FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Has any one here noticed that VFT's grown in 100% LFS tend to clump more?

It could just be me but I swear when I look at my plants that are in LFS they seem to look like they're dividing like crazy. I'll have to take some pictures tomorrow to show my examples.

I believe Matt has started using pure LFS for planting VFT's, I wonder if he has noticed anything similar. Matt, if you read this I'd love your input if any.

And it may be that they're not clumping per se but just growing more vigorously. Either way it's a clear difference I've noticed between identical cultivars planted at the same time but in different media.

Maybe because is more or lower acidity than the usual peat ?

more Oxygen getting to the base of the plant because it's less dense?

If its the acidity, ill be adding acid to my water to lower the ph

And if it was because of the lesser density, would it grow better in 80% perlite?

Might be able to do with both, more airation, less dense, and less prone to mould/root rot

Ambanja wrote:more Oxygen getting to the base of the plant because it's less dense?

If it is less dense, it is the opposite, is rare ! So, if it is rare, how oxigen can get trough ?

I just recently switched to LFS so can't comment yet, but hope this topic gets some attention.

Yea that is true because my plants grow Vigorously in LFS

I have no clue why it may be. And it's certainly possible that it's just coincidence, maybe the growing conditions were varied enough that the plant in the LFS grew better.

I want to stress that this post isn't me saying 100% LFS is the better choice for planting, because I do still prefer peat/sand mixes over 100% LFS but for reasons other than one being universally better.

Here are the pictures of my examples....

This is two baby plants bank in April of 2012. You can see that one is larger and that's the one I moved to LFS, but that alone is not enough to account for the differences. It would be one thing if one plant were just larger than the other in trap size but this is one dividing significantly more.



First is the one I left in the planter and second is the one I moved to 100% LFS.






There are my Maroon Monsters. I got 4, 2 big and 2 small. I potted the big ones together in 50/50 peat/sand and the 2 smaller ones in 100% LFS. You can see that while the smaller plants are still obviously small, there are a significantly more traps.






And finally, a bonus shot of an incomplete dual trap that was still able to catch and digest a fly.

parker679 wrote:Has any one here noticed that VFT's grown in 100% LFS tend to clump more?

No, I haven't noticed flytraps clumping or dividing more when growing in long fiber sphagnum than in peat.

parker679 wrote:I believe Matt has started using pure LFS for planting VFT's, I wonder if he has noticed anything similar. Matt, if you read this I'd love your input if any.

Sorry, just really read this thread now.

parker679 wrote:nd it may be that they're not clumping per se but just growing more vigorously. Either way it's a clear difference I've noticed between identical cultivars planted at the same time but in different media.

We've noticed the same in our conditions. The plants in LFS seem to grow more vigorously, especially at smaller sizes. I think as the plants get larger, the difference in growth rate between peat-based mixes and LFS is not as substantial, but we haven't been growing with LFS long enough to say for certain.

Matt wrote: We've noticed the same in our conditions. The plants in LFS seem to grow more vigorously, especially at smaller sizes. I think as the plants get larger, the difference in growth rate between peat-based mixes and LFS is not as substantial, but we haven't been growing with LFS long enough to say for certain.

This could very well be it. I don't usually opt for 100% LFS, it's when I happen to get a small division along with a purchase that I put that smaller plant in LFS. So because of that I've only every planted smaller sized plants in 100% LFS.

I'm with Ambanja. LFS is a more airier mix. Easier for roots to grow and more oxygen to the roots.