FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I found this on the internet. It states that wood chips actually reflect heat from the sun and can keep the soil cool.

My gut tells me this isn't true, but I choose to hold my hopes high until proven otherwise.


https://www.edmondok.gov/DocumentCenter ... are%20soil.

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Its true for outdoor garden beds. Acts as insulation.

Wood is roughly 50%cellulose...a popular insulating material. But, are you using it for carnivorous plants or regular garden plants? It probably wouldn't be good for carnivorous plants, though several experiments have been done with adding pine chips to CP grow mixes. I'm not sure there was ever a consensus on whether it worked well or not.

Intheswamp wrote:Wood is roughly 50%cellulose...a popular insulating material. But, are you using it for carnivorous plants or regular garden plants? It probably wouldn't be good for carnivorous plants, though several experiments have been done with adding pine chips to CP grow mixes. I'm not sure there was ever a consensus on whether it worked well or not.

I was planning to sprinkle a bit on top for a darlingtonia

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Intheswamp wrote:Wood is roughly 50%cellulose...a popular insulating material. But, are you using it for carnivorous plants or regular garden plants? It probably wouldn't be good for carnivorous plants, though several experiments have been done with adding pine chips to CP grow mixes. I'm not sure there was ever a consensus on whether it worked well or not.

Does orchid bark have the same properties?

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Orchid bark is pine bark ftmp.

wcrosman wrote:Orchid bark is pine bark ftmp.

Ah, well thay was stupid of me lol

I'll try it out with my darlingtonia, see if they like it or not

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Sp0nser wrote:

wcrosman wrote:Orchid bark is pine bark ftmp.

Ah, well thay was stupid of me lol

I'll try it out with my darlingtonia, see if they like it or not

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*that

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A little on top for shading the soil surface will probably be ok. Keep us posted.

Intheswamp wrote:A little on top for shading the soil surface will probably be ok. Keep us posted.

Of course!

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So far, so good. Soil is cool all day, and it shows no sign of decline. Lets hope it can take the LA summer heat...





when it arrived

now

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I don't want to be a downer, but with no way to chill the roots at night, it will never handle the heat. You've got to get the soil temp below 70 every night. I missed adding frozen water bottles to my water source for the days and the plant totally crashed.

Panman wrote:I don't want to be a downer, but with no way to chill the roots at night, it will never handle the heat. You've got to get the soil temp below 70 every night. I missed adding frozen water bottles to my water source for the days and the plant totally crashed.

Are 60F nights enough? Those stay pretty constant here even during summer

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That would do it. So, th be honest, when I read LA I thought Louisiana not Los Angeles. 60 makes a lot more sense now.

Update:

With minimal cooling techniques, the darlingtonia managed to survive. Though it did get infected by something that had a coppery red hue to it, I'm not sure what it was.

I also found random holes in some of the new pitchers, yet I didn't see pests last year.



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