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Substrate Question

Ok, first let me premise this by saying I'm stupid. I have never seen sphagnum moss (dried, live, or otherwise) in a store except in the reptile department of a fish store I frequent. They use it for growing all kinds of terrarium plants, but because it was intended for reptiles, they wanted a fortune for it. At any rate, I passed on it, and made my merrily way home 1.5 hours. I thought i'd be able to find some locally however, no dice.

I had read about a product called "bed-a-beast" intended for terrariums being a suitable substrate for VFTs. The store I spoke of above also uses this in a pinch due to its cost and availability. I bought some and it looks like it'd be suitable, but I figured I'd see if anyone had any personal experiences with it.

Also, while at Home Depot searching for sphagnum moss, I found "Miracle Grow Sphagnum Peat Moss enrished with Miracle Grow Plant Food". I was advised on another website (the VFT FAQ) that fertilizing is not good for them and WILL lead to their untimely demise. I bought it, because my mom uses it for gardening anyways, but was curious as to if "plant food" is the same as "fertilizer".

I have a few other places to call to track down the real deal, but would either of those work?
 
I wouldn't. I would buy a $4 bag of dried LFS and the $6 bag of sphagnum peat from H.D. or Lowes or a local nursery. I would also suggest going to a pool supply place and spend $4 for a 50 lb, bag of pool filter sand. Then, when you want to use the media for CP's, I would get a bucket or a collander and rinse whatever very well before using.
 
Fair enough. I was at home depot, and all they had was the Shagnum Peat with MiracleGro plant food.

I'm headed up to Lowes right now to see if I can/'t find something that will suffice. Hmm, apparently I didnt post this - I'm already back from lowes with 2cu. ft. of Canadia Sphagnum peat moss.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (tekknoschtev @ Mar. 31 2006,4:42)]2cu. ft. of Canadia Sphagnum peat moss.
That's what I was instructing you to get. That will last ya awhile!
 
GREAT! In comparing this to the "bed-a-beast" strictly based upon appearance, this is much lighter and doesnt have as much in the line of sticks and small twigs. It also doesnt have an odd odor to it. Needless to say I'm returning the bed-a-beast (one of them, I already opened and... activated? the bed-a-beast to expand it and such. I say activated because thats the best description. It comes as a small compact brick. Soak in a gallon of hot water and in 30 minutes theres about 3/4 of a cubic foot of whatever it is
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At any rate, now I've got the right stuff, its cheaper than what I got before so I'm going to return the MiracleGro Sphagnum Peat Moss, and the secnd brick of bed-a-beast.
 
Yes! Now for the dried LFS and clean sand.
 
I'm going to have to wait until sunday to get the dried stuff from the LFS because none of the ones around here have it - or if they do its twice as much as it is up by school (which I thought was too expensive to begin with, but whatever). We have a pool filter thats coming up on changing its sand, and as such, theres a few bags of pool filter sand around. I'll see if I can sneak a bit from my dad
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Kewl! You're almost there! Now make sure to rinse all media before use. It will cut down on unwanted greenery.
 
Tekknoschtev,
Check the "bed-a-beast" lable. It sounds (and looks) like it might be coir. Coir is made from coconut fiber and can be used for growing CPs. If it is coir, it would probably be a good idea to rinse it well before using it as it may have salts in it from sea water, as yours was produced for pets and not plants and probably wasn't rinsed as well as coir for plants is rinsed.. I have used the product in the link as a "filler" to stretch my peat moss to fill a few more plant pots as I don't like it as a main potting ingrediant. Some people do use it as a main ingredient though.
 
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[b said:
Quote[/b] (jimscott @ Mar. 31 2006,6:11)]Kewl! You're almost there! Now make sure to rinse all media before use. It will cut down on unwanted greenery.
Kewl???, im the one who say that!!!!
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Sup jim?
 
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