1-Yesterday I bought a Venus fly trap at Reno Depot and it looks small, so is it mature? will it flower next year? is it stressed (people usually say plants bought from stores are not in good conditions)? Is it weak? because its leaves are really thin like less than 1 mm. When do I have to let it go dormant?

2-I had sown some Drosera seeds today, those of tokaiensis and binata (red). I would like to know in how many days will I see them sprouting/the seedlings?

3-I have two bulbs for the plants : one is an incandescent 60w grow light, the other (cool white) is a compact fluorescent 13w 4100k 900 lumens. I keep the incandescent bulb further away from the plants than the incandescent bulb. Are those two good for my plants?

Thank you in advance!

See my plants in their dormancy? Not pretty: small sluggish traps, the rosette surrounded by dead leaves.

But unless you post a photo of your VFT, someone may can let you know if it’s dormant or simply a stressed out plant. If the plant has been at the store for more than a month & the leaves are long & floppy, it may be starving of sunlight. If you ever buy a plant at the store, better buy it when they are new arrivals.

Will it flower next year? Hard to say, you may have to small a plant or it’s stressed out & weak. I do advice to new people that you cut the flower scape when it barely emerges, it will suck all the energy from the plant & kill it if you let it grow. Only experienced growers will risk their plants to flower.

Drosera seeds may germinate in a couple of weeks up to 4 months. But when they do, they will be small little plantlets. It will take at least a couple of years for the binata to reach flowering size, tokaiensis about 6 to 8 months.

I’m assuming the 60w grow light (if it’s designed for plants) have the right amount of lumen & temperature optimal for plants. But in my experience, fluorescent light with temperatures of at least 5000k with lumens at least over 1000 is better. The fluorescent 13w 4100k 900 lumen bulb is too dim