Which plants are your talking about? Tell us!

Hello carnivorousplants,

Is it possible to grow fully developed roses and tomatoes in a window? In most cases, such plants are termed as garden plants as they need full sun. As you researched, window panes cut back not only on the intensity of light, but the intensity of ultraviolet radiation (by about 80% from what I have read), and do not allow for the full day's sun to reach sun intensive plants like Sarracenias and Venus Flytraps. In other words, you have a light tinting to the glass, refraction occurring, and eaves and the roof of the house blocking the light all at once. Yes, it is possible to grow garden plants in a window, but they might not fully develop or grow very large nor as quickly and simply will not be very healthy. To give a general estimate, window light would be about as intense as the 12000 lumen florescent light I have on my plants. Now if you added those florescent lights to the window light, the plants would do much better. Real sun is about 2-5 times as intense as that window or my florescent lights. The window would be great for the Nepenthes and tropical sundews though as those plants grow in slightly less intense light and grow all year, so dormancy will not be a hardship they go through with low light as North American plants have to go through.

Hi,
my collection is rather small:
S. purpurea
S. flava
S. leucophylla
S.x Judith hindle
Venus flytrap
Combo-Garden
N. sanguinea
N.x ventrata
N. rafflesiana
N. rajah
D. capensis
P. primuliflora
S.x Scarlette belle
I also have several seedlings from many other sundews.
I think thats my whole collection.
- Adrian

Rather small for an expert maybe....I have pretty much the 3 most popular,
VFT
D. Capensis
S. Purpurea

But i do do a lot of research. As most growers are going to tell you, those Sarracenia and VFTs belong outside. Those Neps should probably be kept out of the direct window sun. The sundews would probably do well in the sunny window.

You have a very wide assortment of plants so you're going to have to provide each their own environment.

I forgot to tell you that we have some very strong winds here and they could easily knock them down.So I would not put them outside.
- Adrian

Your Sarracenias and VFT's are really outdoor plants. The Neps should have artificial lighting, ~12 hours per day. The capensis and primulifora should be okay on a window sill, but the capensis should have more light than that. Your best solution for lighting is seeing if she'll spring for additional fluorescent lighting. The VFT's & Sarrs are also going to need a dormancy.