Moss Confusion

[adamtekium]

Hi guys,
I'm really new at this and I was hoping you could answer a question I imagine is extrmely basic. I will be recieving my first dew soon and wanted to know if I should pot it with long fibered sphagnum moss or milled sphagnum peat moss. I will be using the 1 part moss/1 part perlite mix.

P.S. What do LFS and APS stand for?

Thanks in advance.

 

[amphirion]

LFS: long fibered sphagnum
APS: aquatic potting soil

 

[pappydew]

I use about a 1:1 peat and sand or pearlite mix for all my dews.

LFS = long fibered sphagnum
APS = aquatic potting soil

Which species are you getting by the way?

 

[amphirion]

i would go 1:1 peat and silica sand. a majority of sundews can work with this soil recipe. from my experience, perlite might be too problematic for pygmy dews.

 

[swords]

Close guys,

APS = Aquatic PLANT Soil

Made by Schultz here's the bag: SCHULTZ APS

Shultz also markets something called Clay Soil Conditioner which is the same thing as APS (100% Arcyllite clay particles) but at 1/2 the price of APS. I've only found CSC at a couple Walmart garden centers, not all of them.

 

[Not a Number]

Depending on the species Drosera can be grown in anything from pure Sphagnum (peat moss, or long fiber moss living or dead, milled or not) to pure silica sand. The standard mix of 1 part sand or perlite to 1 part peat moss will work with 80-90% of the species. And perlite poses no problem with most pygmy Drosera.

What species are we talking about here?

 

[adamtekium]

Thank you everyone for your responses! I have a very hard time finding long fibered sphagnum or milled sphagnum that doesn't have fertilizers added. Are there any brands readily available from Home Depot/Lowe's/Walmart/K-Mart that don't have any fertilizers added? I should also include that I live in a relatively small apartment so those bales you find in the outdoor garden centers aren't an option for me.

I use about a 1:1 peat and sand or pearlite mix for all my dews.

LFS = long fibered sphagnum
APS = aquatic potting soil

Which species are you getting by the way?

I will be getting D. capillaris and D. spathulata.

@Swords: I'll go look for that aquatic soil but I probably won't be able to find it where I live since everything is frozen for 8 months of the year.

 

[Not a Number]

Ok, I take it your are in the US. Home Depot and Lowe's will sell long fiber sphagnum moss - look for Mosser-Lee or Orchid Moss (in small bricks). The Mosser-Lee has been of poor quality the last few years but if you pick through the bags and find the fluffiest looking stuff it is better than nothing. You can mill it yourself if you have an old food processor you can use. Wear a breathing mask of some sort as the dust can be quite nasty or possibly lead to a fungus infection. If you don't have a food processor you can use you can chop it up with scissors. Wet the moss first.

If you are in California OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware) is carrying the Black Gold line of planting supplies and you can get bags in two or three sizes of Peat Moss, pumice, horticultural sand, and perlite - all without fertilizer.

You should be able to buy a bag of play sand from any of the above. Just make sure it is silica sand and wash/rinse it. It should be washed fairly well to begin with (gotta be clean for kids) but it never hurts to be doubly sure.

Both of these can be grown in pure long fiber sphagnum although the D. spatulata may be happier with sand/perlite in the mix.

You can also buy mix from Andrew, who runs this board:
http://www.flytrapshop.com/servlet/the-Accessories--fdsh--Soil/Categories

 

[amphirion]

@NaN: my problem with using perlite in pygmy sundew media is the fact that it prevents the sundew from rooting properly into the media when propagated from gemmae, which results in the entire root structure in the air instead of the soil (think of an arch). or perhaps the reason is because i planted the gemmae improperly? im open to possible explanations.

 

[adamtekium]

Ok, I take it your are in the US. Home Depot and Lowe's will sell long fiber sphagnum moss - look for Mosser-Lee or Orchid Moss (in small bricks). The Mosser-Lee has been of poor quality the last few years but if you pick through the bags and find the fluffiest looking stuff it is better than nothing. You can mill it yourself if you have an old food processor you can use. Wear a breathing mask of some sort as the dust can be quite nasty or possibly lead to a fungus infection. If you don't have a food processor you can use you can chop it up with scissors. Wet the moss first.

If you are in California OSH (Orchid Supply Hardware) is carrying the Black Gold line of planting supplies and you can get bags in two or three sizes of Peat Moss, pumice, horticultural sand, and perlite - all without fertilizer.

You should be able to buy a bag of play sand from any of the above. Just make sure it is silica sand and wash/rinse it. It should be washed fairly well to begin with (gotta be clean for kids) but it never hurts to be doubly sure.

Both of these can be grown in pure long fiber sphagnum although the D. spatulata may be happier with sand/perlite in the mix.

You can also buy mix from Andrew, who runs this board:
http://www.flytrapshop.com/servlet/the-Accessories--fdsh--Soil/Categories

Alright. Thanks for all the information. I'll take a second look at Home Depot and Lowes. I wish I still lived in California (Bay Area). It would make finding everything much easier.

P.S. I think OSH stands for Orchard Supply Hardware.

 

[Not a Number]

P.S. I think OSH stands for Orchard Supply Hardware.

Whoops, corrected in original post

The Orchid Moss (check the label it should say Sphagnum moss and mention Chile as the source) is sometimes in the orchid supply section.

 

[pappydew]

I have my spatulata in a peat/pearlite and capillaris in peat/sand. Both are doing well.

 

[adamtekium]

Alright. So I found some Mosser-Lee LFS. Do I need to chop it up or can I leave it as is?

 

[Not a Number]

You can use it as it is. Chop it up if you want a nice even looking surface.