Expert: Christopher Littrell - 5/20/2007

Question
Hello! I actually have two questions for you and I appreciate your help. I've been growing flytrap for some time now but i recently went into lowes and seen two pityful tropical nepenthes and decided to try my hand at these. They looked a little rough for a few days after I got them out of those tiny cubes and put them in 8 inch pots. after a few days of 3 hour morning sun ,they look great. One has several pitcher about 2 inches long and the other is a bit smaller. The temp here in the day around 80 to 85 so I would rather grow them indoors. I have two compact fluorescent 42 watt bulbs that are 2700 lumens each. The question is how close do the plants need to be to the lights for good growth and how long the lights need to be on. I'm not entirely sure that this is enough light either way. My other issue is with the flytraps, I've had several over the last few years growing on my back porch and they are doing the very best except that I cannot keep the bugs out of them and as soon as the traps get all red and start looking great they get closed and they're just not much fun to look at. I have many flytraps so I was wondering if the light I described above would be enough to grow one indoors with my nepenthes. I'm sorry about the lengthy questions But again I'd greatly appreciate any help and advise you could give me....thanks

Answer
Hello Jonathan,

Thanks for saving those plants from the hardware stores.

You can place the Nepenthes about 5-6 inches from the florescent lights you have. Those lights should be adequate for now for the growing needs of young Nepenthes. As they get larger, you might need to supplement those lights with an east facing window or extra lights as the plants will vine out to a surprising length, but that takes a couple of years. A photoperiod of 16 hours would be great in spring and summer. Nepenthes do not really get a large drop in photoperiod to the extent that temperate plants do since they are equatorial mountain growing vines, so light periods of 12-16 hours all year round are just right. Nepenthes often grow in relatively shaded areas, but even in the wild, if they grow in too much shade, they stop pitchering. Just monitor your plants' reaction to the light level you have and add a little more light if you see that they stop pitchering.

The Venus Flytraps sound like they are doing great. If they capture insects, it is because they are doing well enough to do so. Indoors, they would not be quite so healthy unless you can provide a minimum of 12000 lumens 1-2 inches from their leaves. Even that is barely adequate and will not provide the maximum potential for trap growth, coloration, or flowering. If you bought an incredibly expensive and hot metal halide 400 watt lamp, you could grow almost any plant indoors, but with an overwhelming energy bill and the problem of providing artificial dormancy and heat dissipation for the plants. Best bet is to leave the Flytraps outside where they will remain healthy and able to eat what and when they want to. If it is not broken, don't try to fix it. You are doing great with your plants.

Christopher