FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Alright, after a complete growing season in both media I have come to my conclusion in the various media. I know I haven't been posting on here much so some of the newer guys might not know who I am but I have been active in the past, with the new job its harder but I still do get on an read what people are up to

Anyway, although I do not have pictures of the comparison, I will write as much detail as I can to compare the two. For those looking to see my plants, I have posted many pictures of them before and sold/traded a lot on here.

So, without further wait, here we go:


Last year was my first experience with CP and first growing season and chose to grow in 100% Better-Gro Orchid Moss (LFSM). I had amazing results. The plants grew very quick with regular feeding and outdoors in natural Michigan sunlight, they colored up extremely nicely. On the edges of the VFT you could visibly see their nectar and their coloration was very deep (especially red cultivars). When I uprooted them, the roots were thick and had great white growing tips. The rhizome was solid and pearl white. Honestly, growing in LFSM was everything you could hope for in terms of growth, coloration, and overall health of the plant. I believe this for a few reasons. The first is because LFSM naturally allows more air to get to the roots of the plant allowing it to breathe a bit better. This effects the entire plant for the better. Also, it naturally helps keep algae, mold, fungus, etc. away from the plants a bit better than peat (atlas outdoors in my growing conditions). The only thing I didn't like about LFSM was when uprooting the plants to trade the roots are incredibly tangled and you really have to take your time in order not to damage them.

This year was 60/40 mix of peat moss and silica sand. After the long praise for LFSM, obviously you can expect not as much here but I will simply state the positives of this growing media. It does look a bit more natural than LFSM, especially to people who have no idea what LFSM even is One thing I do like about peat/sand is the natural moss that starts to grow in the container I think looks really good around CP. For me, Sarracenia and Ceph seem to like this media a little bit better than 100% LFSM, even grown in the exact same conditions. Uprooting plants in this 60/40 mix is a lot easier than LFSM too

Obviously people have mixed reviews about both types, the only way you will know what works best for you and your style is to try out both and see what you like better. I know plenty of growers who vouch for peat moss and just as many who vouch for LSFM.

So try out both, see what works for you, and happy growing

Good write-up. LFSM all the way for me as well. Peat is great for the plants you just want to pot and then forget about (mostly)

Did you have any problems with the LFSM drying out too quickly? I literally have to water twice a day with LFS in the height of summer. Peat doesn't have that problem.

katya_dog1 wrote:Good write-up. LFSM all the way for me as well. Peat is great for the plants you just want to pot and then forget about (mostly)

Did you have any problems with the LFSM drying out too quickly? I literally have to water twice a day with LFS in the height of summer. Peat doesn't have that problem.

It depends, on extremely hot days (90+) by the end of the day I would have to water the LFSM, whereas with peat it actually held water a little bit better. However, if you check on your plants daily, or every other day, my personal opinion LFSM is a far superior option than peat. Hence, why Matt has grown his plants in it as well. I've been around the forums for a bit, picking people's brains and doing my own research for my growing and when all is said and done, for me atlas LFSM is a better option for the health of the plant.

For LFSM I have most my plants in a big container, something I used to grow my peppers in. It takes a good amount of LFSM to fill it up, but holds water for a while and I feel aesthetically its more pleasing to look at than dirt. Although, with peat, I do like the moss that naturally starts growing on it. I would use live sphagnum but I've never taken the time to have much luck with it, plus I don't like the idea of it choking out my smaller plants

For other plants, Sarracenia for instance, I do not believe LFSM to necessarily be better. This is also true for many Drosera, hamiltonii for instance, appears to DESPISE even the highest quality sphagnum.

David F wrote:For other plants, Sarracenia for instance, I do not believe LFSM to necessarily be better. This is also true for many Drosera, hamiltonii for instance, appears to DESPISE even the highest quality sphagnum.

Agreed. I've noticed that even D. capensis grows more vigorously for me and develops better coloration in a peat-based mix.

SerMuncherIV wrote:

David F wrote:For other plants, Sarracenia for instance, I do not believe LFSM to necessarily be better. This is also true for many Drosera, hamiltonii for instance, appears to DESPISE even the highest quality sphagnum.

Agreed. I've noticed that even D. capensis grows more vigorously for me and develops better coloration in a peat-based mix.

See for me, any of my Drosera dew better with better coloration in LFSM. But thats why its interesting to read peoples results

SerMuncherIV wrote:

David F wrote:For other plants, Sarracenia for instance, I do not believe LFSM to necessarily be better. This is also true for many Drosera, hamiltonii for instance, appears to DESPISE even the highest quality sphagnum.

Agreed. I've noticed that even D. capensis grows more vigorously for me and develops better coloration in a peat-based mix.

+1.

But for VFTs, if you can check on your plants once or twice a day, it's better than anything I've every grown in. I've found that some of my sundews don't do so well in it, because I can't keep it wet the way I can peat. Sarracenia also seem to like the extra moisture afforded by peat.

VFTs seem to be more sensitive to overwatering than the other US carnivorous plants, that's for sure. In the wild, I noticed that anywhere there was a lot of water, the VFTs didn't grow, and if they did, it was on raised hillocks. Sarracenia and sundews both seemed to love the wetter conditions.

See for me, with my Drosera and the Sarracenia, I know they love wetter conditions so I would leave them in water. Sometimes halfway or more up the container in LFSM and they loved it. But it always depends on people's growing conditions.


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I don't have trays deep enough for my Sarracenia to sit in that much water, as I have only 2.5 inches of tray space, and 12 inch deep pots. Next year I will build a deep automatic watering tray though, as I really want to reduce my dependency on peat as much as possible, and LFSM (though expensive) seems to be my best bet. Haven't tried coir yet though.

I've been thinking about grinding up some LFSM and leaving it to degrade for a year or so to see how it stacks up to real peat.

the only thing for me is the untangling of the roots during repotting. Other wise i much prefer LFSM