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Carnivorous Plants/Nepenthes Soil Mix

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Expert: - 12/31/2011


Question
Hello!

It's getting to be the time of year when I repot my nepenthes, however the local nursery from which I bought my fertilizer-free perlite and other growth supplies closed down last year. I've had great success in the past potting my nepenthes in a 2:1 mix of perlite and long fiber sphagnum, but Lowe's doesn't carry any perlite that isn't enriched with fertilizer. There's no orchid bark or coconut husk either. Do you think substituting horticultural sand for perlite in my recipe will be fine? I've never experimented with sand before, although I know California Carnivores uses it in a lot of their standard mixes.

Thanks!
-Corey

Answer
Hello Corey,

You can order the soil premixed from cobraplant.com. You could use play sand, horticultural sand or silica sand as it is called by various names. None of the big retail store chains will carry anything other than enriched perlite from my experience.

Christopher

Carnivorous Plants

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Christopher Littrell

Expertise

I am capable of answering questions about the most common carnivorous plants found in cultivation. I have no personal experience with Byblis, Drosophyllum, Aldrovanda, and Heliamphora. I have not cultivated gemmae forming pygmy sundews nor tuberous sundews. For information regarding those aforementioned species, I would suggest contacting other experts. I can answer questions regarding most species of Nepenthes, tropical and temperate Drosera, Mexican Pinguicula, Sarracenias, and Dionaea. I have some limited experience with growing Utricularia, Cephalotus, and Darlingtonia.

Experience

I have grown carnivorous plants off and on for about 27 years. I have made the same mistakes and suffered the same mishaps that many growers make as they attempt to separate the myths from the realities of growing these plants. Currently, I am successfully growing a variety of tropical sundews, a Nepenthes, several Venus Flytraps of varying ages, and Sarracenias. I have been successful in stratifying Sarracenia seeds and providing artificial dormancy requirements for my temperate plants when needed.

Education/Credentials
I hold a Master's degree in Educational Psychology. Over my lifetime, I have constantly read books involving the growing conditions of carnivorous plants. I hope to incorporate the educational aspects involved in psychology with teaching other people how to cultivate carnivorous plants.

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