Growing venus fly trap in pure silica sand/perlite ?

Growing venus fly trap in pure silica sand/perlite ?#320108

By sab -  Wed Aug 15, 2018 11:43 am
Posts:  31
Joined:  Sun Jul 08, 2018 9:10 am

- Wed Aug 15, 2018 11:43 am #320108

The reason I totally wanna omit out sphagnum or peat moss is because they're pretty susceptible for unwanted growths like fungus, algae, etc
Also perlite and silica sand is pretty much available where I stay. I was wondering if its possible to grow a healthy vft in purely sand

Re: Growing venus fly trap in pure silica sand/perlite ?#320111

By Fieldofscreams -  Wed Aug 15, 2018 11:59 am
Posts:  1315
Joined:  Wed Sep 06, 2017 11:14 am

- Wed Aug 15, 2018 11:59 am #320111

I wouldn't do that because sand does not retain water for long.

Mistakes were made

Re: Growing venus fly trap in pure silica sand/perlite ?#320112

By sab -  Wed Aug 15, 2018 12:24 pm
Posts:  31
Joined:  Sun Jul 08, 2018 9:10 am

- Wed Aug 15, 2018 12:24 pm #320112

Fieldofscreams wrote:I wouldn't do that because sand does not retain water for long.

perhaps will have to constantly keep it in a tray of water, right ?
I have seen images of vft growing in pure sand . whats that ?

Re: Growing venus fly trap in pure silica sand/perlite ?#320114

By Fieldofscreams -  Wed Aug 15, 2018 12:39 pm
Posts:  1315
Joined:  Wed Sep 06, 2017 11:14 am

- Wed Aug 15, 2018 12:39 pm #320114

Ive seen those pictures too but I don't thing they are in pure sand, I think they use a top layering of sand, I don't think its all sand.

I don't really see any advantage in doing it either way.

You wont get a better substrate than NZLFSM, its the way to go.

Mistakes were made

Re: Growing venus fly trap in pure silica sand/perlite ?#320159

By Huntsmanshorn -  Wed Aug 15, 2018 11:31 pm
Posts:  952
Joined:  Wed Sep 03, 2014 6:32 am

- Wed Aug 15, 2018 11:31 pm #320159

A few years back I read a paper on growing VFTs in various media including sand, peat, sand/peat mix, and regular garden dirt (I think). If I remember correctly, according to the paper, the VFTs grown in pure sand grew the largest root systems and were healthy but seemed to sacrifice some above ground growth compared with the other plants grown in most of the other media.

Re: Growing venus fly trap in pure silica sand/perlite ?#320417

By Big-Jack -  Mon Aug 20, 2018 2:04 pm
Posts:  357
Joined:  Sun Jun 12, 2016 7:46 pm

- Mon Aug 20, 2018 2:04 pm #320417

Next season I'm going to throw some styrofoam and synthetic sponge in the blender for a few seconds and see if I can grow VFT's in the mixture. Probably give it a top dressing of sand. I have so many plants that the loss of a few to experimentation won't hurt.

Re: Growing venus fly trap in pure silica sand/perlite ?#320429

By _-SphagnumFromHell-_ -  Mon Aug 20, 2018 6:11 pm
Location:  Central California
Posts:  702
Joined:  Mon May 28, 2018 5:02 pm

- Mon Aug 20, 2018 6:11 pm #320429

Big-Jack wrote:Next season I'm going to throw some styrofoam and synthetic sponge in the blender for a few seconds and see if I can grow VFT's in the mixture. Probably give it a top dressing of sand. I have so many plants that the loss of a few to experimentation won't hurt.

Record your results on these forums. Your findings will further the knowledge of Venus Flytraps. And it will probably be pretty interesting too.

Growlist and wants: sphagnum-from-hell-s-grow-list-t39874.html

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