Expert: Christopher Littrell - 10/3/2009

Question
 I have a cape sundew that is growing fast, and now I have two more in the small pot.  The main plant has flowered.  I want to replant them.  I have a large bundel of Premier Sphagnum peat moss from Canada.  Can I use this, do I need to mix sand in it. can I place it in a mini bog? or do I use something to water from the bottom.  My VFT and north America Pitcher plants are in mini bogs.  I also have a plant from Mexico that feeds under ground and flowers, and a tropical pitcher plant, can I use the same Peat moss.

Answer
Hello John,

If the sphagnum peat moss you are using is in a large bale, a cube about 1 or 2 feet to a side, and contains a block of dried moss with no fertilizer additives, it should be just what you need to repot your plants. You can use that moss in a 50/50 mix with silica sand or unfertilized perlite for the Cape Sundews, Venus Flytraps and North American Pitcher Plants. You can use 1/3 sphagnum peat moss, 1/3 coconut husk, 1/3 orchid bark for the Nepenthes if that is what you have (Tropical Pitcher Plant can be Nepenthes or South American Heliamphora species so you might want to do some checking on that detail). Look at some pictures online for the species of plant you have from Mexico as from your description I am thinking you might have a terrestrial bladderwort.

It is preferable to use a combination of top and bottom watering with Cape Sundews, Venus Flytraps, and Sarracenias. The Nepenthes would prefer enough top watering to keep its soil moist at all times, but no bottom watering as in a tray of watr under the plant. Nepenthes can suffer root rot on occasion if left sitting in trays of water.

Christopher