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Just Bought A Flytrap Yesterday

Hello all. I bought one of those $5 Venus Flytrap deals from Walmart yesterday and have been researching alot since I got it. I have two questions that I cannot find the answers to and would greatly appreciate if you folks could help me out.

1) I repotted it using EarthGro Potting Soil mix, can the plant survive in that? Is it worth buying peat moss this late in the game?

2) It's been a over a day since I've repotted them and most of them are still closed. I assume this is because they're in shock from the repotting but is it normal for them to take that long to reopen?

Thanks.
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you definately may want to put it in a low nutrient mix such as pure peat moss or a mix of 1:1 mix of peat and perlite (which i use other people may have other mixes). Venus flytraps are adapted to low nutrient, acidic soil, putting one in a regular potting soil mix could endanger it's health. So, it's definately worth buying peat moss!
 
Krakilin, welcome to the forums!

No, you cannot use that potting soil! You need to get some peat moss ASAP and repot them in that. If you can, add half perlite or white sand. Flytraps are easy to grow, but you have to keep them in low-nutrient soil - the opposite of that potting soil!

Then, just give them tons of light and pure rainwater or distilled water and they'll be fine.

Capslock
 
yep, distiled water, and in a Dish. About an Inch of water, allow it to dry out but Imediatly fill it back up, never let the soil dry out! If you buy gallon jugs just be sure to not use those kinds that have minerals added to them. Just look for Pure REverse osmosis water. Or distiled water.

Cheers
 
Yeah, I went to the nearest store after I bought it and the best thing I saw there was Springfield Purified Water so I bought 2 gallons. Pretty sure it's the same thing.. I hope :p

Gunna have to wait until tommorow to get the peat moss and stuff though.. hope they survive the night!

You guys are really helpful though, thanks alot!!
 
Krakilin, just so you know, and will know what may happen, you may have already killed the plant by putting it in that fertilized wonderful mix for petunias or lobelia, but never VFT's. Also be warned, purified water IS NOT distilled, rainwater, or reverse osmosis water. It may yet contain mineral salts that could kill the VFT. They ARE easy to grow, but you absolutely have to learn that some things cannot be considered "just as good as" when absolutes have been given to you. Straight peat moss works fine with a VFT. Sand isn't necessary, but can be used. Avoid perlite like its a disease! Messy stuff. Gets everywhere and into everything. Otherwise, change everything for your plant first thing or you may find yourself buying another VFT soon from wherever you got it.
 
Purified water isn't always the same as low-mineral water. Many 'pure' waters are just bottled tap water that's been run through a sediment filter, sometimes with salt added for taste. Unless it says distilled, reverse osmosis, or deionized, it's probably just your local tap water doctored to taste better. It might take a little searching, but it will be worth your time to find a good source of water. Some stores have reverse osmosis filters and sell the water in bulk, which is usually the cheapest option.
If you're really lucky, your tap water may be useable by itself - you can call your local utility company for a report on water quality. If the total dissolved solids (TDS) count is low enough (I believe 100 parts per million is adequate, and the less the better) then it should work for CPs. Of course, if your pipes are really old or poorly plumbed, the water reaching your home may have a higher TDS rating than the water at the pump station, but you can always get a kit to test it.
All in all though, as your profile says you're in San Diego, I wouldn't count on the municipal water being especially pure. On the bright side, San Diego is a big town, so there's surely a place where you can buy good water. There's lots of San Diego folks here on the forums, so I'm sure someone can tell you where to go. Another option is to just buy a reverse osmosis unit for your home - you can find good ones on eBay for $80 or so. It's kind of pricey, but in a little over a year of CP growing I've easily spent twice that on water, if not more. Plus having a filter in house is just convenient. If you look in the greenhouse forum there are a few threads on RO filters and where to get them.
Welcome to the forums, by the way.
Best luck,
~Joe
 
spending a day or two in potting soil likely wont hurt the plant..
thats not a long enough time to do serious damage.
but get it into pure peat asap!

just use pure peat moss for now..no need to bother with sand or perlite.
as you gain more experience, you can mess around with other soil mixes if you want, but for starting out, pure peat only is simple, easy, and will work fine.

Go to the grocery store and get a few gallons of *distilled* water..
make sure it has that word on the jug! *distilled*.

again, later on, as you gain experience and knowledge you can try collection rain water or getting a reverse osmosis unit if you need it.
but for immediate success, you cant go wrong with basic peat moss and dstilled water.

rinse off ALL the old potting soil from the roots!
its ok to rinse it under a faucet of tap water for this.
then pot it in the pure peat moss.
put the pot in a tray of the distilled water, and keep the tray filled.
put the plant outdoors, in bright, direct sunlight.
yes, the leaves might burn at first, but thats ok.
(see this thread about leaf burn)

sunburn thread

getting DIRECT light is more important in the long-run than short-term leaf burn.

and thats it!
if you do those three simple things.
1. peat moss.
2. distilled water.
3. bright, direct sun, outdoors.

your VFT will be happy and healthy!

Scot
 
  • #10
I'm hoping that the stuff that it was already potted in is helping it to survive and seperating it from the nasty potting soil hehe. Definately going out today to buy peat moss though.

You guys have helped me way more than I could have imagined!
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I feel the love. <3
 
  • #11
Welcome to the discussion forums! One thing that will take some getting used to is that there will be some variety to approaches and most (if not all) will be valid. For soil, you can buy a bag of sphagnum peat (2.5 cubic ft) and or perlite and or the dried LFS (long fibred sphagnum moss), and or sand. There is much debate as to whether play sand or all purpose sand is acceptable. I just go to a pool supply place and get a 50 lb bag and I know that's safe. As for water, distilled, RO (reverse osmosis), deionized, and rainwater are acceptable. When I worked at a lab, I had all the free deionized water I wanted. I amno longer spoiled. Many people buy the gallon jugs of distilled water from any grocery store or Walmart and many collect rainwater. Now I collect rainwater. Once your plant is showing new growth, it would be wise to stage it outside.
 
  • #12
sphagnum peat or chanadian sphagnum peat...NO SEDGE PEAT! try to buy shultz brand. i dont think they have fertilizers in it. scotts=bad and miracle grow=worse! just wait you are going to be addicted to these things. it all starts with a VFT usually then a butterwort or sundew, then sarracenia and ultimately...the mighty Nepenthes!
good luck
alex
 
  • #13
Krakilin,
Someone on the forum said to always buy the peat in the large bales as it was packaged on site as opposed to being sent through a plant that processed many types of potting soil. I think it was Bugweed, but I'm not sure. What I can tell you for sure is that in my experience with Schultz and Scotts brands, I have found slow release fertilizer in small quantities in both brands. I would avoid them and, as Jimscott suggested, get the sphagnum peat in the bales (large plastic bag of compressed sphagnum peat moss). It's usually cheaper this way also.
 
  • #14
I bought another venus fly trap today and a pitcher plant at Lowe's! I love that place, so much better than Walmart's garden section hahah.

I also bought Scotts Sphagnum Peat Moss and MiracleGro Perlite. After I potted the new venus fly trap with the old one, I looked closer at the Perlite bag and saw "enhanced with plant food" :\ I shouldn't of bothered with perlite but whatever, it's better than that potting soil that I was using!

Edit: I feel like I'm hogging the forum.. ill just stop posting in this thread :p
 
  • #15
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Krakilin @ May 31 2006,7:50)]...I looked closer at the Perlite bag and saw "enhanced with plant food" :\ I shouldn't of bothered with perlite but whatever, it's better than that potting soil that I was using!

Edit: I feel like I'm hogging the forum.. ill just stop posting in this thread :p
The "enhanced with plant food" means it's had fertilizer added to it, so it's just as deadly for your VFT as the old potting soil you were using. If you used it in the new soil mix for your VFT, you need to repot them again using straight sphagnum peat.

Oh, keep posting. Ain't no rule against posting; long as they aren't monosyllabic (one syllable long)
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.
 
  • #16
BCK:where can you buy these bales from?
 
  • #17
[b said:
Quote[/b] (glider14 @ June 01 2006,9:31)]BCK:where can you buy these bales from?
There are different brand names of sphagnum peat. I have seen Nirom and Lambert, but there are more, depending who the suppliers are. But Home Depot & Lowes sell them and they are likely to be in the outside garden area. They come in 2.5 & 3.8 cubic ft. sizes. Should be ~6. I would also invest in the dried long fibred sphagnum moss (`$4) and pool filter sand (~$8).

You may like Lowes, but you'll love the Trading Post! Lotsa good offerings for just shipping charges (at best - $4.05).
 
  • #18
For my first vfts I bought scotts sphagnum peat after scouring the package for any mention of fertilizer or enhancements (says its 100% sphagnum peat) because I couldnt find baled peat (found it later though) and the flytraps growing in it are doing extremely well, also I found it easy to work with for mixing with sand as its already ground up pretty fine. Havent used scotts peat since but the plants I put in it suffered no adverse effects and are in fact growing like mad. I also used home depot levelling sand as I couldnt find anything else and it too seems to be working out well. Just my $.02 with a whopping 2 months CP growing experience under my belt:)
 
  • #19
I've been contemplating the use of leveling sand. Didn't see any mention of additives. Always wise to rinse whatever media you are using. I use a bucket for sand and one of those square, black plastic baskets that are used in pools - just $3 - for peat and LFS.
 
  • #20
Glider14, I got a 2.2 cu ft bag for $6.99 at Alco. It was cheaper there than at the local greenhouses.
 
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