FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello all, newbie here. Been following this forum for quite some time and figured it was time to join. I recently transplanted 3 VTF's into 16 oz foam cups as recommended here by so many. I poked roughly 5 holes in the bottom of each cup with a pencil, in a pattern, for bottom watering. I have them in a tray of water thats about 1/3 the size of the cup.

From what I've seen, the cups don't get very heavy, as if the soil inside of them is not absorbing the water very well from the bottom. It's made out of Perlite, and Moisture Retention Granules, Distilled Water filtered Pure Silica Sand, Natural Long Fibered Sphagnum Moss and Natural Organic Sphagnum Peat Moss. A mixture I obtained online which seems to be recommended.

I expected the cups to be much heavier after sitting in this water for a while, but it just doesn't seem to be soaking up the water. Should the diameter of the holes in the bottom of the cups be much larger? I can't imagine they should be, but not sure where else to go here. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

hi there,
I myself use plastic bottles ,
but I also use extra sand " playground" sand in my peatmoss ,
I think just a little more sand than peat?
anyway it seems to give my plants a nice water irrigation
and a more sterile environment,
but as far as the holes go.. maybe just poke one or
two more on the side , just to give extra water flow,
hope this helps .
good growing to ya

It sounds to me like it's gonna be a bit lighter because you have mainly lighter materials it sounds like. The only way you're gonna know for sure is to stick a finger down into the cup to feel for wetness or cut a panel in the side like I do with my cups lol. I do it farther down cause the lower part is where the majority of the wetness should be. I grow all my plants (Except my bigger sarrs and sarr seedlings) in styro cups lol. I actually cut square holes in the bottom of mine like on a regular pot. Seems to work fine

Some media doesn't readily absorb water until it has been pre-wetted. I do this by mixing dry peat, sphagnum, sand, perlite, and whatever else in a gallon sized Ziploc bag. Then I add some water. If there's 1 cup of peat in the mix, add 1 cup water. Close your bag and squeeze it like you're kneading bread dough. This forces the moisture into the peat or lfsm. Then put it in your pot and it will easily absorb water through a small hole in the pot. Hope this helps.

Good growing,
Mike

Asode from what has been suggested above...I have noticed if you put holes in the bottom of Styrofoam cup and just sit it in water it will not absorb very quickly. I think this is due to the fact that an air pocket can create in the space because most cups are actually slightly elevated from the rim that actually touches. If you put holes on the side of the cup but at the very bottom it will probably get quite a lot more water. The alternative I have done is to remove small pieces of the rim at the bottom so water can enter easier. I hope I explained this in a way that makes sense it makes sense to me haha.

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