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Can vft's live in lfs

Well, I was planning on ordering aquatic plants, but I noticed they also sold VFt's too, and at the price I couldn't resist...so I added a pair to my order. According to them, they are 'Red Dragon' VFT's


I'm not sure if they will come potted or not, but if not, can they be in pure long fibered sphagnum?

Thanks!
 
I believe some of us are big on LFS for CP's, in general and VFT's in specific. A lot of folks like to mix the media as well. I remember reading that the topmost layer of places where CP's live is live sphagnum, followed by a larger layer of dead sphagnum, which is peat. Some people like to mix sand and / or perlite as well. TMI?
 
50/50 sand/peat works

i dont ever measure, i just throw a bunch of crap in there untill it looks right lol
 
Yes, they can grow fine in pure LFS..
I have been growing them that way for years.
pure peat also works.
peat/sand mixture also works.
("peat moss" is decomposed Spagnum moss..same stuff, different textures..
peat is very fine, LFS is "long fibers"! ;)

I tried the 50/50 peat/sand mix and didnt like it..
I found it to be VERY heavy and dense..after one season it felt like concrete!
I much prefer LFS for all my VFT's and sarracenia..
but peat/sand works too..its just a personal preference.
Scot
 
NFlytrap, you'll probably hear this a million times from every member with a vft: you can use lfs for a media. I like JustLikeAPill's method. I use 50/50 peat/lfs, and just keep throwin' it in until it looks right.
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Where do you find LFS? I saw something like it at WalMart, but it was infused with some sort of fertilizer or something, so I passed.

I bought the mix that petflytrap.com sells, but added more perlite. Now I wish I wouldn't have, because the perlite is too chunky for some of the very tiny VFT's I'm trying to save (I unclumped my common VFT from Home Depot, and there were a bunch of teeny tiny plants in there, along with a couple of bigger ones).

I think in the future I'll go with a peat/LFS mix, but how do you go about transplanting into that mix? Do you just poke a hole and stick the plant in there and pack the mix in around the rhizome? Or do you wrap the rhizome in LFS first, then put that in the mix?

Thanks for any tips...

Scott
 
My favorite mix by far is 50%Peat 25% Sand and 25% Perlite
Probably a mix of LFS will prove alot better, but it is too expensive for my budget.
I would reccomend perlite, if the sand you are using is playsand because that I believe by its self doesn't allow enough circulation. I have never tried other types of special sand so I can't really say anything in general. Again, that is just works for me so experiement first.
 
Excuse my ignorance, but why is LFS expensive? What is "expensive," anyways? I'd pay quite a bit to have healthy plants - I'm paying a lot more for H2O than I did for the plants!
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Thanks...
 
Depending on how much you need, the prices can range accordingly. 500 grams of this stuff can be about $15.00 including shipping which can fill up some pots, but not enough if you have lots of plants. The reason why the stuff is so expensive is because Sphagnum moss is hard, and slow to grow and there is very little of it compared to peat which is readily available anywhere.
If you have the money, then I reccomend it, but I think that $15.00 is better off used buying a new Nepenthes or rare Dionaea Cultivar.
You can just get as good of results with peat, if the mixture is well drained and doesn't compact too much. It is not what media is in the soil that is important, the secrets to healthy plants is to have as big of a root system as possible.
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