FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

This is kind've a repost of a topic that never got answered. My nepenthes is potted in a shpagnum peat moss mix. I know you're supposed to use long fiber sphagnum moss but I didn't have any when I got it. Right now I'm watering it whenever the top 1/2 inch or so is dry. The pot has drain holes on the bottom. I was wondering if you could drill holes in the side of the pot to more evenly dry it out. Do you guys think what I'm doing will rot the roots?

I am no expert as I have almost killed my neps in every way known to man but I had them in straight peat with only bottom drainage holes and had no problem with rot. The only time I did was when I had them in a tray of water (yeah, I know, bad idea but it was before I found this forum)

I decided to just drill 4 holes around the pot for better drainage. The drill bit would go through the plastic and into the soil a little ways. I've heard that they have very shallow roots. So would this hole be deep enough to where the bit wouldn't hit the roots?

That should be totally fine. You are basically just making your own net pots. I also doubt poking those holes will disturb the roots at all - they really do have itty bitty root balls relative to their size. It will probably be fine even if you snag one, just be cautious.