FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

aside from the stuff that came in my DIY cube ( see post in the care section ) -- all I have for the moment is a bag of perlite and a bag of vermiculite , it has been recommended that I transplant my plants out of the cube, and so I am wondering if a mixture of vermiculite and perlite would be okay, or if leaving the plants in the cube until I can get some peat moss ( may be 2 or three weeks ) will be okay?

thanks

Leaving it in would be for the best,unless you mix the substrate in the cube with the erlite and vermiculite? If you can't do that then just leave it untill you get some peat

I'd wait until you can get some peat moss. Using just perlite as a soil would dry out much too quickly. Also, I'd avoid using vermiculite because it can have minerals in it that could be harmful to your plants.

Yeah, I ran to lowes quick today to see if they sold peat moss , and all they had was miracle grow, and I passed, I found a big pack of Sphagnum Moss but I was unsure if I could use that mixed with the Vermiculite ....

either way, Ill see if a different gardening store just has some straight up peat.. or is it peat moss? or what?

Sphagnum moss works great, with or without perlite. I use it for my most prized plants. All the rest go in Peat/Perlite.

Brad

Really, so I could just soak the Sphangnum moss put it in a pot and poke the plants root down in there? This was straight Sphagnum moss, nothing else in it -- I cant remember the name of the brand...oh well, I think Ill stick with something like peat and perlite for now until these lil boogers start to grow.

So basically you can just rinse it and then put it in with the plant. Just make sure you don't let it get too wet or dry or it could harm the plant. Peat and perlite would however be simpler and a better solution Plus it's cheaper and can be bought in larger quantities

"I"-LOVE-This Forum ... Some-of The-JPEGs I've-Seen Make-Me burst-OUT Laughing &-Feel Young-again!!! >(*U^)<

OK Down-to BASICS: Primary-Differences Between Perlite-&-Vermiculite With-some Reference to-PEAT Also-'Known'-as Peat-Moss but We-'Oldies' Just-Refer to-it as: "PEAT". >(*U^)<

(1) PERLITE Has NO Cation-or-Anion Exchange Capicity or Salt-'Sticking' Ability &-Can Be HIGH in-Fluoride in-Some-Cases that is-'Known' to-Affect some-Groups-of-Orchids.

(2) VERMICULITE or 'Puffed'-UP Mica Usually Comes-In Two-Forms Depending On-WHERE It-Is Mined in-The-World ... One-Being Acid The-Other Source being Alkaline. It-Also Has R Cation-Exchange-Capacity Along-The-Lines of-Peat but NO Anion-Exchange ... so-it's like Having Half-Peat THERE!!! >(*~*)<

(3) PEAT Is 'Unusual' Among Organic-Potting Media for-it Has BOTH An-Anion-&-Cation Exchange Capicity so-it in-Effect 'Sticks' 'Salt'-Fragments [Cations-&-Anions] to-it like Iron-Filelings to-R-Magnet, so-to-Speak. It's 'Salt'-INDEX Is-Around 250g / Litre but Sedge-Peat that Contains TWICE-as-much LIGNIN Presumeably Has-R 'Salt'-INDEX Heading-Towards the 500-Mark, so-to-Speak.

(4) The-ONLY-Thing "I"ve Ever-'Found' to-Closely-Match the Miracle-Properties of-PEAT Was "Smithers"-OASIS 'Floral'-Foam or Urea-Formaldehyde to-Give-it its 'Technical' Terminology so-to-Speak. It's 'Crush'-Volume Is-about 1-to-4 so Four-Bricks will Yield 1-Brick's-worth of Pottable-Material - An-'Expensive'-Remedy ... but good for The-Study of LOW-Sulphur Plants ... Since-it Contains Virtually NO-Sulphur unlike-PEAT.

Anyway That's-about it for-Now ... "I"-'NEED'-R-COFFEE!!! >(*U^)< See-Yur.

I had trouble reading that and aborted mission after the first number. Can you write normal?