FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I'm not all that knowledgeable about peat moss, but when it is black as coal and is beginning to grow algae on the surface it's probably time to replace it, right? I had a container of flytraps that has been going for a couple of years, and the peat in it was like I just described. Not to mention it had grown somewhat dense like it had settled and compressed over time. There were also a few tiny critters/insects crawling in it, and adding to the overall condition of the peat moss via their waste. I've read somewhere that you should repot your CPs every couple of years or so because of this happening, and I believe that.

Today, in the 85 degree F warmth of the Spring sunshine, I've repotted my flytraps in a new pot with fresh peat moss. This new peat moss is fluffy (even when saturated) and brown and looks much more suitable for growing flytraps. I also noticed that both of my large plants had some of their roots and rhizomes turning black and mushy. After removing the black mushy parts, there was enough white rhizome and root structure left that I think the plants will be fine.

Ive wondered how long peat moss will last. I only use it for my purps and neps.

My Ventrata is coming up on a year in peat/perlite and it looks and feels completely fine. I see no reason to repot, but it begs the question, how long can it go?

I have a rule: if there's no worms, then repot at the first sign of trouble. So I may just take the top layer off and if the rest is fine I top it off. There's no worms to 'clean' the soul. There's no way for soil to allow flowering water trough to flush away bacteria and etc.. when a rhizome may shed some outer coatings and they turn to mush, it can't go anywhere. It just makes sense to repot. Some do every year. I just keep an eye on it.

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I just found out the source of where I read that you should repot your flytraps every couple of years. It was on this very site! I just decided to ask Google, provider of all knowledge (at least 98% of it as far as I can tell), and it showed me this very page.

https://www.flytrapcare.com/when-to-rep ... -fly-traps

@Fieldofscreams: I guess that the 2 year mark is a good guide to how long peat lasts/is viable flytrap substrate. At least in my case it was time for a repotting.

I've googled it before, nothing really comes up.

I've seen your link in my Google searches before. Problem is Matt doesn't mention the media. Is he talking about peat/perlite? Peat/perlite/sand? NZLFSM? LFSM? LSFM/perlite? LFSM/perlite/sand? And so on and so on.

Good point. I was using 100% peat moss with a dried LFS topdressing in the old pot. I decided to forgo the dried LFS in my new pot, mostly in an attempt to give those pesky squirrels less of a reason to excavate it. The LFS in my old pot kept on disappearing bit by bit after each uprooting, and I've heard squirrels like using it in their nests, so I assume that's where it went. I'm probably going to try and find a pot stand that I can use to elevate the pot as a further deterrent.

Artchic528 wrote:Good point. I was using 100% peat moss with a dried LFS topdressing in the old pot. I decided to forgo the dried LFS in my new pot, mostly in an attempt to give those pesky squirrels less of a reason to excavate it. The LFS in my old pot kept on disappearing bit by bit after each uprooting, and I've heard squirrels like using it in their nests, so I assume that's where it went. I'm probably going to try and find a pot stand that I can use to elevate the pot as a further deterrent.

I use peat moss with a little bit of perlite. I really prefer lfsm though. You don't have to deal with them drying out so quick or dirt getting packed into the rhizome top.

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Getting your plants up off the ground will help tremendously. Mine are up on a patio table, squirrels only bother with my plants if I have water in the trays. They want the water.

A lot depends on what mass of peat you have, how much water passes through it and how deep the trays are. Peat is acidic and prevents deterioration of the medium by its acidity, however, water passing through the medium reduces its acidity as there is no mechanism to maintain it, When this happens it allows the medium to start decomposing and releasing nutrients into the medium, which of course is very undesirable. At this point as the peat degrades its particulate gets smaller thereby reducing the 'voids' between the soil grains and reducing the volumes available for oxygen so oxygen transfer is reduced.

For small pots probably re potting every year is optimum, larger pots (over a gallon) say 2 years.

That's why live Sphagnum is good its water retentive and relatively airy (so long as you dont pack it too tightly in which case it will turn to mush) and grows to keep the system in balance by releasing hydrogen ions to keep everything acidic.

steve booth wrote:A lot depends on what mass of peat you have, how much water passes through it and how deep the trays are. Peat is acidic and prevents deterioration of the medium by its acidity, however, water passing through the medium reduces its acidity as there is no mechanism to maintain it, When this happens it allows the medium to start decomposing and releasing nutrients into the medium, which of course is very undesirable. At this point as the peat degrades its particulate gets smaller thereby reducing the 'voids' between the soil grains and reducing the volumes available for oxygen so oxygen transfer is reduced.

For small pots probably re potting every year is optimum, larger pots (over a gallon) say 2 years.

That's why live Sphagnum is good its water retentive and relatively airy (so long as you dont pack it too tightly in which case it will turn to mush) and grows to keep the system in balance by releasing hydrogen ions to keep everything acidic.

The breakdown of particles into smaller ones as the peat decomposes does explain the dense and compact nature of the old peat in my old flytrap pot. I'd have more lfsm in my pot if I had a more reliable means of keeping the squirrels out. I'm really leaning towards a chickenwire dome that I saw on Amazon along with the elevated pot stand.

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This is what I use

post315868.html?hilit=Squirrels#p315868

I only use it when I water.