I recently acquired a cape sundew and went to put it under my grow light at work. I noticed the first day the dew was gone. I went remote for 4 days and found the water dish bone dry and the leaves looking like this coming back (there was over an inch of water in there).
Thinking maybe it's too dry in the office I brought in my hygrometer. And set it nearby. Everything looks good. I started thinking about it more and placed it on top of the pot right next to the plant for an hour to find it was 105F and 20% humidity.
I hadn't expected a 15w Sansi LED to put out that kind of heat at 5". But apparently, my use of a domed lamp fixture meant all the heat that would dissipate naturally upwards was funneled like a heat gun at my plants.
The problem I have now is getting enough light without roasting the plants. I bought a higher wattage (24w) bulb and I'm getting an open lamp fixture so I can move the light further away while hopefully getting them enough light. I just wanted to warn others.
I hope I didn't fully kill the sundew. He looks rough, but I put a bag over him to help reign in some humidity (not sealed) and moved the light to where it is now only 85-87F where the plants are. I hope this is enough. Let me know if the bag is a bad idea, I couldn't find much info but I know they like humidity.
by BurgersBaconFreedom
3 Comments
Also, you may read this as a pro for VFT and other heat loving plants. My VFT look fantastic with all that heat despite the lack of humidity…
If what caused that in the Drosera is the temperature, the bag will definitely make it worse, especially if it is plastic. Try not to surpass 86° F, (30°C).
Yeah, I think this is actually the problem a lot of the ‘my grow light burned my plants’ people are actually having.