FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I found a large bag of peat moss (without miracle grow) but I cant find any perlite would it be bad if I grew my flytraps and other CP in just peat moss?
thanks

It's not the worst thing in the world. They'll do fine in pure peat, but watering is tougher. They'll usually either be too wet or too dry in pure peat moss. And the root system isn't usually as healthy as when you have perlite and sand in the mix, resulting in smaller plants. But in a pinch, you can definitely use pure peat for potting flytraps.

If you have NO other solutions it will be fine. Just make sure to keep it at that perfect water level Matt is talking about. You can use many things to substitute for perlite.

1. Silica Sand
2. BBs
3. Styrofoam broken up small
4. and many other things like that.

Just make sure it doesn't leech minerals

what is the point of the perlite is it so the plant drains better?

matthewsmith56 wrote:what is the point of the perlite is it so the plant drains better?

Yes, for the most part, it keeps the media from being too soggy and wet and aerates it a little. Like I said, those other common items can be used for the same purpose

Perlite aerates the soil,which helps root growth (somehow) and makes for better drainage,and when used in soil it helps soil compaction,which again leads to etter root growth

thanks guys I will try some of those

I also think (though not 100% sure) that by aerating the soil, you are breaking it up a little and preventing it from becoming too compact thus allowing roots to penetrate deeper.

I've used pure peat moss for my VFTs for several years now, although I'm going to experiment with some different soils because of the depletion of peat bogs due to over harvesting, and just to see for myself if anything else really works better, or if it's just in people's heads.

Anyway, I found that the watering issues the others mentioned are essentially non-existent if I use a pot that's about 12 inches deep, and have that standing in a pan with an inch or two of water. (A white plastic wastebasket with a few holes in the bottom works great if you can't find any pots that deep.) It seems to keep just the right amount of moisture in the top few inches of the soil where most of the roots are. I've also had no problems with clumping, which other growers seem to worry about, and no mold or fungi, which peat moss seems to naturally resist.

I can't really say if my VFTs are smaller than others' or how the roots compare, since it's hard to tell from pictures online, I'm the only grower I know of in this area, and all my plants are one clone. I can say, however, that they multiply like crazy from the rhizomes. If I don't divide them every two years or so, they get really crowded. So much so that the new growth can barely straighten out.

I also have a Tropical Pitcher Plant (no idea what species - that's all the "death cube" said) in the same soil and setup, although other growers have said that's not really ideal. It's doing OK and growing nicely at the moment, although it seems to shock pretty easily and stops growing for a while if it's transplanted or disturbed.

I should mention, however, that my plants are outside in the weather and bugs most of the year, so I can't say how well this setup would work if yours are inside.