Definitely while Venus flytrap does best outside, sometimes that isn’t an option.
Sometimes providing enough light can be difficult because of incredible heat outside during summer, and the house may just not provide enough natural light.
Which means the plant may burn, be sickly, or worse.
Artificial LED light may be the way to go because it is made to provide a white spectrum from the sun, and give Venus flytrap the blue and red wavelength it needs to grow. 12-14 hours of LED lighting is comparable to 6-8 hours of sunlight.
LEDs are the best grow light for flytraps, and they are becoming much more widely used by growers in general.
Things to expect: They emit deep intense full spectrum, at low voltages and are therefore more energy efficient than other grow light technologies and have a longer lifespan than other grow lights.
What Are The Venus Fly Trap Lighting Requirements?
Lighting is crucial when growing this carnivorous plant because the more light it receives, the better it grows.
Venus flytrap needs a minimum of 4-6 hours exposure to direct sunlight with an additional 2-4 hours of indirect sunlight.
In general it is better quality light, but it does not have to necessarily direct/indirect sunlight because you can match sunlight quality to some degree with full-spectrum artificial grow lights.
With LED artificial lighting, you can provide the best light available if you extend the exposure duration, ideally 12 to 16 hours of exposure because artificial lighting is not as effective as sunlight.
That way you are able to gain the equivalent percentage of sunlight.
Why LED Artificial Lights Are The Best?
Provides White Spectrum Replicate to Natural Light
To start, if we want to call a grow light the best, it should closely resemble sunlight.
That’s because most plants, including the Venus flytrap, grow best with full-spectrum light or white light which consists of:
- red
- blue
- green
- orange
- violet
- indigo
- and yellow
Most species only need red and blue\n wavelengths of light to convert them into chemical energy.
LEDs are most like sunlight and have a high quality light, as all color wavelengths make up the LED chips to produce the brightest white to simulate the sun.
Energy Efficient
Compared to the other commercial lighting systems, LED lighting technology is very energy-efficient while providing excellent lighting.
They create a visible light spectrum without wasting power on unnecessary radiation; they provide all solid, continuous light with no flicker.
Therefore, it lowers overall electricity use and costs.
The light comes in over 50 lumens/watt, after all losses. Source efficiency is in the normal range of 37-120 lumens/watt.
Little to No Heat Emissions
LEDs, unlike traditional lights, give off no heat so you’re less likely to burn the Venus plant or heat the soil to undesirable levels.
If soil gets too hot it will damage the roots.
Long Life Span
Not only are LEDs more costly than other lighting forms, but LEDs typically last far longer than other types of lighting, often 5 to 10 years.
LEDs last an average of 50,000-200,000 hours or more when they don’t contain a filament, so they don’t burn out.
Consequently: Over time you’ll have less maintenance and repair costs for an LED lamp as opposed to other traditional lighting technologies, like having to replace bulbs.
Instantaneous Lighting System
LED grow lights are superior to other grow light types with regards to instant illumination.
There’s virtually no heating up or cooling down to reach full brightness and then to turn off.
Heat and Cold Tolerant
Also, LEDs are heat and cold resistant so are well suited for all typical working conditions, both indoors and outdoors.
they hold up in the temperatures of -40°C to 100°C.
Led Bulb SIze
Applications for which growers can use LEDs are very diverse.
This is the reason these lights can come in small sizes of less than 0.2 cm, to industrial sized large.
It can be taken both with the grower indoors and camping or outside with the grower.
Environment Friendly
LEDs are also environmentally friendly and safe for human health in the unlikely event that the tube breaks.
They are made from safe materials without lead, mercury, or other hazardous materials.
Factors to Consider When Installing Artificial LEDs
The Ideal Distance of the Plant to the Grow Light
You gotta give your lights the right distance from the plant when using LED bulbs, it’s that important.
Naturally, this will ensure your plant is receiving enough light to stay healthy. So, the closer to the light the plant is, the better.
When you have your lights high over your venus flytrap, it can absorb all the required light without burning. However, the more lumens a light has, the brighter it is and the farther away you should place it. Place the Venus flytrap within 12-24 inches of the LED light.
As your plant is growing, just keep moving the lights up.
If you want to change the height of a plant as it grows, get an adjustability system for bulb suspension.
This also lets you adjust based on the height of your plant to see if you need to lower or raise it to get the proper height.
The Correct Length of Time of Light Exposure
Keep the plant under your LED grow light for 12-15 hours per day while providing at least 6 hours of darkness. When the plant is not getting natural light, the artificial light will need to be on longer as the plant’s “typical day” is usually longer than the length of natural daylight.
Also, the length of time you keep the grows lights on, can signify to the plant what season it is. This can be a factor in how they develop in relation to the number of hours of light they receive.
What we recommend:
- Try using a timer to control the grow lights, so you don’t have to always remember to turn them on and off yourself.
- For best results, you should set it to 12 hours or more per day, and the grow lights will turn on and off at the same time every day.
- Some LED lights may even be programmed to provide varying intensities at different times throughout the day. Some lights have advanced technology that can be paired with your smartphone.
Regardless of if the Venus flytrap is grown indoors or outdoors, it will need to enter a period of dormancy for 3-4 months.
To mimic winter conditions in their natural habitat, you can and may affect dormancy by exposing them to a shorter daily light duration like 8-10 hours or you can place them in a cooler area like a basement or the coldest area of the garage.
The vice versa is also true. You can add an hour or two up to 14-16 daily hours of growth light each week to the plant until your Venus flytrap comes out of dormancy!
The Growing Surface Area
When you’ve figured out your grow space and how many plants you want to or are growing, you can calculate how many lights and what wattage you will need for the complete growing area.
Dionaea carnivorous species require about 15,000 to 25,000 lux of light for 12 to 16 hours per day.
The number of watts of LED bulb you will purchase will depend on the area you will be growing in.
If you need to provide a surface area of 1 sq. ft. you will need an LED bulb that is around 20 – 25 watts.
The larger the surface area to grow in, the more output and larger LED lights, you will need to install total.
Final Thoughts
LED light can help improve the general health of Venus flytraps by providing a similar spectrum to the natural sun with low voltage and low power consumption costs.
Some do offer technology that times the lights correctly to provide an adequate and consistent amount of light each day.
While LED grow lights are still a lot more expensive than fluorescent grow lights on the market, they pay for themselves over the long haul.
The large return is due primarily to lower maintenance costs over time, lower bulb replacement costs since they are less likely to burn out due to a lack of a filament, and better energy efficiency.