TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk
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seedjar
Let's positive thinking!
I plant 3-5 VFTs in a 6-8 inch diameter pot with 6-8 inches of depth as well. An 8-10 inch pot could adequately hold 5-7 VFTs.
If you plant too many in a pot, their water demands will outstrip the ability of the mass of the planting medium to hold and supply water during their most active growing season and on hot and dry days, unless the pot sits in a tray of water.
I don't like to place my VFTs in trays of water for extended periods, so I (try to) limit the number of VFTs I plant in a container. Ideally I would plant only 3 VFTs in a 6-7 inch diameter pot, 4-5 in an 8-10 inch pot. They can grow quite large (7 or 8 inches in diameter, with 12-16 active leaves at a time) if happy and grown well, so the water demands of 3 such VFTs could only just adequately be supplied by a 6-inch pot with 6 inches of soil depth, in my experience and using my growing technique.
Best wishes with your VFTs--
If you plant too many in a pot, their water demands will outstrip the ability of the mass of the planting medium to hold and supply water during their most active growing season and on hot and dry days, unless the pot sits in a tray of water.
I don't like to place my VFTs in trays of water for extended periods, so I (try to) limit the number of VFTs I plant in a container. Ideally I would plant only 3 VFTs in a 6-7 inch diameter pot, 4-5 in an 8-10 inch pot. They can grow quite large (7 or 8 inches in diameter, with 12-16 active leaves at a time) if happy and grown well, so the water demands of 3 such VFTs could only just adequately be supplied by a 6-inch pot with 6 inches of soil depth, in my experience and using my growing technique.
Best wishes with your VFTs--
Every now and again, I start a new "junk VFT bucket" when I get too many typicals laying arround... Here is a pretty current picture of 2 said containiners. The media is pure LFS and I completely float the plants and allow it to dry up before refilling... So that takes about a month or so. It's nice cause I don't have to spend too much time on them
Andrew
Edit: the bald spot on the right of the fuller bucket is where I took some VFTs to give away to a newbie
That's what these are good for
Andrew
Edit: the bald spot on the right of the fuller bucket is where I took some VFTs to give away to a newbie
That's an interesting technique, Andrew.
Even though I personally like a drained planting container and don't like to leave plants sitting in water for days or even hours on end, I have been thinking about adjusting my potting mix for VFTs from 1 part coarse blasting sand and 1 part (by volume) sphagnum peat moss, to 1 part sand, 2 parts sphagnum peat in order to hold moisture for a longer time in this very dry air of New Mexico.
There seem to be lots of successful growing techniques.
I'm struggling with my first cobra lily right now, fretting over how to treat it. Our evenings and nights are cool at this altitude (4000 feet) so I'm not worried about that, but the intense daytime sun can really heat up the top surface of the soil. Although I have the Darlingtonia planted in an insulated foam pot, I'm thinking of scraping off the top 3/4 inch of soil or so, and putting pure dried long-fiber sphagnum there instead, to insulate the top soil surface. I think that will help, but like I mentioned, this is my first cobra lily--I don't know. I don't want to go to the trouble of frozen rainwater ice cubes to place on the surface though. That's way too fussy for me; I've got to think of a better, easier way than that to keep the Darlingtonia happy.
Even though I personally like a drained planting container and don't like to leave plants sitting in water for days or even hours on end, I have been thinking about adjusting my potting mix for VFTs from 1 part coarse blasting sand and 1 part (by volume) sphagnum peat moss, to 1 part sand, 2 parts sphagnum peat in order to hold moisture for a longer time in this very dry air of New Mexico.
There seem to be lots of successful growing techniques.
I'm struggling with my first cobra lily right now, fretting over how to treat it. Our evenings and nights are cool at this altitude (4000 feet) so I'm not worried about that, but the intense daytime sun can really heat up the top surface of the soil. Although I have the Darlingtonia planted in an insulated foam pot, I'm thinking of scraping off the top 3/4 inch of soil or so, and putting pure dried long-fiber sphagnum there instead, to insulate the top soil surface. I think that will help, but like I mentioned, this is my first cobra lily--I don't know. I don't want to go to the trouble of frozen rainwater ice cubes to place on the surface though. That's way too fussy for me; I've got to think of a better, easier way than that to keep the Darlingtonia happy.
