What's new
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!

Should I repot?

johnnyfrye

I like drosera.
library_-_10701.jpg


When I was still a CP beginner, I thought it might be cool to have a giant pot with tons of Drosera in it. However, I was still a beginner, and when I transferred all the plants to the pot, I used pure peat. No sand, perlite, or anything else, just peat. The sundews I've planted there have never done very well, and lately they've been declining even more. Some sort of Genlisea or Utric has sprung up as ground cover, but it never flowers. Many of the sundews in there have made offshoots from the roots. I really want to re-pot them to their own individual pots with a much better peat:sand mix, but I'm not sure if I should yet, or if it would kill the plants. Anyone have any opinions?

-Johnny
 
IMO, I don't think you need to. Maybe change the conditions. Plus, what will you do with all the utrics?
 
They look like they're doing fine, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. However, if you want to re-pot them, then re-pot them... I highly doubt that they will die if you do.
 
Those utrics actually look pretty nice. It looks like really short grass and provides a beautiful green background against the red plants.
 
The hobbyist called Bugweed practically swore by peat alone. But a good general recipe is sand, peat, and LFS.
 
I think I'm going to repot them in a few days, but thanks for all your guys advice! I just think they'd be nicer in individual pots. My standard mix is sand, peat, and occasionally LFS.

I think I'll also inspect those 'Utrics', maybe see what exactly they are. I have a sneaking suspicion they might be some species of Genlisea.
 
I think I'm going to repot them in a few days, but thanks for all your guys advice! I just think they'd be nicer in individual pots. My standard mix is sand, peat, and occasionally LFS.

I think I'll also inspect those 'Utrics', maybe see what exactly they are. I have a sneaking suspicion they might be some species of Genlisea.

I don't think it's Genlisea because I don't think Genlisea spreads like that.
 
If you are talking about those things in the upper part of the pot, then I have to say I believe that they are the beginnings of ferns.
 
If you are talking about those things in the upper part of the pot, then I have to say I believe that they are the beginnings of ferns.


I think he's talking about the short, green leafy things covering the surface of the soil. It looks like really short grass.


Heck, I'm thinking about buying some terrestrial Utricularia that I can add to my pot of CPs and it will make a nice soil covering.
 
  • #10
The hobbyist called Bugweed practically swore by peat alone. But a good general recipe is sand, peat, and LFS.

I only used peat for my D. adelae, right now it has a layer of moss over the top of the pot to. All I can say is the plant doesn't care and has 2 flower stalks with 3 more on the way.???
 
  • #11
I only used peat for my D. adelae, right now it has a layer of moss over the top of the pot to. All I can say is the plant doesn't care and has 2 flower stalks with 3 more on the way.???



I agree. Here's a picture I found by google of a very healthy D. Adelae with lots of moss on top. I can't wait till mine looks like this:


DroseraAdelae.jpg
 
  • #12
that to me does not look like a utric and deff. not genlisea.
seeing as utrics would have probably flowered by now for sure
looks more like a crazy retarded amount of carpet moss or star moss.
 
  • #13
The unknown is actually called a liverwort. It is a lichen, and they produce gemmae like pygmies after growing for awhile...
johnnyfrye, do you top water your plants? My plants start looking like that after minerals start building up on the surface. Otherwise, the large pot looks neat to me, but by all means repot them if you want to.
 
  • #14
Actually, yes, I do top water the big pot! The saucer on the bottom just barely fits and it's hard to pour water into the tray, so I top water it. I have been for years. That's probably what's making them so unhappy!

Anyway, I really didn't like them in the big pot, so I have in fact just repotted them. I plan to give some of the plants away and keep the hamiltoniis and aliciaes (especially the clumps) for myself. I'm glad I did it.

When I was taking the dirt out of the large pot, I got a chance to look at the roots of the unknown ground cover, and it puzzled me, because they didn't corkscrew like genlisea and had no bladders like utrics. CPlantaholic, I think you were referring to the dark green ugly thing at the top of the pot as the liverwort, right? Because I vaguely remember liverworts from biology class, and I don't think they looked like a tiny grass with white roots. The unknown that I'm thinking of is the light green stuff that is nearly covering the surface of the big pot.
 
  • #15
Just so I don't confuse anyone w/ my last post, it is a good thing to top-water your plants. It flushes out minerals that are on the surafce. If they still looked like that after alwasy top-watering, I think repotting into a better-draining was a smart move on your part. (the plants in that picture also look like the sundews I grew in a mix of peat: perlite. i now use a peat:silica sand mix and they look amazing now).

O, woops, I only read jimmy's post. yea, that looks like the carpet moss that grows in most of my pots- annoying...
 
  • #16
Ah, that makes sense. I was thinking, "how would top-watering cause mineral build-up?" Thanks for the advice.

And I actually like the carpet moss, it's better than bare peat IMO. A kept a bit of it in each new pot so it can spread and be awesome.
 
  • #17
I don't know. It looks like U. bisquamata to me. Can you try uprooting some of them or some macro shots?
 
  • #18
yeah its a moss if it doesnt have bladders or corkscrews. i knew it wasnt genlisea...but if it just had thin white roots, its a moss or a grass of somekind.
 
  • #19
I don't think it's Bisquamata.. I've got a pot of that sitting in the same tank, and Bisquamata looks different.

I'm pretty sure now it's some sort of moss. I looked VERY closely, and no bladders or corkscrews. Just very thin white roots.
 
  • #20
Oh, ok then. From a far, it looks like the thin leaves of my bisquamata.
 
Back
Top