FlyTrapCare Forums

Matt wrote:The quality of "Premier" brand peat moss varies a lot. I bought an entire pallet recently and it was pretty good quality. Then I had a couple of other bags from another pallet and they were total crap. Premier peat moss is the main reason I switched to using NZLFSM a number of years back. I used a bale to repot most of my personal collection of flytraps and nearly lost a lot of them because there was a ton of minerals in the moss and I didn't flush it out at all.

I don't use the premier brand peat moss. It seems to be pretty terrible based on a lot of growers' reveiws. I use Sunshine peat moss and have had no problem with it (not too many sticks in it). It doesn't leach minerals or anything and I haven't had to flush it at all, the soil remains nice and mineral free. Yes, basically all peat moss brands contain sticks but besides that, they're suitable for CP growing.

Adrien wrote:@Matt should I do a 50:50 mix of the Theriault & Hachey mix and perlite or just the theriault & hachey mix by itself?

Flytraps probably prefer the 50:50 mix better since it has excellent drainage. Pure peat tends to create root rot.

Can I use vermiculite instead of perlite? I already have vermiculite which is why I’m asking.

Well, you could use vermiculite but it's a pretty bad subsitute. It degrades quikly and releases minerals into the soil. If it's the only thing you have then use it but just make sure to flush the pot every now and then. Perlite is much better in every way and I highly recommend you use perlite.

We have an inside joke in local forums about a mythical media called "cherry mud"
A guy planted his VFT in pond mud "to replicate the natural environment of VFTs", then read about how the soil was supposed to be "slightly acidic", so he buried a few cherries in it.

He deleted his account, but the moderators reuploaded his posts for "historical purposes"

v heres a screenshot v

I found someone willing to trade me 4 hefty sized Big Mouth clones. Also Jeremiah Harris is sending me 4 still dormant in the fridge Spider clones for me to test as well. I will make a new thread once everything is ready, this ones already a mess.

Adrien wrote:I will do my own experiments. I’ll buy the new brand of peat mix Matt is trying out too. And use a few king Henry clones since I have the most of them. Or, is anyone willing to trade me 4 exact size clones of the same cultivar for 1 St. Patrick’s beard? Preferably a larger size and Bareroot ofc, that way I can just pot it and go from there.

Hey @Adrien, I can send you some plants to experiment with. I love supporting experiments! I'll send you a half dozen plants all the same clone so you can test them in multiple mediums this year. It would be fine to repot anything you want to as well. It's still super early in the growing season, so you have plenty of time to evaluate and gather data for the experiment before dormancy.

Did you want to order the FTS soil from us? That way you wouldn't have to look for other ingredients. If so, I could stick the plants in the box with the soil. Or -- I think you have an order going out today and I could stick the experiment plants in with the order and the Whale that I'm sending you in our trade.

@Matt thank you so much this means a lot! Yes you can add them to the order I placed yesterday. Jeremiah was willing to lend me some spider clones for free to experiment on, but I do have a good relationship with him so I wouldn’t go asking for free plants (other people). Fayetteville flytraps also sent me 4 Hefty sized big mouth clones to experiment on as well from my trade of the st. Patrick’s beard, I had planned on putting 2 spider cones and 2 big mouth clones in sphagnum and then the others in the peat mix. But since you are sending more I can experiment with other mixes too!

If anyone has any mix recommendations let me know!

You could try pure LFSM, LFSM + perlite (3/4 LSFM and 1/4 perlite), pure peat moss, and peat moss + perlite (3/4 peat moss + 1/4 perlite or 50:50).
These are the most popular soil mixes I know, they would be great for the expiriment!

@Adrien, I see your order for the T&H peat moss that came in last night too, so I'll ship some plants in the box with it!

I am personally a sphagnum supporter