FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

With temperatures in Las Vegas already flirting with 90F, I am considering adding a layer of wood mulch to my sarracenia pots to help conserve moisture and regulate soil temperature. Is this something that might prove harmful to the plants? The rhizomes and new growth will not be covered and will still remain exposed to sunlight. Over time, the mulch would introduce humus to the soil, but since the plants will receive fresh media every year or two, I wouldn't think the added nutrients would reach a harmful level. The plants are also predominately watered using the tray method, which in theory would slow the process of any nutrients reaching the roots.

I have nothing on wood mulch specifically, except that as bacteria break it down they take nitrogen out of the media - which actually could be good. I have heard of and considered using pine needles. They are acidic, which would I think help as they break down, and offer some of the same benefits as any mulch.


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Pine bark (milled preferably) is a good mulch I use it on my bogs as it also adds tannins and acidity. It is now also used in peat free mediums.
Cheers
Steve

steve booth wrote:Pine bark (milled preferably) is a good mulch I use it on my bogs as it also adds tannins and acidity. It is now also used in peat free mediums.
Cheers
Steve

With ALL seriousness, I see Fly Traps grow in the wild in just sand and pine debris, sometimes sand and pind needles. I have not tested it yet but I do see it. Sometimes it is almost all sand and just mucky peat.

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Secretariat73 wrote:With temperatures in Las Vegas already flirting with 90F, I am considering adding a layer of wood mulch to my sarracenia pots to help conserve moisture and regulate soil temperature. Is this something that might prove harmful to the plants? The rhizomes and new growth will not be covered and will still remain exposed to sunlight. Over time, the mulch would introduce humus to the soil, but since the plants will receive fresh media every year or two, I wouldn't think the added nutrients would reach a harmful level. The plants are also predominately watered using the tray method, which in theory would slow the process of any nutrients reaching the roots.

I wonder if live moss might help?

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Thanks for the responses, everyone! I really appreciate the input.

I picked up a bag of chipped wood and mulched everything this afternoon (despite the 40-50 mph wind gusts). The bag contained a combination of pine and fir. Both woods share similar acidic qualities, so the plants should be okay. It's reassuring to know that I don't have to worry much about the wood messing with the soil. A layer of mulch makes a huge difference when temperatures reach their heights here, and now the sarrs will have that much more protection when the heat really hits. This will be my first complete summer with my CPs, and I really want the plants to do well.

I wonder if live moss might help?

If I could, I would love to use live moss. However, the desert climate would fry the moss in short order. I have stylidium debile growing in live sphagnum moss on a window sill in morning sun. I brought the plant outside for a day or two in strongly filtered morning sun, and the moss clearly wasn't happy. There is no way it will tolerate the full sun the sarrs want.

Secretariat73 wrote:

I wonder if live moss might help?

If I could, I would love to use live moss. However, the desert climate would fry the moss in short order. I have stylidium debile growing in live sphagnum moss on a window sill in morning sun. I brought the plant outside for a day or two in strongly filtered morning sun, and the moss clearly wasn't happy. There is no way it will tolerate the full sun the sarrs want.

Well good luck. We will be watching because I think your temps are pretty high on the charts compared to most growers. I think KK gets pretty hot in Texas but not sure it gets as hot as Vegas.

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90? My Purp survived the california summer with 100+ temps just fine. Tell your plant to grow a pair and tough it out
</sarcasm>