Mixing carnivourous plant soil

stevebradford

stevebradford

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Mixing soil for carnivorous plants

If you get into growing carnivorous plants eventually you’re going to need to mix your own soil. Here are the common ingredients used to create a soil mix your plants will be happy with.


Peat
Basis of bog’s where most Carnivorous plants are found. Holds moisture but packs, should be mixed with sand or perlite to prevent an anaerobic situation.
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Perlite
keeps soil loose and airy but floats on water and tends to get everywhere. Comes in various particle sizes, around 2-3mm being ideal for mixing with peat. One big bonus of perlite is if you are mixing up soil for large pots, perlite is much lighter than sand.
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Silica Sand
provides good drainage and keeps soil loose. It is also cheap and environmentally responsible. grades 12 to 17 mesh are preferred.
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Sphagnum live
If you can grow healthy sphagnum you will be able to keep most Carnivorous plants happy. If your doing things right it often shows up on its own. In my mind it is the most natural and makes the best setting. Not suitable for small or young plants as it can overgrow them.
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Sphagnum dried
Slightly acidic and holds water while still being loose and fluffy. A great choice for almost all carnivorous plants.
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Milled dried Sphagnum
Just like the long fiber Sphagnum but great for starting seeds or young plants that would get lost in the gaps of the LFS.
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Coco Coir
A peat substitute that retains moisture made from coconut husks. Much effort is made to remove the salt, tannins, and phenolic compounds. It is buffered, washed then calcium nitrate is added to displace sodium. Lots of potential minerals, be sure to rinse well or even soak before using.
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Pumice
(Pinguicula)
Ground Pumice comes in different screenings I prefer the fine with particle sizes of 1-2mm. Pumice can contain minerals and should only be used for Pinguicula soil mix’s. Some carnivorous plant growers grow Pinguicula on large pumice stones with little or no soil media.
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Hydro Balls or Expanded clay aggregate
Mostly used in hydroponics but growers of all sorts including carnivorous plant growers also use them. The are used as a layer in the bottom of pots under landscaping cloth for multiple reasons. Some pots are deeper than needed, a full pot of peat based soil can be very heavy. The layer of hydro balls can take up space at the same time lightening the pots and also providing drainage.
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Bark chips
It’s important to say some bark off some trees is unsuitable. I’m not sure if there’s a standard most suppliers use, what I have seen here appears to be Douglas Fir tree bark. Not really suitable for small plants and mostly used for Nepenthes but some are adopting it as a peat alternative for Sarracenia with great results.
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Vermiculite
(Pinguicula) moisture and nutrient absorbent similar to perlite also a good material great for mixing into heavy soil for aeration but eventually decays. Comes in various particle sizes.
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Floor dry/Kitty litter/Diatomaceous earth
(Pinguicula) Floor dry/kitty litter needs to be made of baked freshwater Diatomaceous earth. It’s porous and holds nutrients and moisture very well while keeping the soil loose and aerated. It is slightly alkaline, available in different granular sizes.
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Turface
(Pinguicula) Another baked clay product that’s highly porous, lightweight and longer lasting than Diatomaceous, earth floor dry. Used in Pingguicula soil mix’s.
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Mixing your soil:
Keep in mind what the conditions are where the plant would be found in the wild when choosing your mix. Does it like wet acidic soil, sandy loose soil or even an alkaline mix.
(Recommended to rinse all soil medium before use)
Pro tip: Use a small square of paper towel to plug up pots drainage holes keeping soil mixes from falling out.
Here are some suggestions for choosing the right soil for your plant. http://www.carnivorousplantsociety.ca/index.php?threads/soil-for-carnivorous-plants.1615/#post-10399
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Coconut coir is unfortunately no better for the environment than peat.

- while coconut husks are a byproduct they are hardly waste and would be used for fertilizer locally if not for the global market for coir.

- Coconut farms displace the jungle and biodiversity that relies on it, the jungle also being a carbon sink.

- it takes advantage of impoverished people working in unsafe third world conditions.

- it takes up to 6 months to process removing the salt, tannins, and phenolic compounds. It is buffered, washed then calcium nitrate is added to displace sodium and balance the pH. After all that it’s then shipped across the world.

- in the processing much water is used later discarded contaminated, areas of the world that don’t have great access to good water.

Shifting our own ecological damage away from our backyard to someone else’s so we can avoid responsibility.
 
stevebradford said:
Using coconut coir is unfortunately no better for the environment.

- while coconut husks are a byproduct they are hardly waste and would be used for fertilizer locally if not for the global market for coir.

- Coconut farms also displace the jungle and biodiversity that relies on it, the jungle also being a carbon sink.

- it takes advantage of impoverished people working in unsafe third world conditions.

- it takes up to 6 months to process removing the salt, tannins, and phenolic compounds. It is buffered, washed then calcium nitrate is added to displace sodium and balance the pH. After all that it’s then shipped across the world.

- in the processing much water is used later discarded contaminated, areas of the world that don’t have great access to good water.

Shifting our ecological damage away from our backyard to someone else’s so we can avoid responsibility.

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Coconut coir also isn’t as good as peat for growing carnivorous plants.

- it doesn’t absorb and hold as much water as peat.

- as it further breaks down it can release more salts carnivorous plants don’t like.

- peat is acidic which most carnivorous plants like and coconut coir is purposely balanced to be close to neutral.
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Thank you for the great posts,always very informative!
 
Lloyd Gordon said:
I agree, I'm not crazy about coir. I've used it in the past and still have some but I rarely use it. I had to wash it so much it was stupid.
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I was going to point out that substituting coir for peat is just shifting the issue. I’ve tried it with orchids and it’s not much good. I’m guessing dried sphagnum isn’t bad. It’s renewable. And I don’t think CP growers are a big user of peat compared to the overall horticultural industry.
 
Also, please be careful when handling perlite, especially when getting to the dusty bottom of the bag.

"OSHA considers perlite to be nuisance dust. Inhalation of high amounts over long periods of nuisance dust may overload lung clearance mechanism and make the lungs more vulnerable to respiratory disease. Long term inhalation of crystalline silica dust may cause lung cancer (Silicosis) "
 
Hal said:
I was going to point out that substituting coir for peat is just shifting the issue. I’ve tried it with orchids and it’s not much good. I’m guessing dried sphagnum isn’t bad. It’s renewable. And I don’t think CP growers are a big user of peat compared to the overall horticultural industry.
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I did some looking around for more environmentally responsible options and this might be better. I found that Mike King uses a peat-free mix of milled pine bark, Cornish grit and perlite, to a ratio of 2:1:1. For Sarracenia, the plants grow better in it than peat He says.
 
How do you find the sunshine peat moss @stevebradford ? I've been using premier or golf green and the last 2 bags have been full of twigs and stuff
 
stevebradford said:
I did some looking for environmentally responsible options Hal and this might be better. I found that Mike King uses a peat-free mix of milled pine bark, Cornish grit and perlite, to a ratio of 2:1:1. For Sarracenia, the plants grow better in it than peat He says.
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Thanks Steve! If I ever see milled pine bark I’ll give it a go. For now I’ve got a bale of peat (and it’s full of sticks and things)
 
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