FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi all,
So I repotted a couple petiolaris drosera into a 2:1 peat sand mix yesterday, as per the recommendations in The Savage Garden (revised). Because the book stated that the sand used in sandboxes was safe, I used that. However, I soon found that a number of websites warned that play sand was often high in salts. Can anyone confirm this? Thanks.
WolframOmega

Yes, play sand is often ocean or beach sand which is high in salt, or river sand which is high in minerals. I good washing can help with this, but it's better to use pure quartz or silica sand.

Regardless if it's play sand or silica sand, you should always wash/sterilize your media before use. I use play sand for all of my temperate carnivores and they're fine. Most companies will try to source sand that is local, so sand that is fine for one area may not be fine for another. Even if your sand has toxic TDS levels however, you can still make it work by repeated and thorough washing with distilled/RO water; the sand I use usually gives me 200-300 ppm on the first go, and I rinse it down to around 10 ppm before using it.

I think that sand is dangerous for them. You should try to find the right one. It'll probably harm them petty quick if it does have minerals.

If I've already potted them up, can I just flush the pots repeatedly?

Any sand I have ever experimented with other than pure silica sand has given me negative results. Oftentimes the salt and/or mineral content is just far too high and gives an elevated ppm reading for TDS.

Technically, "beach sand" and "river sand" are silica sand that just happen to have high mineral/nutrient content because of the location they are found in (all of it's just Silicon dioxide). The sand particles themselves are chemically inert, it's the other things that come with the particles that cause issues. Once thoroughly washed, these sands are just as good as pure "silica sand". Now, if your sand is NOT derived of minerals like quartz, there may be an issue, since the sand particles themselves are chemically active in a manner that will damage your plants (this is also why many Pinguicula prefer a lime-based alkaline substrate over silica).

If you're not sure what's in it, look up the MSDS sheet for the product. Most sand comes from quartz quarries. If anything says washed sand, that just means they rinsed out the clay and dirt, you still need to wash it for your plants. Quikcrete Playsand and also their Commercial Grade (it's a lighter color if you like that but the bag is 100 freaking pounds) are good, just wash it and then give it a final rinse with distilled and you're good. Don't wash the entire bag! It'll take FOREVER. I just scoop out the amount I need and wash it as I use it.

Thanks for all the answers. However, since I really don't feel like repotting all those plants, can I flush the pots with tons of water to get rid of the salts etc?

This is the stuff I got.
http://www.sakrete.com/products/detail. ... -Play-Sand