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Nep. soil

I am currently waiting on my N. ventrata in the mail and I was just wondering what soil mixture would work well. I am hoping for one that doesnt have to many different ingrediants so it will be easier to compile.. Thanks
 
What do you have on hand now for ingredients?

Most Nepenthes are not very picky as long as the mix holds water but yet drains well and lets the roots breath a bit. Usually this is best accomplished with some perlite to keep the mix loose and well drained, Sphagnum to help hold water and loosen it up. Chips of some sort to add a little 'chunk', charcoal, fir bark, coconut husk etc. And a little peat just to help hold it all together. That's what I prefer while others grow really nice plants in nothing but pure Sphagnum, or a simple mix of half peat and half perlite. The key is to keep the plant nice and moist but not sopping wet..
Tony
 
i use mainly pure LFS but sometimes add orchid bark and/or perlite to it. they seem to do quite well in this for me.

Rattler
 
whatever you do, dont make it pure peat, as i found it compresses over time and becomes something like a stone. Zongyi
 
I currently have LFS, peat, and perlite that I have been using for other CPs. when you say charcoal is it special charcoal or just plain ol charcoal.
 
horticultural grade charcoal.. not the stuff you cook over
 
Would some nice mesquite wood charcoal work? As long as it is not the briquets. What makes horticultural grade charcoal so special?
 
No it needs to be horticultural grade.
 
Craig, I'm growing most all my Neps in LFS and small bark (with a dash of horticultural charcoal) just to help keep it areated. In my highland conditions it is important that they have a large % of orchid bark to keep the soil from rotting or staying to wet and growing algae.
My "easy" lowlanders however (including your soon to be coccinea and trichocarpa) are often planted in straight LFS with no special additions and never show any ill effects. I do let the plain LFS soils dry out (but not actually go dry) more than I used to and the plants/root systems seem to be a bit stronger because of it.
Ventrata is pretty indestructible overall. My first Nep was a cutting from my uncles old Ventrata which he's had for some 10+ years in a dark window and he still grows it in normal potting soil watered with plain tap water.  It never pitchers for him but it's still growing strong even though he's violating the "rules". I like the pitchers though so I use LFS and r/o water and that cutting has done fabulous for me for several years. Becoming dozens of new plants over the years.
 
  • #10
Hi all:

I would like to let you know that Australian quarantine service uses pure orchid bark chips overlayed with LFS for Nepenthes. The plants managed to survived for so long. So i do think it is a good media to keep them alive.

Gus.
 
  • #11
Josh,

That is a great story about the ventrata. Do you think that a plant like that would grow faster in potting soil, and then you transplant to get the pitchers going? Sounds stupid, but I thought I would ask.

Cheers,

Joe
 
  • #12
Josh you say that you use some bark and charcoal in your soil. Would perlite accomplish the same thing or is the use of bark and charcoal for different reasons. I can pretty easily get ahold of some perlite but horticoltural grade bark and charcoal appears to be a little bit difficult for me to find. Thanks
 
  • #13
Wolf,

Yes it would do the same thing. People are sometimes hesitant about using perlite because they supposedly build up flourides. Many use it w/o ever seeing this happen.

Cheers,

Joe
 
  • #14
Craig,

What part of Michigan do you live in? Those things might be easier to get than you think.

Joe
 
  • #15
I use pure spaghnum and all my plants seem to do very well. Only two of my plants are not in pure LFS and they are bical and a truncata they are in a orchid type mix they grow quite well in that as well so Im not sure if I want to swicth some of my plants tha aren't growing so well to that mix and see what happens....
 
  • #16
Hey Joe,
I live in South-western Michigan in Battle Creek, near Kalamazoo if that helps.
 
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