FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I was reading about which soil to use when growing a Venus Fly Trap and was wondering, can i just use peat moss by itself or do I have to mix it with perlite as well?

I always recommend using 100% LFS. Bu if you must use peat, do a 50/50 mix with perlite; otherwise your plant may rot and will not be as healthy. Be sure never to use Miracle-Gro perlite (or peat) though.

Generally, using 100% pure peat is not recommended. 100% LFS and a 50/50 peat:sand or 50/50 peat:perlite are preferable depending on your conditions. If you use LFS, be aware that it does tend to stay wetter (meaning you need a taller pot) and that it cannot be compacted too tightly.

I've stopped using perlite on all of my plants though - it tends to develop a crusty orange coating over time in my conditions, no doubt leaching minerals that it was manufactured with or from my 30ppm water. This excellent article by Robert Sacilotto confirms my suspicions somewhat: http://carnivorousplants.org/cpn/sample ... 26_31.html

"Another hidden seedling killer proved to be salts that slowly leached out of perlite, one of the main media components. Perlite is hydrated obsidian that is heat treated to expand. Perlite was added to purified water (two parts water to one part perlite) and the conductivity of the water increased more than threefold, over a two day period. Since all examined groups of seedling Nepenthes seemed to favor a conductivity level in the soil of between 10-20 microsiemens; the perlite was pushing the conductive load of the media to dangerous levels (24-75 microsiemens). However, after repeated leaching the perlite became a great, inert material to use in seedling media mixes. Certainly, the quality of perlite is variable."

Huh...I've never had a problem with perlite upping my TDS...wonder what kind he was using...

I've had that orange crusty stuff form on my perlite, but only in peat mixes and only indoors since the outdoor plants get rained on a lot. LFS/perlite mixes do not do this for me. I switched to peat/sand for indoor use partly because of this, and partly because I can never get the soil surface smooth.

I think the perlite turns brownish/orangish due to the chemical in peat that has the anti-fungal properties. I can't remember the name of it lol...but it's the same chemical that preserves people they have found to be hundreds of years old in peat bogs...

(sorry...edited post for clarification lol)

Are you talking about phenolic compounds? And I'm not sure about perlite being anti-fungal, it certainly doesn't seem that way, I used to get fungus all over the peat/perlite mixes I used to use to germinate seeds...

no, perlite isn't anti-fungal lol. I was talking about the peat moss...I corrected my earlier post for clarification

You normally want to add silica sand and/or perlite to your peat moss because it creates good drainage as well as better oxygenates the roots. Pure peat over time will tend to compact which can lead to rot as mentioned in earlier posts. I grow my flytraps in both a peat/sand/perlite mix as well as pure LFSM. Both are excellent soil mediums but after observation flytraps do tend to grow at an accelerated rate in the pure LFSM. At least that is what I have noticed comparing the two.

I experimented with some different media a while back, but honestly, I think people invest way too much time and effort (not to mention money) in complicated soil mixes. I've used plain sphagnum peat moss for years, and my one original sickly little $5.00 VFT that came in a pot the size of an espresso cup has multiplied, all by itself, into hundreds of healthy, beautiful plants. I've long since lost count of how many I've sold or given away, and I still have literally several buckets full left for myself. Some of those are so crowded now that I really need to divide them soon.
For the last few years, I've been experimenting with plain coco peat (coconut coir) and so far it seems to work just as well - maybe even better. It's definitely a lot easier to wet when you buy it. It soaks the water up like a sponge, instead of making it bead like dry peat moss will do.
I hear people going on about drainage and ventilation for the roots, etc., but honestly, I've never given any of that a moment's thought, either. And I've never thrown out old soil. I just mix it in with the new until I have enough for all the pots and re-use it. It's not like VFTs get much from the soil, other than moisture, anyway, so how could it become "played out" like potting soil does with other plants?
Foot-deep light-colored (so they don't over-heat) pots standing in an inch or so of water, sitting in the hot, glaring sun all day long, all spring, summer and fall, seems to do the trick without a lot of fiddling and babying. All I do is water them when the water tray is empty and bring them inside my enclosed but unheated porch in the winter to protect them from hard, Appalachian freezes. And whenever they get really crowded, I divide them and re-pot. Oh, and also I've discovered that covering the surface of the soil with marble chips keep the #*@^$& crows from digging them up, for some reason. That's it. Seriously.