Three Questions for the Experts

[MyHumminbird]

I bought some sand to mix in with my peat, I read a few places that desert sand isn't a good
thing. Is the desert sand bad? It came from Lowes in a small bag by the orchid mixes.

The only peat I could find that wasn't the dreaded "miracle grow" was in a huge cube, so I just bought some more long fibered peat. I want to plant some ebay VFT seeds, and I took my old coffee grinder and ground the Long Fibered Peat into pretty much dust. Would that be a good medium for my seeds, or do you think I still need the sand?

If grinding the peat is a good idea, should I put my other VFT's in the ground up stuff and sand?

Thank for you answers in advance, don't want to kill any others, or pay to replace them lol!!

 

[dashman]

I wouldn't consider myself an expert, but I am going to chime in anyway on peat moss....

For the peat, that is what I have. I bought a hugh 3 Cubic Foot bale of Canadian Gold Peat Moss. It isn't that expensive if I recall (about 10-20 bucks) and I have been using it for 3 years and still have quite a bit left.

 

[seedjar]

Desert sand is not really a type of sand so much as a marketing name. What you need is a sand that won't break down and leach minerals into your water. Limestone sand is bad; it will break down into calcium over time. Sand from quartz or silica is the kind you want. An informal test is to take a small amount of sand in a bowl and pour white vinegar over it. If it fizzes, it's probably limestone or some other soluble mineral, and you shouldn't use it. If it doesn't fizz, it should be safe, but there's no guarantee.
You should just buy the huge cube. Believe me. Ground up LFS will work but is not ideal.
LFS is not peat. Peat is Sphagnum that has been buried under many years of growth of live moss, crushed by a good deal of pressure and exposed to both aerobic and anaerobic bacterial cultures, as well as many seasons of hot and cold weather, and finally rinsed thoroughly by rain making its way down to the water table. Peat moss consists of far more fiber than LFS, and it's broken up into much finer pieces. Basically, it's the part of the Sphagnum that doesn't decay over time. If you try to substitute LFS for peat, even if you grind it up, you'll find that it rots easier, grows weeds faster, and adds more to your TDS than peat would.
Finally, if you do insist on grinding dry LFS yourself (you can get it pre-ground - it's called milled Sphagnum and that stuff is actually quite useful when properly prepared,) do it outside and wear a respirator or at least a hankerchief over your mouth and nose. The dust from LFS can give you a very nasty respiratory infection that is potentially fatal. Grinding it wet with a food processor would probably be safer. It's also a good idea to wear gloves when handling it, although I'll admit I don't.
~Joe

 

[thez_yo]

Why don't you buy a couple gallons of premixed cp mix from flytrapshop to get your first plants started while you research what you need to buy from lowes/home depot/wherever? Your wallet might be a little lighter now, but it would be later anyway if you bought the wrong stuff and had to re-buy all of your plants because the ones you have now accidentally die.

I bought premixed-mix from online shops in the beginning too before I figured out what/where/why to buy. Or you could ask on the trades section of the forum for help (for free if anyone is nice enough) or for a trade (within the rules), in exchange for something else of value you have to trade. For instance, massmorels crashed this party by trading spiders and morel mushrooms for plants and look at everything he already has

 

[MyHumminbird]

That's a good idea, just easier to find it on the net and use my credit card instead of making a mess and looking for things all over!!! By the way, I did try the sand trick and it didn't fizz, lol

 

[jimscott]

I would buy one of the 2.2 cm bales of sphagnum peat. It should be $8. As for sand, the play sand from building materials is only a few dollars. I would also buy a bag of orchid moss, which is the good LFS, for $4.24. Rinse all media before use.

 

[pappydew]

I have done what jimscott did minus I didn't buy orchid moss, but some cheap LFS that was packaged as such. I wasn't aware that "orchid moss" was LFS...good to know!

 

[jimscott]

There's this stuff being sold as LFS, that is a buck cheaper, by Mosser Lee. It had some filler material in it. That was one of those, "You get what you paid for" experiences. So I spend the extra dollar and get the real deal. The worst you get with that is sedgegrass.

 

[pappydew]

Oh great...I'm using that at the moment. I don't have anything growing purely in it though, I'm just using it as a shield somewhat in my mini bog pot so that sand and pearlite particles don't get washed ou the drainage holes. I also have my ventricosa pot sitting in some. I have seen some bits of what isn't sphagnum but no problems yet.

 

[MyHumminbird]

Problem solved, ordered 10 qt bag from Amazon, plus some perilite with no fertilizer.

 

[pappydew]

Hope you start to have some better luck with that then!

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

I guess I am an expert of sorts. You know, growing CP is an art. Small things can make big differences, like rinsing the peat moss before use, which is a chore for sure. The plants will grow probably even if you don't, but eventually problems will arise if you start with a mix that has too many salts and nutrients: algae will colonize the mix and can fix nitrogen into the medium, providing more nutrients to encourage weedy mosses. So, it's all a matter of how serious you want to get with your growing. I find the coarse sand you can get at swimming pool concerns (used in pool filters) to be the most reliable. It looks like sugar, but even so, it should be rinsed. Squeaky clean is what you are aiming for. I did the chore infrequently, mixing up all the mix I thought to use in a season, filling clean pots, and allowing them to sit outside for the season for the rain to filter through. Use as needed, and save the older ones for the really sensitive species. Use only pure water, and top water every couple of weeks allowing the pots to drain freely and NOT into the water tray. Frequently empty the trays of standing water and replace with fresh after scrubbing them out. Top water heat sensitive species with pure water kept in the fridge. All these things contribute to maximize the growing of CP, especially Droserae. Peat quality varies depending on which bog it was harvested from, and how deeply they mine it. Deeper layers are not good, and since there is no real way to know, rinsing is the single best thing you can do to avoid potential problems. Short term, there may be no problems, but over time evaporation concentrates salts into the mix. For this reason, repotting every few years is a good idea, sort of like restarting your computer - it fixes problems you might not even know exist. Same thing holds true for sand. Avoid multicolored sand, because any such may have questionable minerals associated. Silica sand is best and pool supply companies are everywhere. A very good substitute for peat is LFS, dead or alive. I never grew a CP that didn't like live milled moss, other than the marl loving species. Drosera and Sarracenia love it. Grind it in a food blender and you are good to go