FlyTrapCare Forums

I just received a new Venus FlyTrap from a friend. I've had a one in the past that did not survive. Now with the help of this site I've learnd alot and hopfully I can take better care of this one. First I want to get her repoted, I have plain peatmoss but it's been sitting outside all summer and I'm worried about bugs.
How should I sterilize it?? Bake it or Freeze it???

I'd bake id, germs, in general, are more sensitive to heat then to cold

Bake it. Freezing could potentially only put insects in dormancy, and they could recover rather than die. Or you could wet it down and nuke it in the microwave. The bugs might go boomsplat though.

Sent from my XT901 using Tapatalk 4

Unless you've had a raging outbreak in the media you plan on reusing, I honestly don't understand why people go through the effort of sterilizing. The plants are tough, just acclimate them to their new growing conditions slowly. Stuff like fungi spore and bacteria will always be lurking in the media, waiting to strike at the weakened plant (newly transplanted/stressed from pests). Even if you do sterilize, they will be reintroduced quickly. Perhaps the best method is to treat the soil with a fungicide (to ward off rot) while the media stays initially overly wet after transplanting. I think the most important thing for us is making sure light levels are adequate (not to strong for transplants) and the moisture/air flow is carefully monitored until the plant is established and going full bore.