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Hmm.. repot or not to repot?

So I finally decided to traverse into the dark depths of the garden center at my work (it really is dark and there was like no one back there!) and after some snooping around, I managed to locate three different CPs. Some VFTs, and two different types of Sarracenia. THere was S. 'Scarlet Belle' and S. 'Judith Hindle" which I immediately grabbed and proceeded to buy. Now that I have them settled in on a windowsil (for the winter) I've been wondering whether or not I should repot them or not. Under normal circumstances I would do it without a second thought but it seems that the only problem these sarrs had at the store was that they weren't watered enough. They appear to be growing in pure sphagnum peat moss which I suppose is good enough for now, but in the long run I would suspect that they'd do a lot better in a mix of peat and perlite. The question is... which will do more harm at this point? Repotting or letting it go in pure peat moss. For some reason I always have a lot of bad luck with repotting, it just never seems to work out in the end which is why I am asking, I won't repot them unless it is necessary. So what's everyone's thoughts on this? I figure that I could make this decision myself but I'd rather have some more opinions thrown into the mix.
 
For the past 2 years I've been growing the majority of my sarrs in pure LFS. They seem to grow the same/better whatever... But the main difference is in the root growth. I see amazing root systems and they seem to grow much faster in the LFS. LFS is also easy to rinse the pot out if you decide you need to. *Rinse away TDS build up* If it really is LFS and you see no sign of it decaying (flip the plant and ball of media out and take a wiff.. does it stink?) then I'd leave it there.
Andrew
 
Sarracenia re tough and can be repotted at any time of year. Stick 'em a lighter mix with perlite and they'll thank you for it :banana2:
 
yes I have seen some massive root systems on cuttings sent to me that came from a plant potted in perlite and peat. So I dunno if LFS makes that much of a difference, but I would surely repot it. Being form a store like that the ryzome could be pointed downward. I bought a cobralilly once that had the ryzome pointing straight down and the leaves were all reflexed backward when I pointed it in the popper direction. I always repot and atleast check the condition of store bought plants.
 
Okay first, thing I said sphagnum peat moss, not LFS and I think I'll probably grow mine in peat and perlite just because that's what I've always used. As soon as I can dig all my potting mix out of my closet I'll repot them immediately. I'm mostly just worried because they're young and they could be healthier. The Scarlet Bell has like 25 small pitchers and the Judith Hindle has like 4 deformed looking ones. I think my first mistake was thinking that Sarrs are delicate. :p Though by default I think of all of my plants as delicate. Ahh.. that'll be a habit to break.

Thanks to everyone that responded. :)
 
Yeah, pure peat isn't the best media for them. Either pure sphagnum (either LFS or live) or 1:1 peat:sand/perlite is what's recommended by Rice and D'Amato. Since Sarracenia roots aren't that strong perlite is preferable.

Three of the four Sarracenia I bought recently are in peat, it looks like pure in one or maybe two cases and peat with some perlite in one. The fourth is in pure sphagnum, maybe live when it was shipped but LFS after sitting neglected in Lowe's.

I wasn't planning on repotting mine until mid-February or later. I figure they are shocked enough from being bounced around from the store to home and acclimating to the environmental change. And I figured being a beginner it's probably best to leave them alone as much as possible as I'm likely to kill as many plants from playing around with them as from watering, light & temp errors.
 
Yeah I sorta had the same thoughts as you, I sorta want them to... "settle in" to their new environment. Then again it might not be a good idea to let them calm down and then "stir them up" again right after they settle in? Regardless I'm going to wait a little bit since I can't even get to my supplied right now anyways.
 
I had just moved my Sarracenia from the plant shelf to the west facing windowsill. I was lowering the humidity from their plastic domes/bags/cold greenhouses slowly to acclimatize them to the ambient humidity indoors. They'll eventually go on the only outdoor space available to me: a west facing 2nd floor balcony. I'll probably repot before putting them outside. If they've made it this long in whatever they are potted in another month hopefully will not kill them.
 
  • #10
Mine will be inside until March/April. So I will definately repot them before then.
 
  • #11
Now's the best time to repot, at the beggining of the growing season. Plus the mix that "warehouse specials" come in is always lousy and sometimes decayed and the pots they come in are usually too small.
 
  • #12
Well I think the pots are okay (at least for the ones I have) but I think I will change pots though and use the smaller ones for seeds since I DID buy some slightly larger pots.
 
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