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Discuss water requirements, "soil" (growing media) and suitable planting containers

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By elaineo
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Posts:  1067
Joined:  Tue Jul 24, 2012 4:07 am
#454820
About 2-3 years ago I started some leucophylla OP seeds, some in normal sphagnum peat and some in a product called "emerald peat", which is shredded redwood bark. Redwood is rot-resistant and often used for outdoor structures.

The square pot on the left is regular peat/perlite, and the white pots on the right are emerald peat only. Both have some regular live sphagnum on top.
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IMG_7421.jpg (988.17 KiB) Viewed 457 times
It's not super scientific because the sample size is small, but mainly I wanted to see if the plants would die, which they did not.

Also, I found this comment from Sarracenia Northwest to be interesting:
Dissolved organic material is of no consequence to carnivorous plants. It's dissolved minerals from underground water sources you need to pay attention to. As long as your TDS readings are below 50 before watering your plants, the water is fine to use long-term.
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By steve booth
Posts:  1310
Joined:  Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:15 am
#454836
Similarly, I use pine bark as a mix for my plants, it is acidic and releases tannins over time, so long as you don't get a sudden decomposition of the material with no means of diluting the nutrients produced (i.e. a non-emptied, cleaned or refreshed tray system) it works quite well.
Decomposition tends to be noticeable at the end of year two, into year three, if you pass that decomposition point, then the medium is essentially neutral so it does no damage to the plant in the way of mineral burn, but it is no longer acidic and the growth is less robust.
Cheers
Steve
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