Expert: Christopher Littrell - 10/23/2008

Question
I had my plants in my screened in porch (south sun) all summer and fall until
a few days ago.  I would bring them in at night into my front foyer b/c it was
too cold outside. (temp in foyer is 10 degrees warmed than outside and it
gets north sun here). I decided it would be best for plants to keep them in
one place so I have them now in my front foyer.  They are still getting a lot of
light "through a window", but it's only "north" sun, not south and its not
direct sun.  Is this ok for them?. They are still growing but have slowed down
alot.  Most of their traps have blackened or are green and just don't work
anymore, but I notice some new traps are still slowly growing.   I was thinking
about getting them additional lighting.  One 40 watt cool bulb. Is one enough
or even neccessary? Thank you

Answer
Hello Tracy,

You can keep them in the foyer in that window for the rest of Autumn and Winter. If you feel they are not receiving enough light for now you can provide them with 40 watt florescent cool white tubes of the sort for shop lights for about 8 hours a day until winter hits for good. Once winter hits, just turn off the light and let the North American species sleep until Spring begins to arrive, then place them back out in full sun as the temperature warms above freezing. The temperature and photoperiod will tell the plants when to go dormant and when to wake up.

The tropicals can be kept indoors in a south window with a florescent shop light or a couple of florescent compact bulbs that are equivalent to 100 watts. That would be 40 watts for the 4 foot long tubes and the compact florescent bulbs will tell the equivalent wattage on the outside of the package when you buy them. They often indicate that they are 100 watt equivalent but use energy as if they were about 23-26 watts of actual intensity. Keep the tropicals on about 12-14 hours of florescent light until spring when you can place them back outside again.

The temperate Flytraps and Pitcher Plants will stop trapping insects and let many leaves die off in preparation for dormancy. Eventually they will stop growing almost completely for the next few months until warmer temperatures and longer days return.

Christopher