The Ultimate Plant Light Guide

This is our comprehensive guide on growing carnivorous and other tropical plants indoors using artificial lights. We recommend fluorescent and/or LED fixtures. Plants like tropical pitcher plants (Nepenthes,) sundews (Drosera,) butterworts (Pinguicula) and more grow extremely well with appropriate artificial lighting.

Using this guide, you will learn:
1. What kind of lights you should use.
2. How to position these lights effectively.
3. How long these lights should be on each day.

Thanks for watching!

EDIT (3/10/22): I mis-spoke when talking about the smart plug. In the video I said it connects to the app on my phone by bluetooth, but actually it has to be connected through wifi.

[ZachSmithMusic]

I'm currently growing various Drosera, and very quickly learned that the cheap amazon LED lights that a lot of my succulents, cacti, and other small plants like, were very much not sufficient for my Drosera. Not to say that some of these lights would not be, but be weary of them. I'm also not sure regarding the plants in this video, but I do know that for my Drosera, I ended up having to get a 48 watt fluorescent light, and I immediately noticed a massive increase in dew and overall growth. Though I do feel I could lower the light down a little closer yet and get even more. I very much appreciate this video still though, as the wormhole of research I've had to go and do to get information that seemed good, has been immense. Lol.

Looking forward to my first Nepenthes next week!

[WindowsillNepenthes]

For the Sansi Grow Light bulb it's a good product for sure, but what about the strip light spectrum?
I see they are full spectrum but there is a lot of scam with them, some strip light aren't great for plants. 😐
So what brand do you use for the "under shelf"?

[rylantam]

You have a wonderful selection of plants in your apartment. Please do a tour! Your aesthetic is also on point :)

[nimbulan]

Screw-in bulbs and those flexible arm lights are great options for new growers and supplemental light for small windowsills. Strip lights on shelving is the way to go for most people I think - it's what I use primarily. You do need to make sure the strips are bright enough though, since light output varies a lot. Don't underestimate the light requirements of your plants!

I also wanted to mention that depending on the smart plugs you buy, that may be able to set them as a solar timer, so they automatically match the natural day length (either for where you live or a different region closer to the plants natural habitat.) That's what I do and it can help a lot to provide the necessary seasonal variation to trigger flowering in many plants.

[johnjwedrall]

Thank you. Your video answered all my questions on lighting for plants 🪴 👍

[weirdboyrox]

For some reason I use the LED strip lights white color on an adult Nepenthes and the plant just would not pitcher at all. But as soon as the color got changed to purple, two pitchers form next day and one of the got a leaf jump..

Edit: This test was done over a year period.

[gregbey]

The only thing about those bendable LED lights is to make sure theyre not the USB plug in ones, because how can something thats going into a usb power outlet bring in all this power? Its just not possible, and i made that mistake twice with them..

[afinepricklypear]

Hello! I appreciate this video, really helped me figure out the arrangement for my plants with grow lights in my light starved condo. I had a couple questions about plant care. I purchased five plants from your nursery recently -- and to anyone considering buying from these guys, I 100% recommend, the plants came well packaged, fast, healthy looking, with plenty of material to repot and detailed potting instructions and care guides for each species of carnivorous plant. All five are doing great, four of the five are putting out new growth, but I'm concerned about one of them -- the Nepenthes "Vivid Machine". I don't currently have a spot that I can place the plants to hunt naturally, so I've been using the liquid feed supplement you guys sell. The problem with my "Vivid Machine" is that it's pitchers are way too small for me to feed it without damaging. Do you guys have any recommendations for how I can feed it and, also, how often I should be feeding the plants? Thank you!

[judgement_day]

Thank you, great video :) i really like this channel

[edneyhelenedossantos]

Such a great channel please keep going!

[bidoenslaurent]

Nice and great looking set-up 🤩. Just wondering how do you manage the humidity indoors for the nepenthes and other plants? You spray water on them?

[musiceuphony]

I really like your curio type cabinet with the glass shelves. Do you remember where you got it or have any advice on finding relatively water safe curios that are affordable? I imagine you leave the doors cracked open for airflow? I just moved to an arid climate and my 4ft wire shelving isn't as optimal for some of my plants anymore. Your video was lovely - keep them coming!

[raidersandkingsfan]

I recently bought the Nepenthes Vivid Machine as well as some Drosera and Venus Fly Traps. I’m not at all worried about the Venus Fly Traps or Drosera because I have them outside in direct California sun. The Nepenthes is the tricky one since it needs a much higher humidity and the indoor humidity where I live is typically around 40% (outdoor is even lower). I just bought a humidifier and set it up next to the plant. That seems to have brought up the humidity right next to the plant to 70%. I have it on an east facing window that gets a lot of sunlight. Alternatively, I could stick it in a terrarium which would bring the humidity up to 85% (based on some other clones I have in a dome) but would then need to use artificial light which costs more over time. 🤔

[Jackdaw_monedula]

Thanks for the video but unfortunately I don’t think it is “the ultimate plant light guide”. First, I still don’t know what kind of lm/W should I look for my CPs. Second, why should I use the lights you recommended? What are their benefits to the plants? I meant this as a constructive critique and again, thanks for the video! 😊

[slametbinmemet]

Esok kan datang kembali lakunya grabah dan karamik juga krejang pod: untuk pod lampu hias bungga sister...?

[lilmvirgal]

Salut je viens de me lancer dans les plante carnivore et je voudrai savoir quelle est la meilleur condition pour avoir des dioneae comme vous ....en serre ou a l exterieur

[Fennekin]

what is the name of the cabinet you are using for your plants maybe a link or the name plz and thank you?

[DeadlyPlants]

How much humidity do you have your plants in?
And how long did it take your plants to acclimate to those low humidity conditions and produce decent size pitchers?

[kevinstewart]

Which LED Strip Lights do you use? Can Nepenthes grow under them?

[gothivore]

My only question is an I know this is going to be difficult to gauge but how much do these lights effect your energy bill? Kilowatt hours? I know leds are much more efficient than standard filament bulbs