FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello, I repotted some sundews in bigger pots. The sphagnum moss I had in the small pots was just two months old, so I would like to reuse it if possible.

The problem is that the LFS made some algae during the two months because I forgot to rinse it. Is it possible to reuse the LFS that previously had a small amount of algae? If I dry the LFS at sun until bone dry then rinse it in boiled rain water a few times, will the algae spores survive?

You can not avoid the algae growth.And you can reuse your old LSFM. Since the algae grew on top of your LSFM,you can just mix the old one with the new one so the algae will simply die due to they didnt get enough sunlight.thats all what i know.

Thanks for your suggestion! I recently potted my sundews into 8" tall pots. I read that the top will remain dry with such deep pots when watered from the tray. I noticed that my tokaiensis have quite long roots and can obtain moisture even in the middle of the pot.

I have a hard time to make the spaghnum dry out however. I kept the one with algae at 104F for three hours and it's still damp. It's hell of a potting medium. I'm afraid to pot my flytraps in it. I'll probably pot the flytraps in peat moss to avoid root rot.

They are sooo beautiful!!!

Are those your seed growns that you've been posting about over the last couple months?

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boarderlib wrote:Are those your seed growns that you've been posting about over the last couple months?

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Yes.

They look great! Good job!

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zoliky wrote:I have a hard time to make the spaghnum dry out however. I kept the one with algae at 104F for three hours and it's still damp. It's hell of a potting medium. I'm afraid to pot my flytraps in it. I'll probably pot the flytraps in peat moss to avoid root rot.

Actually peat holds a lot more water and stays wet longer than LFS does. It's why we use LFS for more water-sensitive plants like Nepenthes and Heliamphora (and many people use it for VFTs to avoid the possibility of root rot as well.)

As for algae control, if it's just LFS you can use an algaecide like Physan 20 on it. DO NOT use that on live sphagnum because that stuff will kill it too.

nimbulan wrote:

zoliky wrote:I have a hard time to make the spaghnum dry out however. I kept the one with algae at 104F for three hours and it's still damp. It's hell of a potting medium. I'm afraid to pot my flytraps in it. I'll probably pot the flytraps in peat moss to avoid root rot.

Actually peat holds a lot more water and stays wet longer than LFS does. It's why we use LFS for more water-sensitive plants like Nepenthes and Heliamphora (and many people use it for VFTs to avoid the possibility of root rot as well.)

As for algae control, if it's just LFS you can use an algaecide like Physan 20 on it. DO NOT use that on live sphagnum because that stuff will kill it too.

Thank you. I'm new to LFS as a potting media. If I let the spaghnum moss to dry on the top of the pot, will the moss become brighter as it dries? Won't the spaghnum moss swell on the top as it dries?

Sphagnum moss can bleach when it dried and exposed to bright light. The moss on top of my Heliamphora pots has done that since they are exposed to the brightest light of all my indoor plants. I'm not sure what you mean by it swelling when it dries.

nimbulan wrote:

zoliky wrote:I have a hard time to make the spaghnum dry out however. I kept the one with algae at 104F for three hours and it's still damp. It's hell of a potting medium. I'm afraid to pot my flytraps in it. I'll probably pot the flytraps in peat moss to avoid root rot.

Actually peat holds a lot more water and stays wet longer than LFS does. It's why we use LFS for more water-sensitive plants like Nepenthes and Heliamphora (and many people use it for VFTs to avoid the possibility of root rot as well.)

As for algae control, if it's just LFS you can use an algaecide like Physan 20 on it. DO NOT use that on live sphagnum because that stuff will kill it too.

The opposite is happening to me. I potted tokaiensis and spatulata in 8" tall black pots. I kept the pots in morning sun for about 8 days and the sphagnum is still moist on the top. I didn't pack the sphagnum. I only packed it a bit at the bottom of the pots to be sure it will pick up the water, but otherwise I left it airy. The Chilean sphagnum moss I use looks great, it comes in quality package, has no additives, but despite that it tends to develop algae even after I rinsed it several times, in both warm and cold water.

My goal is to bottom water and never let the water go up until the top. This way I will be able to prevent both algae and fungus gnats laying eggs on the soil. I don't have mosquito dunks because I don't live in the U.S.A. So, as I mentioned I use very deep pots and maybe this trick can be applied, but I have to wait the top to dry out completely. Is there anything I can put on the top that will suck all the moisture and leave the LFS bone dry on the top? Should I sprinkle some silica sand on the top?

8" tall pots are quite large. There's a ton of moisture in there to evaporate whether you use LFS or peat. I've found that intense light will cause LFS to dry out on the surface but all that moisture needs to evaporate first. My two Helis that are under the strongest light out of my indoor plants have pretty dry, bleached LFS on the surface due to the light intensity. I should note that I exclusively top water these. The dried LFS on the surface doesn't have much time to soak up water as it drains through the pot so it stays pretty dry.

Thank you. The LFS dried out on the top, I bottom watered them with about 0.6 cups of water, the roots got water but the top stays dry! So, basically I never have to worry about algae and fungus gnats anymore. It's also very easy to know when to water, I only need to lift the pots and check the weight.