Lighting error!!

John Rising (peredur@usa.net)
Sun, 14 May 1995 20:43:29 -0700

Have you ever wondered if you could give your plants too much light? Well, I
found out! I went on a two week trip to Anchorage. Before leaving I
increased my plant's photoperiod from 14 hours to 16 hours. Or so I thought.
Upon returning I found out that the 400 watt metal halide light stayed on
the entire 14 days!!!! Yikes!

So, what happened to the plants? Most plants were adversely affected.
The drosera either shrank to 50% of their previous size or reduced leaf
production. One of two adelae appears dead, but it was not in good
shape anyway. One of two VFT put up its fourth flower stalk (it first
sent up 1, which I cut, then it sent up 2 to replace the first, before I
had left). The other VFT has yet to even flower. The Cephalotus turned
such a deep mahogany that it almost looks black. Interestingly, the
Darlingtonia absolutely loved it! It had only a 8" leaf as the largest
when I bought it. When I returned from my trip one of the pitchers had
reached 17"! And its not fully formed yet!!

I have since set my light to 16 hours. Hopefully, the plants will make a
full recovery.

I hope you find this interesting. :)