FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I can't tell you how much I hate carpet moss and algae growing on the soil surface. Most of my plants are top dressed with either silica sand or live sphagnum to avoid this.

This may be a silly question, but could top dressing a VFT with silica sand cause any issues? I'm thinking about adding a layer 0.5-1cm thick of silica sand with a coarseness of 12. For instance, could it prevent small traps or divisions from properly surfacing?

in nature they can grow almost completely in sand with a dab of peat. i have read on here that the traps get bigger growing in pure sand.
only thing i wonder if the sand heats up in the summer? that could be a issue.

I it is also much harder to keep it wet in the summer if it is mostly sand. But a top dressing is perfectly fine.

Don’t know about long term in only silica sand as ph its neutral or around 7. And they like acidic one 3-4 to thrive. I do use a mix of peat moss, perlite and silica sand with top dressing of live sphagnum, i believe that sphagnum in long term helps to add acidity to soil through top watering

I use white silica sand as a top dressing and it works great.

Advantages: Less evaporation, Less packing down of media from rainfall, Reflects sunlight to underside of plant for better growth, media absorbs less heat from the sun. prevents moss, algae, and soil pests. The contrast between the white sand and green/red plant is nicer to look at IMHO.

Disadvantages: hard to tell when it needs watering. I go by weight and in summer sun and heat just leave it in a bowl of water. Some sand may splash out in heavy rainfall if it filled close to the rim.

The divisions have no problem popping through the sand.