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Darlingtonia Questions

MidnightSkies

animal lover, aquarium and CP enthusiast
Just got back from looking around at Lowe's, and surprisingly they had Darlingtonia! I've been wanting one since I started CPs so I had to get the healthiest looking one that I could find (to my eye at least). They stuck it in with a D. adelae and a flytrap sadly (already have both and really didn't want any extras), so it needs to be repotted. I got some dead LFS (been wanting some anyway), and an african violet pot, which I'm hoping will be okay for it. What do you think? It is a light colored one. Would it be a good idea to drill a hole on the inside pot since there isn't one? Or just let the water soak through?

Night temps here should be pretty close to perfect during the summer, but they day temps get high. Do you think it would be best on the east end of the house rather than the west where the rest of the outdoor plants are? Keep in mind that I am in the country, so for as long as the sun is up it's shining. There's no trees, houses, or buildings blocking it, but that also makes for a lot of wind which might help with cooling.

Also, what's the best soil mix? I've read too many different combinations and want to know what everyone would recommend. I have peat, perlite, and LFS (no live sadly).

Any tips would be greatly appreciated! I just don't want to kill this plant that I was so excited to find. I'm still somewhat of a noob with only a year of experience.
 
Darlingtonia like having cool roots and good drainage, i would say your best mixture would probably be LFS/perlite
thats what i use for mine anyway, and i know alot of others who do as well.
The days that reach above 80 or so, since this is not the mountain variety that you have, i would poor cold water through the roots, or even go as far as to put some icecubes around the top of the soil.
i dont see why the pot would be much of an issue so long as it has drainage and its able to be trayed.
 
Hmmm, i also got my darlingtonia a couple of weeks ago, i keep the roots very cool, i water it frequently with refrigerated distilled water. it's growing in 100% live sphagnum, and i modified a white styrofoam box that fits the pot's dimensions, and goes over the pot to keep the cold water from becoming warm or evaporating. my only concern is that i'm keeping the pot in a tray with 1" cold water in it, is this bad? will it get root rot?
 
It's an African violet pot, so it's basically an unglazed pot inside of a glazed pot. The inner pot has no drainage hole. I'm guessing it was just meant for water to soak through the pot. Might try drilling a hole and see if I can get away with that without shattering it.

I'm planning on watering daily since I normally need to anyway, and was also going to try just setting ice cubes on top of the soil and letting them melt.

Is there a way to tell the mountain variety from the coastal?
 
not really much of a way MS
Coastal variety is what comes in those death cubes anyway.
i only know 2 nurseries who sell the mountain variety
 
Thanks SirKirstoff. Figures I would get the harder to grow of the two. I think I can handle it as long as it's not already too late for it. Just have to be careful of the hot days this summer. The shelf was still full so it must have been a halfway recent shipment.
 
I prefer unglazed terracotta for Darlingtonia. They are porous enough for air exchange and efficiently insulate the pot, even in warm temperatures. If you're concerned about the plants, try using chilled water for irrigation . . .
 
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