Question about indoor lighting

[kianliang87]

Hello to all Grand Masters here. I have a question about keeping drosera indoor. From what i had learnt, the plant should be only inches away from the light. Can anyone guide me, how many inches is the minimum and the maximum?

Another question is,

How bright should the lighting be? I mean the colour temperature of the lights and the watt? Hope to get some answers from you Grand Masters.

I have no experience in planting CP. I hope to clear these doubts of mine, so that i don't fail in my first attempt(very soon). Seeds are precious.Lols.

[David]

Bassically the nearer it is to the lighting the better. However, you need to consider when the plant sends out flower stalks. The general rule from experts is the lighting should be no further than 10 inches from the plant.

To give you an idea of how bright the lights are, if you are using 4 four feet florencent lights (40 watts each) placed about 10 inches above the plants, the plants would only get about 15% of light intensity of the sun at mid day.

PLL lights and T5 lights are much better. If you use PLL lights, it would be about 20-30% of the intensity of sunlight. T5 lights are good but a little pricy. Lately I found a shop in KL selling 4-feet T5 light setup at RM300 ++. This is either locally made of made in China. Still too much for me. PLL lights are cheaper.

So, you would want to place the lightings as near to the plants as possible and you can increase the intensity by a few more percentage by placing mirrors or reflective materials around the plants to bounce light back on the plants. To utilize whatever little light you are giving your plants, you might also want to put a timer on your lightings to run for 16 hours. If you can't provide a bright enough environment, give them longer periods of light.

If you can provide above 15% of the sun's light intensity, you will be able to grow your sundews resonably well. But higher light intensity is better.

Hope this helps.

[dom]

Please remember that, there are 2 type of T5. T5 and T5HO (T5High Output). T5HO slighly higher price than T5. And it is brighter than normal T5. Try to get 8000K tube if you can find in the market. So far i saw only ADA PLL or FL tubes are with 8000K. But it is very costly. But worth to invest. You will see the different.

Beside that, there are few types of PL tubes. PL-S, PL-C and PL-L. What we are using is PL-L. The most near to 8000K is 6500K. So far only Philip and Osram 865 are with 6500K which you can find in the market easily. Price is around RM20-30 each.

[kianliang87]

Hi, thanks for the advice. But i still have some doubts, how do we know if the light is brighter type or not? By the Watt?
Unfortunately, i had given away both my LIYODA PLL tubes to Anderson from MAC. Today i went to electrical shops, i saw some bulbs which are 6000k and 50 watts, those small and round type of shelf lights. But the light is kinda hot and the light is yellow(if i'm not wrong it's xenon type). Can this be used?

I guess PLL is the better option rite?
If the shelf lights can be used, then i can put the plants on the shelf with the lights on(plus the timer). Will definitely look great. Like displaying relic. Hehe

[dom]

By the Kelvin/Lumens. But not watt. You need at least 6500K. For vivarium/planted tank hobbyists, 6500-8000K is white. Above 8000K is blue. But for marine hobbyists, they will say 6500-10000K is yellow. 14,000K is white and 20000K is blue. Just ignore what marine fellas said.

The bulb you saw is PL-C which we normally use at home on the ceiling, floor lamp, table lamp and toilet. Try the reliable brand - Philip or Osram. The tube will label as 865. (There are 827 - 2700K and 840 - 4700K)

PLL can be found in the lighting shop at Jln Pasar which is next to the RHB or Alliance bank. (Can't remember which bank) And you need to get the e-ballast, connector and reflector to DIY. If you are poor in DIY, then spend a little bit more to get from local fish shop. They are selling all well done lighting set. From FL, PLL to MH. There is a shop located in Kepong. Named as Kim Fatt aquarium. So far they are the only one in town selling the cheapest lighting set.

Btw, Anderson got a tumor in his head. First surgery failed and doctor has to stop the surgery due to bleeding non-stop. He is resting at home now and waiting for the coming 2nd surgery. Give him a call then...

[kianliang87]

Yea, i heard about Anderson. By the way, the light i was refering to is not the PL-C type. It's not those round light that people use for plaster ceilings wor. It's those people use for the shlef display lights. The size is very small 1, around 2 inches in the diameter only wor. If i am not wrong, they use xenon light bulbs, very small type. Can it be used? IF it cant be use then it's ok. I can DIY PLL, i did it before.

[dom]

Oh..ic. I think that type of lighting is not enough to grow your CP.

[kianliang87]

Ok, thanks alot. I will use 2 PLL then.

[cindy]

I used 2 x PLL light (55W) for a 3'x1' area. Most CPs did well under them other than VFT and Sarracenia which tend to die after a while...could be due the heat from the light, too warm over too many months.

Even though the intensity of artificial light is lower than sunlight, the intensity is consistent over the number of hours you have it switched on. Sunlight intensity varies throughout the day. So most CPs still are able to thrive.

[kianliang87]

Oh, so VFT must be put in a cooler area?

[artificialive]

As for my case, my VFT seems to be very happy, tanning under direct sunlight all day, from morning to late evening. I dont keep plants indoors, so the case may be different. Besides heat, i *think another important element to keep plant indoors is air circulation.

[cindy]

VFT is fine in full sun with a cooling off period in the night. Outdoor is also more well-ventilated. My VFTs were under lights for 6 months before they gave me problems. But the lights were on a reverse cycle and come on at night. So they don't really have a cooler period at all.

[artificialive]

Yah, true enough Cindy! The temperature at night is much cooler outdoors, compared to indoor night temperature.

[plantlover]

I put my VFT under direct sunlight(not sure how long, maybe 4-5 hours). They receive direct rain and a cool night. They seem to be happy. Very easy to get cold nights because I live in front of a small forest. And very humid too.

[edmund83]

dom said:

By the Kelvin/Lumens. But not watt. You need at least 6500K. For vivarium/planted tank hobbyists, 6500-8000K is white. Above 8000K is blue. But for marine hobbyists, they will say 6500-10000K is yellow. 14,000K is white and 20000K is blue. Just ignore what marine fellas said.

Is it possible for put on one blue and one white ?

Here got a silly question
2 * 36watt = 72watt
then if

2 *6500k = 13000k?

[artificialive]

Hello Edmund,
I dont think it will result to 13000K.

Heres an example:
100 Celsius water + 100 Celsius water = 100 Celsius water, not 200 Celsius water

Let me know if I'm wrong..!

[dom]

edmund83 said:

dom said:

By the Kelvin/Lumens. But not watt. You need at least 6500K. For vivarium/planted tank hobbyists, 6500-8000K is white. Above 8000K is blue. But for marine hobbyists, they will say 6500-10000K is yellow. 14,000K is white and 20000K is blue. Just ignore what marine fellas said.

Is it possible for put on one blue and one white ?

Here got a silly question
2 * 36watt = 72watt
then if

2 *6500k = 13000k?

Edmund,
I don't think blue color tube will be good to any CP. It will just enhance the color of the CP for our eyes only. Just like if you are using it for the aquarium. You will see the green plant more greenish.

6500K is not = 13000K. Are you failed on your math? hahaha... I have not yet see any 13,000K tube/bulb in the market.

[tarence]

i think what Edmund means is using two 6500k lights...would it be equal to 13000k effect.

[milossula]

Dont worry with color temperature. This is not important too much. Use coool white fluorescent lamps. The special lamps for growing plants work much more worse than conventional fluorescent lamps at the same power wattage ( practical experiences of many growers here ).

[milossula]

BTW if you want to have VFT with RED traps you will need to add blue lamp ( near UV-A or UV-A ) which will stimulate production of anthocyanins.