Expert: Christopher Littrell - 7/20/2007

Question
I moved to a new place and don't get as much sun as i use to. I get about a hour or two in the afternoon can you tell me if there are any sundews or pitcher plants I can use  the other plants I had that were doing good are not so good now.

Answer
Hello Sammy,

From what I understand of your question, you are asking if their are any carnivorous plants that you can grow indoors in a window that only gets a limited amount of afternoon sun. For the length of light you described, maybe a butterwort would be alright in that window if the light entering the window is bright enough the rest of the day. Most carnivorous plants require 4 or more hours of window filtered sun if they are partial or indirect sun plants. Sarracenias, Venus Flytraps, and many North American sundews require rather more light than that and are best outside in direct sun like a garden plant.

Here is my setup for growing indoors carnivorous plants. It will keep North American plants alive for a few months, but direct sun outside is best for them. The tropical sundews, butterworts, and Nepenthes will flourish under this setup.

2 twin tube florescent shop lights of the 40 watt range with 3000 lumen tubes. That setup provides a combined 12000 lumens and you can place most of your plants 5-8 inches from the lights with good results. Plug the lights into a cheap Christmas Tree light timer set for 16 hour photoperiods and you are ready to grow your plants in any house. Total cost is a mere 20 or so dollars.

I hope this helps you with some ideas about how to grow your tropical plants indoors.

Christopher