FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I am a total newbie in regards to growing Traps, so I have started with the easiest type which is Dionaea Muscipula.
They are already grown slightly and are currently in 2 inch pots. I am going to transplant them into 4 inch pots using Thrive peat free carnivorous compost. I also have some sphagnum moss so would it be the right thing to do to mix the sphagnum with the compost or just have the sphagnum on the top?

Thanks!

Hi KarlC,

I am a total newbie in regards to growing Traps, so I have started with the easiest type which is Dionaea Muscipula.

I'm not sure most would consider VFTs to be the easiest carnivorous plant to grow, but don't let that discourage you.

using Thrive peat free carnivorous compost

I looked at the packaging and I don't get a lot of confidence about this media. One because it labels itself "compost", which generally describes a fertile mixture of decayed organic material, which would kill carnivorous plants. However, the back does say "no fertilizer". Second, it says to only use soft water, which may be technically correct, but don't think that just because you have a water softener in your house, it's ok to give it tap water. Third, "when repotting, use a container at least two sizes larger." Ok, maybe good advice for newbies who are repotting out of their 2" pots, but I would be growing in a swimming pool by now if I took that advice. But mostly I don't like it because it only tells you what it's not, not what it is.

Without knowing what the media is, I can't tell you whether you should mix your sphagnum moss in. If it's peat-like (I'm guessing coco coir) I don't see any reason to use your sphagnum moss at all.

it's probably peat, labeled as compost for noobies.

technically peat is a compost...

It's explicitly labeled as peat-free, "Helping preserve valuable peat bogs".

I looked up the brand/type online didn't tell the exact ingredients for it that I could see but looked like it was some kind of coconut mix but is being sold/marketed as CP safe.

Well as a new grower I cannot give any information on the product Thrive but the person that I bought my traps from is a long time experienced grower in the UK and it is the only growing media he uses.
Maybe it is only available in the UK?

ebay UK is where I spotted it - reading up more online it looks to be a reliable alternative to using peat/peat mix you make yourself it also looks to cost a bit more than if you were to come up with your own. can't speak for the ingredients/quality/etc though

do you have any of the thrive mix already? if so could you take some photos of it to show? it might help some of the more experienced growers here pick out what is in the mix exactly. (IE: not me!)

riveraXVX wrote:ebay UK is where I spotted it - reading up more online it looks to be a reliable alternative to using peat/peat mix you make yourself it also looks to cost a bit more than if you were to come up with your own. can't speak for the ingredients/quality/etc though

do you have any of the thrive mix already? if so could you take some photos of it to show? it might help some of the more experienced growers here pick out what is in the mix exactly. (IE: not me!)

I guess I could do that if I am allowed to upload images with only a few posts. The mix itself has small white bits in it which looks like it could be coco.
It is made by a well known company in the UK who specialise in growing media etc and not by someone mixing it in his shed in his back garden.The bloke I bought it from uses it from seed and the plants when they arrived looked very healthy so I know the product is OK.

yep I read up a little online about them look to have been in business for a long while also shame they dont have a proper website to actually find out more I found a few photos online the small white bits looked to be perlite perhaps - the stock photos the company uses online just sorta made me scratch my head though other folks here can probably identify a lot better than I can