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Discuss water requirements, "soil" (growing media) and suitable planting containers

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By Vanval1230
Posts:  50
Joined:  Tue Jul 28, 2020 2:53 am
#377828
Nepenthes0260 wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 1:29 am
Vanval1230 wrote:Thank you all for your informative responses! What do you all do with your old media? Compost it?
I reuse it as media for less picky plants, like capensis. A lot of Drosera and terrestrial utrics aren't picky about that kind of thing at all, so I usually sweep up all my extra soil/plant clippings/other junk on my greenhouse floor and pot dews in it. I've found some pretty weird stuff in capensis soil that I repotted-- one perfectly happy plant was growing in iron nails mixed with peat (don't ask how that got in there :lol:)
This is actually exactly what I started doing. I sell my capes on occasion locally so I thought using the old mix for them seems the most economical/sustainable.
Iron nails in a capensis 😂 now thats a first, I've heard of styrofoam but nails... 😂
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By Vanval1230
Posts:  50
Joined:  Tue Jul 28, 2020 2:53 am
#377830
hungrycarnivores wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 1:13 am
Vanval1230 wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:30 pm Thank you all for your informative responses! What do you all do with your old media? Compost it?
I might be bad... But I reuse it! Many, many ways I can think of.
1. If your soil is basic, peat is full of humic/fulvic acid which can drop the pH and I have used it as an amendment before. Not my favorite since it smells... interesting when it rots.
2. I like it when it decomposes since it holds water very well. I mix it with new peat and reuse it.
3. Pings like dry media, so I give them the decomposed stuff with 1:4 peat:perlite
4. Yeet that stuff over the fence - 0/10 do not recommend
5. UTRICULARIA! I have found that epiphytes really like that sludge mixed into their LFS.
To me, these sound like great recycling uses!
I just got some land that is like pure quartz sand on the top layer (unsure about the lower layers) but I was wondering about mixing the old peat/sphag with compost and layering it over as topsoil. Or maybe even in raised beds?
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By Vanval1230
Posts:  50
Joined:  Tue Jul 28, 2020 2:53 am
#377835
Adrien wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 2:36 pm I’ve talked with Matt for a while now and he’s told me that you can reuse the same sphagnum as long as the plant has fresh sphagnum around the rhizome. I do the same using old media in the bottom of my pots packed denser than the top. Matt/Leah has also told me that it does not matter what time of the year you replant them, they haven’t noticed any differences over the years.

Replanting crowded plants, plants with many divisions, is beneficial cause flytraps don’t like to be too crowded and they can get their largest. Usually after one year the plants divide a lot and would like to be repotted.
Thats actually exactly what I was thinking and have been doing! I figured the bottom portion should not alter the plant unless its a short pot and the roots absorb something harmful.
I am kind of frugal and environmentally conscious so I figured I'd try this method out. I also just purchased a 1,200 L bale of LFS so I got plenty to experiment with. I've already replanted a few of my vft into these containers and I am expecting great results this coming summer!
Part of my vft collection
Part of my vft collection
20210411_131152.jpg (1.24 MiB) Viewed 1990 times
I haven't finished transplanting them all though because I have school, but it ends mid May. This was just the work I was able to do during my short spring break. I'm glad you mentioned that it doesn't matter when they need replanting as I was worried they may be shocked if I transplant them too far into spring or summer.

Thank you everyone for your responses.
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By davinstewart
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Posts:  343
Joined:  Sat Jul 13, 2013 2:29 pm
#389938
I can attest to MikeB's experience as well. I grow my vfts in large, tall pots (12x12) and notice a signficiant decline at the 3 year mark if I don't repot. This may be because I traditionally water with tap water and recently discovered that it's very basic (~8.1 pH) and has high tds (~140ppm). I tested the water coming out of my vft pots and it was about the same ... ~7.5pH and ~140ppm. So I think the soil is pretty shot. I'll be switching to collected rainwater next year and repotting all my vfts in fresh soil the spring.

Has anyone tried acidifying their water to prevent the soil from leaching out? I've found a teaspoon of white vinegar in a gallon of ro water will bring the pH down to ~4.0 while keeping the tds at ~50ppm. That should be acceptable for vfts and might extend the lifetime of the soil mix.
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