FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Those of you who've read my other posts know that I take a very low-maintenance approach to my typical VFTs. Especially compared to a lot of other CP people (no offence intended) who seem to love to baby and tinker with their plants. All I've done to mine all summer is water them (but only two or three times) cut off the spent flower stalks (to get the seeds) and pulled out a few weeds. I've barely touched them otherwise, and they're doing great.

The only time I repot mine is when:
1. I just got them and they're in a death cube or a tiny pot.
2. They're getting really crowded.
3. I want more plants to have, sell, or give to friends.
4. I bought a cool new pot.
And when I finally do it, I reuse all of the soil and just mix in enough new stuff to fill all the pots.

So I'm curious about why some people seem to feel that repotting in new media every year or two is beneficial. It's not like we're worried about depleting the nutrients in the soil. And certainly nobody is repotting them in their native pine barrens. So what's the benefit?

heathenpriest wrote:So I'm curious about why some people seem to feel that repotting in new media every year or two is beneficial.

I've noticed that plants left in the same soil for an extended period of time (sometimes only a year) tend to start declining. I'm not sure what the cause is, but I suspect that it's microbes in the soil and the peat begins to break down further and become more anaerobic. Also, I have a severe problem with carpet moss here in Ashland, so I have to repot them every year or so to avoid them getting choked out by the moss.

heathenpriest wrote:And when I finally do it, I reuse all of the soil and just mix in enough new stuff to fill all the pots.

I used to reuse soil as well until the plants started suffering because of it. Again, I think it has something to do with the build up of microbes in the decomposing peat moss that causes the flytraps to not grow very well, but I'm not 100% sure of that. I can say that I definitely notice the plants declining, usually after the soil is 18 to 24 months old, but sometimes they can start delcining as soon as 12 months.

I usually repot when:
1) I see noticeable decline.
2) They're becoming too crowded in the pot.
3) If plants that are declining were potted at the same time as other plants, I repot all of the plants even if they still look OK.
4) I have spare time and know that it has been over 1 year since the plants have been repotted.
5) The carpet moss becomes so thick that the plants have trouble growing out of it.

Thanks, Matt. That's really informative.

I suppose it's possible that I just didn't notice, but I can't say that I've seen any general decline in plants that I've left in the same soil for a long time. In fact, if anything, they seem to just get bigger and healthier as they get more established. I've had a few individuals decline for reasons that I could never pinpoint, but that has usually been within the first few months after repotting. Definitely within the first year. Once they make it through that first season, they're generally good to go until they're so crowded I start to feel sorry for them and decide to divide and repot.

Any other opinions out there?