Wisconsin Sphagnum?

[flytrapmom]

I know that the recommended brand of sphagnum here is Shultz Canadian--however all I can find at my local stores is "Wisconsin", probably because I live in WI...I bought a bag of the dried long fiber and a bag of milled and some perlite to mix for my ailing VFT.  I read the lables carefully--according to the packaging, there's nothing but the moss in there.  is there something specific about WI moss that is "not good"?  I'd like to know before I replant my son's VFT.    I've read everything I can find here on the correct mix (and this varies from person to person), and am planning to use the following:
40% long fibered sphagnum (rehydrated with RO water)
40% Perlite (washed with reg water, rinsed with RO)
20% Milled Sphagnum (rehydrated with RO water)

Any problems with this mix?

Thanks so much for all the advice!  If Venie ever gets well, I'll post his picture.  Right now, he's not at his best...

Sincerely,
CJ

 

[lithopsman]

Well, it should be ok, it just depends weather it was being leached into by something else... If it's a mostly tan-brown, slightly red color, that's the stuff! But one thing you might want to try is 50% sphagnum peat, 50% pearlite. That mix works quite well for me! (I do on occasion add a little LFS to it...) Good luck and happy growing!

 

[dfalkanger]

I have 2 VFT's planted it Wisconsin Sphagnum right now, and they have been doing great for the whole summer.  I put them in there without knowing I should have put them in Canadian Sphagnum.  They are actually doing just as good or maybe even a little better than my VFT's that are in Canadian Sphagnum.  I have one Dente and just a common VFT planted in the WI Sphagnum.  So from my experiences I would say that that would be just fine

P.S. Where do you live in Wisconsin? If you don't mind me asking? Because I also live in Wisconsin (Near Lake Geneva)

 

[Tony Paroubek]

The Schultz stuff everyone always talks about is Sphagnum PEAT moss. You can grow VFTs in Sphagnum moss. Which is the fresh moss dried out. While peat moss is decomposed moss. If you get Peat moss be sure it says either Canadian Peat moss (as it comes from the sphagnum bogs then) or Sphagnum peat moss. If it doesn't say either of those then it might not be derived from Sphagnum moss.

Have I confused everyone yet

Tony

 

[flytrapmom]

Nope, not confused at all! Thanks very much for the replies. I had Canadian Sphagnum (Steins, for those of you in the Midwest), Milled WI sphagnum and long fibered WI sphagnum. This plant sure had a smorgasboard to choose from! I hadn't seen the new replies yet when I replanted, so it seemed that peat was supposed to be the way to go. I moistened it really well with RO water and mixed 1:1 with washed Perlite. I was able to get the soil out of the old pot (soda bottle) without too much disturbance, but it was a solid block of peat with only a little bit of perlite in it. No wonder the plant is dying--no way to get air! I tried to gently mix some perlite in the top layer afterwards, hope I didn't hurt the roots, but the plant is dying as it is, so I guess if it doesn't help it won't hurt. Finished it off with a little saucer of water in the bottom, and he's sitting outside. I hope this will be enough....most of the leaves/traps have died, but there are a lot of new shoots coming out of the crown, so you never know.
I want to thank you all very much for all the help in nursing "Venie" along--I sure hope he makes it.

In Gratitude,
Flytrapmom