TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk
Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
Whats the diff between spahgum and peat moss?
- Thread starter wezx
- Start date
Long Fibered Sphagnum moss is the best "single item" soil ingredient in which to grow Nepenthes. LFS is nice because it will eventually come to life if your conditions are correct for nepenthes and you will actually be growing your own soil! Living sphagnum moss is what many nepenthes grow in in the wild, especially the highland/cool growing species.
If you wanna use unfertilized canadian sphagnum peat you have to add about 50% pearlite to make it open enough for nep roots.
If you wanna use unfertilized canadian sphagnum peat you have to add about 50% pearlite to make it open enough for nep roots.
Wezx, I think the Singaporeans can help you out with this.
You can buy dried sphagnum moss from NTUC, and it will eventually come to life, I believe, as swords mentioned.
You don't need sand at all, what your neps want is aerated soil, with enough space for the roots to breathe. I find that sphagnum moss by itself is quite sufficient, but if you want to you can add other things, like osmunda tree fibre etc
You can buy dried sphagnum moss from NTUC, and it will eventually come to life, I believe, as swords mentioned.
You don't need sand at all, what your neps want is aerated soil, with enough space for the roots to breathe. I find that sphagnum moss by itself is quite sufficient, but if you want to you can add other things, like osmunda tree fibre etc
Perlite is the little white balls you find in pots at home depot or any other nursery that sells plants,.. i had no idea what perlite was either untl i saw the bag
what i do when i plant my neps is,... i have a bag that i bought from Wal mart,, or any other store, its called Orchid Bark, i think its by better gro, its a mix of orchid bark, charcoal, and perlite,. i put about 1-2" of that on the bottom of my pot, then i take a container and take 1-2 hand fulls of scultz sphagnum peat moss,.. and put it in the container (depends how big the pot is), ... then i take about half a hand full of perlite from schultz also and add that to it,... i take about a hand full of the orchid bark and add that too, THEN i take the long fibered sphagnum which is from bettergro and i put that there to, i add water and mix it all up, then i put it in a pot
those are the ingredients i use,... you kinda have to guess how many hand fulls and stuff to take cus every pot size is different,.. you should be able to get the idea from what i wrote, i use that for all my neps,
and when you add the perlite, try not to put to much becuase if you do youll have white balls everywhere and it wont look as good
after i mx everythihg together and add the plant in the pot i take some live sphagnum moss and put that on top
i hope i helped you
what i do when i plant my neps is,... i have a bag that i bought from Wal mart,, or any other store, its called Orchid Bark, i think its by better gro, its a mix of orchid bark, charcoal, and perlite,. i put about 1-2" of that on the bottom of my pot, then i take a container and take 1-2 hand fulls of scultz sphagnum peat moss,.. and put it in the container (depends how big the pot is), ... then i take about half a hand full of perlite from schultz also and add that to it,... i take about a hand full of the orchid bark and add that too, THEN i take the long fibered sphagnum which is from bettergro and i put that there to, i add water and mix it all up, then i put it in a pot
those are the ingredients i use,... you kinda have to guess how many hand fulls and stuff to take cus every pot size is different,.. you should be able to get the idea from what i wrote, i use that for all my neps,
and when you add the perlite, try not to put to much becuase if you do youll have white balls everywhere and it wont look as good
after i mx everythihg together and add the plant in the pot i take some live sphagnum moss and put that on top
i hope i helped you
I tend to use only sphagnum moss for my neps, it makes things easier, but I believe growth can be facilitated with extra media.
For my other cps (sundews), I used a mix of perlite and peat moss, with a covering of sphagnum. You'll find that it's very much your own preference, with some elements of tiral and error (for instance I substituted perlite for sand).
For my other cps (sundews), I used a mix of perlite and peat moss, with a covering of sphagnum. You'll find that it's very much your own preference, with some elements of tiral and error (for instance I substituted perlite for sand).
For my neps, I use a equal parts of long-fibered sphagnum, orchid bark, charcoal, pumice, vermiculite and just a touch of peat moss. This isn't all necessary, but I have bags sitting around, so I make up a little cocktail. But I always have a top-dressing, the top inch or so, of pure lfs. Since I grow most of my neps on open shelves under a grow light, I like the extra humidity a top layer of lfs gives.
An excellent easy mix is lfs and orchid bark, say 2 parts lfs, one part orchid bark (or perlite or coconut fiber chips).
Capslock
An excellent easy mix is lfs and orchid bark, say 2 parts lfs, one part orchid bark (or perlite or coconut fiber chips).
Capslock
I think we might be confusing poor wesx with our specialty soil recipes.
As a beginner with only a few plants and no onhand potting media, one bag of pure long strand sphagnum moss crushed up and soaked in a pail of water will do you just fine and be all you need. You will likely have a lot left over for new plants so don't soak the whole bag! One package of compressed, long fibered sphagnum moss will make a whole lot when you soak it.
Once you get more plants and experinece and feel like buying a bunch of "ingredients" to play around with soil mixes just be sure whatever you buy does not add any nutrients to the soil. Basically you want a "sterile" soil that will not feed the plants roots at all, just giving them something to grow in. Things like "orchid bark" (tiny pieces of wood), hortcultural charcoal, pearlite (an expanded mineral which is used to create air spaces which allows faster drianing of the soil), coarse sphagnum peat moss, coco peat, coconut husks (used in place of the orchid bark), etc.
I do not like using a mix of sand and peat because it makes a very heavy soil and I do not think it drains well at all. Infact any plant I've done sand/peat soil with (including pygmy drosera who are said to require this type of soil) has died or needed repotting very quickly. There is really only one good kind of sand to use for this, it is hard to locate and the sand too, must be a non-mineral type so that it does not grow algae or slime molds (or give nutrients to the plant).
As a beginner with only a few plants and no onhand potting media, one bag of pure long strand sphagnum moss crushed up and soaked in a pail of water will do you just fine and be all you need. You will likely have a lot left over for new plants so don't soak the whole bag! One package of compressed, long fibered sphagnum moss will make a whole lot when you soak it.
Once you get more plants and experinece and feel like buying a bunch of "ingredients" to play around with soil mixes just be sure whatever you buy does not add any nutrients to the soil. Basically you want a "sterile" soil that will not feed the plants roots at all, just giving them something to grow in. Things like "orchid bark" (tiny pieces of wood), hortcultural charcoal, pearlite (an expanded mineral which is used to create air spaces which allows faster drianing of the soil), coarse sphagnum peat moss, coco peat, coconut husks (used in place of the orchid bark), etc.
I do not like using a mix of sand and peat because it makes a very heavy soil and I do not think it drains well at all. Infact any plant I've done sand/peat soil with (including pygmy drosera who are said to require this type of soil) has died or needed repotting very quickly. There is really only one good kind of sand to use for this, it is hard to locate and the sand too, must be a non-mineral type so that it does not grow algae or slime molds (or give nutrients to the plant).
