Carnivorous Plants/vft doing good

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Expert: - 5/27/2007


Question
HI sorry for last time but i replanted my vft in organic soil mix four days ago against my will and well they are doing but im afraid that wont last long what do you think?????  

Answer
Hello el toad,

Organic soil is packed with nitrogen and potassium, the very things that will rot Venus Flytrap roots. This will occur slowly over several weeks or months, so you have time to get acid soil (sphagnum peat moss in the Canadian premium  bales with a 50/50 perlite mix) to repot the plant in. Just get the plants out of the organic soil as soon as possible, wash their roots well with distilled water, and plant them in acid soil.

At first, they will seem to be fine in regular potting soils, but over time, they begin to look sick and stop growing as their roots die back. Then the entire plant just withers into nothing.

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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