I used Scott's Sphagnum Peat Moss & Perlite...

[Carito]

Hullo:

Couple days ago I bought some walmart VFTs and one was clumping so badly I could not resist the urge to transplant parts of it in another pot...

I purchased Scott's Perlite and Scott's Sphagnum Peat Moss from Home Depot (the only Spagnum moss available) and just yesterday night read about some of the horror stories of this brand regarding its Sphagnum Peat Moss.

(Some people altercated and said it worked just fine without harm though)

Does this still hold true? Are my plants likely to be destined to a slow retardation of growth or doom?

Worried,
Caro

 

[jimscott]

I've never used the Scott's brand of soil media, but others have and there has been discussion about it. Here is one topic I dug up:

Scott's peat

From what I have gleaned, it is controversial. I have been using the bigger bags from Home Depot, that are sold as Canadian Peat. But irregardless of what brand is used, rinse you soil media well first. Even if it doesn't contain fertilizers, it has dust. As Elgecko has shown, there is a strong correlation between rinsing the media and not having univited greenery. Some people use a bucket to rinse the media. I use a collander.

 

[CopcarFC]

I've had a VFT sitting in it for years. No problems here.

-Rail

 

[Drosera36]

When I use Scott's perlite, always, always, algae forms on the surface of the soil, until there is a large, slimy green mat. The only way I have found to solve it is to really wash off the perlite before I use it, or just use sand, which works better. Though, other people have had success with Scott's perlite, so I really don't know what's going on here.

-Ben

 

[glider14]

i use scotts brand for all my plants...no ill effects

 

[glider14]

Drosera36: OMG thats what that brown stuff is! i thot it was just from the soil. but mine is brown not green

 

[elgecko]

I use Scott brand.
As Drosera36 mentions about the perlite, I have also noticed this as well. Washing it will make a huge difference.

Here are some test findings I made on washing soil ingredients.
http://www.petflytrap.com/cgi-bin....ur+soil

 

[Carito]

Quote[/b] (elgecko @ Feb. 18 2006,10:29)]I use Scott brand.
As Drosera36 mentions about the perlite, I have also noticed this as well. Washing it will make a huge difference.

Here are some test findings I made on washing soil ingredients.
http://www.petflytrap.com/cgi-bin....ur+soil

Oh whew.... thank you.

I do love the look of the advanced grower's long, green spagnum (LFS, I believe that's what they call it). I'm goign to hunt down nurseries for that too, anything to spoil and pamper my VFTs

The idea of washing sounds great.

 

[jimscott]

There is the dried LFS that are sold in rectangular bags, for ~3-4 dollars and there is the Canadian peat in the larger bags for ~$6. You can buy sand at pool supply places for ~$4 in 50 lb bags.