FlyTrapCare Forums

Hey everyone,

I have about seven drosophyllum seedlings that germinated earlier this month. I put them in peat pots for the time being with the standard mix california carnivores recommends, equal parts peat, perlite, sand, pumice, and vermiculite.
Do you all recommend vermiculite? I've read a ton of conflicting information reguarding its use.
I am moving to a location in southern california where summer temps will be in the high 90s with night temps in the high 50s, if this makes a difference reguarding the soil mixture.
Also, I read they can be quite wet when young but as they grow they should be allowed to dry out. About how old or large should they be when I begin going easy on the watering?

Thanks.

Drosophyllum originates from Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, with their Mediterranean climate.
In their natural environment, Summers are very dry.
The only moisture they get is from early morning fog.
Adrian Slack recommended growing them wetter until they had 6 leaves. (not counting the first 2 cotyledons)
Then he would cut back the watering severely.
Info from "Carnivorous Plants" by Adrian Slack © 1979
Mike

Yep, I thought our climate would help me grow Drosophyllum since it's similar as their native habitat.
I'll probably just do some experimenting by adding vermiculite to some and some without. I've read they originate in alkaline soils but others have also stated they've grown them simply with peat in acidic conditions. All this varying information is pretty confusing but I guess growing is very personal and the only way to really get answers would be from those who have tested various soil mixture or just doing those experiments myself.
Thanks for the info, my plants are going on their first set of true leaves, so I suppose I would need to stop soaking them around midspring or so, depending how quick they grow. Thankfully i have 7 seedlings to experiment with so far and i have stored extra seeds just in case.