FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello all,
I bought some pre mixed soil online for my VFTs and transplanted them in it.It is good and all,but there is no sphag in it.After researching,I heard sphag apparently yields bigger and better looking plants.Should I replant in sphag,or just mix sphag into the soil?I have no sphag on me at the moment,so should I just replant in sphag next season?
Happy growing,
Max

Don't repot now. You'll see the plant back more. There are pros and cons to a peat mix versus sphagnum. I changed over to sphagnum and my plants seem to like it. The real test will be in the heat of summer.

Oh yeah.They were originally potted in sphagnum and seemed to be doing fine,but as usual it had a TINY 2" pot.At my house the sun is booming 12+ hours and the temperature is well into the 70's,but even after a month from repotting,they don't seem all too well.The Peat doesn't do well when top watering,due to the fact that the water just collects at the top and doesn't soak through,thus covering my traps in the stuff(Peat).I am itching pretty badly to switch back to sphag,but as you said,I should just wait 'till next season.

Did you soak the soil mix with water before putting it into the pots? Dry peat moss is hydrophobic (repels water); it's very stubborn about drawing up water after it's in the pot. To fix this, put the pot in a small bowl and bring the water level up to almost the soil level. Let the pot soak for an hour. If/when the water level drops, top it off to maintain the level. After an hour, lift the pot out of the water, let it drain, and put it in your regular tray/saucer. Repeat this with all of your flytrap pots. When you water them now every 2-3 days, the water should soak in pretty quickly because the peat moss is no longer bone-dry.

Oh ok,very valuable info here.I never thought of doing that,as I felt the soil would start to mold quickly.