I purchased -

https://www.amazon.com/Shengsite-Hydrop ... grow+light

I'm curious just how close this should be from the plant. I originally had it set very close like 10" and swapped between sunlight and this. I'm thinking it may have been two close as the traps are unhealthy looking.

I recently raised it to 17". Still too close or too far away? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

I would keep it at 17" for a bit and start lowering it if your plants begin looking healthy again. 10 inches was probably too low though, I would set it to probably 12 to 15 inches.

Venus fly traps need at least a PAR of 250 ppfd. Your light surpasses that threshold, according to the chart in the link you posted, when it is 8 inches above the plant.

Jagasian wrote:Venus fly traps need at least a PAR of 250 ppfd. Your light surpasses that threshold, according to the chart in the link you posted, when it is 8 inches above the plant.

Where did you get that VFT need 250 PAR, I'm just curious, I've never seen any mention of this requirement anywhere? I have 2 Kingbo 45's they also have a PAR chart and actual PAR readings with an Apogee meter agree with their chart. My LED's are 15" above the grow shelf. I have low to medium light orchids under mine. I've never tried to grow any CPs exclusively under these lights. The shelf also gets some indirect sunlight from a southern exposure window. The LED s are great at stimulating new leaf and root growth and flower spikes. They also seem to prolong flowers on some orchids.
My bottom shelf has a 4 foot, 6 T5 tube fixture. It also is 15" above the shelf BUT I've built a 6" high shelf that I put sundews and flytraps on top of bringing them about 8" from the light. I hate to say it, it's almost a sacrilege, but the flytraps do better there than they do outside in full sun. The tubes are 65k. The PAR at the top of the Dionaea m. is around 400 or more and I've not fried them yet, they keep pushing out new growth.

Jagasian wrote:Venus fly traps need at least a PAR of 250 ppfd. Your light surpasses that threshold, according to the chart in the link you posted, when it is 8 inches above the plant.

Interesting. I never even noticed that graph with the PAR rating so are we thinking 15" would be a pretty good height. Appreciate everyone's feedback thus far.

This research article lists the PAR saturation point for various carnivorous plants. On the third page is “Table 1”, which lists the experiment results. The second to last column lists the PAR saturation for fly traps in the first row: 231 ppfd plus or minus 24. So to be safe, you want to ensure 255 ppfd hits every part of your plant. Note that this means that more than 255 ppfd must hit the topmost part of the plant to ensure the lower parts of the plant get at least a PAR of 255 ppfd.

Since my Kronos plant is so incredibly bushy in growth form, I have the topmost part of the plant at a PAR of around 500 ppfd and the lower sides at 400 ppfd near the exterior to ensure that the lower traps inside the “bush” receive approximately 250 ppfd.

Mikedaman34 wrote:Good Evening,

Just wanted to get some thought on this light I purchased -

https://www.amazon.com/Shengsite-Hydrop ... grow+light

I'm curious just how close this should be from the plant. I originally had it set very close like 10" and swapped between sunlight and this. I'm thinking it may have been two close as the traps are unhealthy looking.

I recently raised it to 17". Still too close or too far away? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

15” above the top of the soil will give you roughly a PAR of 250 ppfd for parts of the plant that are not shaded by other parts of the plant, and also only for the center of the plant.

The sides of your plant and shaded parts will not receive enough light intensity. Sunlight on a cloudy day is easily a PAR of 800 ppfd, and on a clear day reaches a PAR of 2000 ppfd. In other words, you will need to hit a PAR higher than 250 at the center of the top of the plant in order to ensure the sides and shaded parts get enough light.

Consider buying a PAR meter to see for yourself why artificial lighting done poorly is inferior to outdoor sunlight. Artificial lighting done right, however, is superior to sunlight because you can deliver “goldilocks” levels of PAR at all angles to the plant and do so for a longer duration each day than what the sun provides (17 hours per day).

I recommend this PAR meter:
Hydrofarm LGBQM Quantum PAR Meter Micromol Sensor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055F59LA/re ... eBbRR49M80

The paper pins it down pretty well, I like it and your information refines it. I've used an Apogee MQ-200 for a number of years in conjunction with marine reef aquariums. It is an older meter, but it does the job. A lux meter that also can give you foot candles is also a good tool and there are calculations that can convert LUX to PAR. IMO, what I see with the blue/red led fixtures is very usable PAR but not so much LUX/ foot candles (or penetration depth), hence the need to position the fixture as close as you can to the plants. The very size of the plant is most likely the main determining factor of the light height. If my orchid grows a long flower spike, the light gets raised.
Good stuff!

So are we saying I should hang the light at 10" above the plant or that it simply not powerful enough? Is there such a thing as providing too high a PAR rating for a venus fly trap?

Mikedaman34 wrote:So are we saying I should hang the light at 10" above the plant or that it simply not powerful enough? Is there such a thing as providing too high a PAR rating for a venus fly trap?

Go with 8” for now. As long as the PAR a venus fly trap is exposed to is not increased too quickly, it can acclimate to up to 2000 PAR (peak intensity of sunlight) and maybe even higher. In the wild, fly traps grow in full sun (no shade). Unless you buy a highend LED light used for professional marijuana growing, do not worry about too much PAR for a fly trap. Your artificial light is simply too weak to burn a fly trap.

If you have been growing under weak light for a long time and then put a fly trap under very high PAR, the plant will get hurt. So increase the PAR slowly each day.

Just wanted to throw this out there for whoever is following this thread. I. It the bullet and bought the 300w Mars Hydro. It's a night and day difference in brightness. I put it at 20" for a couple days and just dropped it to 18" (16 on, 8 off).

I have the traps planted in LSM and using the tray watering method. However I chose not to let them sit in water as I felt it was keeping the moss too wet. Now the moss is damp and when the top starts to feel dry ill pour a little more water in it.

We will see how it goes. Thanks for all the previous input!!

Information on the PAR for that fixture says 445 PAR at 18" above the plant at a 12" diameter, that should work. All my VFT sit in water no mater what they are planted in about 1/3 the height of the pot or so, IMO, this seems to work.

Mikedaman34 wrote:Just wanted to throw this out there for whoever is following this thread. I. It the bullet and bought the 300w Mars Hydro. It's a night and day difference in brightness. I put it at 20" for a couple days and just dropped it to 18" (16 on, 8 off).

I have the traps planted in LSM and using the tray watering method. However I chose not to let them sit in water as I felt it was keeping the moss too wet. Now the moss is damp and when the top starts to feel dry ill pour a little more water in it.

We will see how it goes. Thanks for all the previous input!!

A 300 watt LED light that puts out only blue and red spectrums is going to be more than enough PAR to burn your plant if you do not slowly adjust it to the change. It can take 2 weeks for a plant to adapt to changes in its environment. So move slowly with decreasing the distance of the light to the plant, and move slowly when increasing the duration of the light per day.

Once the plant adjusts, it can be hardy to intense light.

I'm new here hello all.
I'm in central California in the valley & summers get ruff. I have some vtf's out side under a 30% shad cloth it's a challenge ill leave it at that. Now I've ben growing vtf's last 2 years and have my first baby clone i got to grow. Tiny lil booger probly take atleast 3 years before it can have trap that will eat a fly. They get nats & i give them tiny chunks of bloodworms just to do it with my grandson. He calls them piranhas.
I grow anything from vegetables to exotics but newish to vtf's.
My main question is on led lights & want to try them now.
I have 2-1200 watt full spectrum philzon led's and not sure what hieght i should set the light at to get maximum par with out scortching traps from the heat of the lights.
When it comes to par or lumes & conversions im totally ignorant on it.
Heres a link of led i bought and has a light chart.
https://www.growpackage.com/products/ph ... high-power

Should i just start vtf's at say 15"-20" after dormancy then gradually move them to say an 8" to 5" height? Or is that just to close?
I checked the heat of the light about 2 inches under it and its at 90-95° & common sence tells me i can put them pretty close but want to hear it from the pro's here.

Another question i have is in the winter i keep my vtf's in the garage under a T5 light 4' hood & was wondering how close to the t5 bulbs can i go? I read the vtf care portion of this site & saw the picture & statement to keep them about 2" away from florescent bulbs is that accurate?