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Sarracenia in pure sphagnum

Greetings all,

As I'm not much of a Sarracenia grower (as you can tell from the handle, I'm a Nepenthes afficionado), but I go grow a few species, with mixed results. I've been growing them in a peat/vermiculite mix or pure peat. I know there are different types of peat and some aren't great for Sarras.

Anyway, how well do Sarras grow in pure sphagnum moss? As I used tonnes of it for my Nepenthes, it's an easy medium for me to use. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Hamish
 
Personally, I haven't tried pure LFS. Is it live that you wish to use or the dried stuff? I think, but not 100 % certain, Sarras tend to grow in sandy / peaty soils, often in the water. My inclination and approach is to mix sand & peat and topdress with LFS. But wait for the more experienced growers.
 
A small experiment was done by an experienced grower and the results presented in one of our meetings (the NECPS). He took several S. alatas from TC, and planted them in different medias. The live LFS worked best he said. However, the plant biologist in our group grows his plants in 1:1 peat:perlite with some charcoal mixed in...his sarrs are awesome sights.
 
I use a 1:1 sand peat mix and top dress with dried LFS.
 
I think it grows about the same, my S.. alata Covington, LA is in a sphagnum prelite mix 4:1 its growing faster than my S. Excellens which is in a peat sand mix
 
You can use sphag as a media for Sarrs. Over the years I have used only sphag for oreophila and 'Dixie Lace' and they have done very well in it. I also tended to add anywhere between 25-75% sphag to all my Sarr mixes depending on how much I have kicking around.

Now that I am bog growing things have changed a bit but I do still have the oreophila in its own pocket of sphag.
 
I use straight up lfs but then again I haven't been growing them in lfs long enough for conclusive results. But what I have seen so far I like.
 
I started growing Sarracenia in peat/sand mixes, but after seeing how well they did in pure LFS, I have switched to that for all of them.

Even my 60-gallon pond is filled with LFS.
 
I grow them in a mix of LFS and sponge rock.  They have much, much nicer root systems with spong rock in there.  I figure it improves aeration and reduces compaction.  Oh, and it's ecologically friendly (I hope) and much cheaper than LFS.
 
  • #10
I grow every cp in sphagnum moss. 100%, unless I run out of it, then I use orchid mix. Everything grows pefectly. It's the perfect media.
 
  • #11
Thank you everyone for your responses. It appears that that is settled, I can feel confident to repot my Sarras in sphagnum this weekend.

Cheers, Hamish
 
  • #13
LOL: you use 100% orchid mix?
 
  • #14
[b said:
Quote[/b] (JustLikeAPill @ Aug. 28 2005,4:14)]LOL: you use 100% orchid mix?
and what is 'orchid mix'?
I have never heard of such a thing, unless hes talking about those 'mixes' for orchids in garden centres which are actually disastrous for orchids.....lol
 
  • #15
Not 100% orchid mix.  when I run out of sphagnum, I use whatever I have left.  Unfortunately, I had to use some sphagnum with orchid mix (bark chips,perlite,charcoal, and very peaty) for my S. flava.  I'm starting to think that was a mistake...
 
  • #16
Straight peat works well. Pure sphagnum also works well. I have found sarracenia in both peat and LFS, as well as sandy peat. The plants in pure peat or LFS looked the best. Barry Rice asked me to do an experiment with s. psittacinas he got from Florida. The plants he showed me never grew more than 1 1/2 inches across. I told him to change their media, but he wanted to see if I could do better. I told him that s. psittacina really like it very wet, and the soil base very loose. The largest s. psittacina grew mostly submerged in the wild, and the base was peat. It was so wet, you could call it muck. Well, I took these little tiny plants home with me, and put them in a peaty base, and submerged the plants under water. Before the end of the growing season, they doubled in size to three inches. Dormancy followed. The following year, the size increased to 6 and 7 inch across plants. I showed them to Barry on July 18th this year (exactly one year later), and he could not believe his eyes. They look good! He then informed me that he grew his in sandy peat with a sand to peat ratio of 4:1. 4 parts sand to 1 part peat. Much too heavy for s. psittacina, and a lot of other sarrs too. More peat/LFS than sand is always a better way to go. Barry said the 4 to 1 ratio was a mix they came up with that all forms of CP would grow in. Since cost at the University is a huge factor, they had to settle for a catch all mix. Much too heavy on the sand for many plants, though they can and will grow in it. How well they do, is another story.
 
  • #17
well i have done a bog garden in 100% peat moss(ran out of sand
laugh.gif
) and it all turned out fine im sure 100% lfs is ok too
 
  • #18
Well, to add to this, awhile back I bought some of my first Sarrs including flava, purpurea, and several others. I had all of them planted in 50:50 peat perlite. They grew very slow and were very unhealthy looking. Well, I know your not supposed to, but I transplanted then into pure peat during the growing season, and now they are starting to look the best they have ever looked with new pitchers coming up everywhere.
 
  • #19
Interesting findings.

The perlite in the mix is meant to aid airation to the roots and prevent things getting too wet (only really a problem in winter). Over time pure peat becomes compacted, and it's a fluffier media with the perlite. You get the same effect with pure sphagnum moss. It seems that a 1:1 peat perlite mix is too much perlite - 2:1 or 3:1 peat/perlite is the most common mix. It also enables the peat to get to the damp stage more easily in winter, reducing the threat of fungus during dormancy.
 
  • #20
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Alvin Meister @ Sep. 04 2005,1:13)]Interesting findings.

The perlite in the mix is meant to aid airation to the roots and prevent things getting too wet (only really a problem in winter). Over time pure peat becomes compacted, and it's a fluffier media with the perlite. You get the same effect with pure sphagnum moss. It seems that a 1:1 peat perlite mix is too much perlite - 2:1 or 3:1 peat/perlite is the most common mix. It also enables the peat to get to the damp stage more easily in winter, reducing the threat of fungus during dormancy.
Well, I guess different things work for different people. Rattler mt can grow cobra lilys in pure peat. Pure peat just works best for my sarrs and my VFTs also.
 
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