Top dressing with dry sphagnum…

[joossa]

I tried searching the forum about this issue, but could not find what I was looking for. The issue is kind of noobish, so bear with me.
First of all what are the advantages of top dressing with dried sphagnum? –So far I can see that top dressing will/can 1)keep the perlite from floating on top of the water when top watering, 2)increase aesthetics of the entire pot, and 3)possibly increase humidity around the plant… any other advantages?

How much dried sphagnum do you guys use to top dress your VFT pots?

I have never top dressed any of my VFT pots, so I really don’t know how much dried sphagnum to apply or how to apply it… Should I chop up the dry pieces that came in the bag into little pieces and compact them on top of the peat/perlite mix? Or should I apply it so that it is loose (with good aeration)?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Clint]

It won't be dry once it gets wet....

Just throw some on top lol. Pretty simple, no science to it. You can plant in pure LFS living or dead if you want.

 

[joossa]

You can plant in pure LFS living or dead if you want.

I'm not planting or repotting... I want to top dress the plants that are already potted.

It won't be dry once it gets wet....

Tell me about it... LOL. When I bought the bag at the store it was as light as a feather... after I got home and used it to set up my RubberMaid container for my Nep seeds, it certainly gained some weight!

 

[Not a Number]

I think you've hit all the advantages. The lighter color may reflect some of the light/heat for Darlingtonia pots. I can't think of any others.

I normally just put one layer of LFS on top. I rarely cut any specifically as there are bits and pieces of all sizes in the bag. I just take a handful and put it in an old cottage cheese container, spritz it with RO from a spray bottle and dress the top of the pots with the help of some forceps. You may find chopping to a uniform size easier to manage or more aesthetically pleasing.

The 'dust' in the LFS bag I reserve for use as a germination bed.

My VFTs and Drosera are in peat-sand and I usually top dress with a thin layer of sand.

 

[jimscott]

It both retains moisture and allows for drainage. Given enough time and light the spores yeild living material. According to our more experienced hobbyists, live LFS also has antisceptic qualities. I only use ~1/2" thick. This started out as the bagged, dried LFS:

 

[FarmerDave]

maybe I'm too racy but my LFS never does reproduce when rewetted, tried some from last year in a baggie and still nothin

 

[vraev]

my LFS seems to grow slow....but certainly it does grow. Howveer I notice I have probably more moss species in my terrarium than the CP species in there

Lol! I just want to actually get like tons of moss for my next idea....I really want some nice tropical moss...you know the little tiny green moss that grows on tree stems in tropical rainforests for putting around airplants.