Re: Good soil mix?

John Taylor [Catweasel] (rphjt@minyos.xx.rmit.EDU.AU)
Wed, 31 Aug 94 10:45:29 DST

>
> Hi, can anyone out there recomend a good soil mix for Drosera and
>Sarracenia, I am new at this and the only info I got was from a local guy ,
>he siad to use...1 part African Violet soil...4 parts Sphagnum moss....5
>parts washed sand. Any help will be appreciated
>
> Thanks,RJ

I use the following:

Drosera - 2 peat : 1 sand is a good general mix - you can increase/decrease
the amount of peat for wetter/drier mixes (eg. Tuberous
sundews like "drier" soil - 1:1 mix seems fine)

Sarracenia - I use 3 peat : 1 sphagnum moss : 1 sand (maybe 2 parts sphag.)
"Modern" mixes probably avoid the sphagnum - it's said to
encourage pests/diseases - and use Perlite instead. (I dislike
Perlite because it keeps floating to the surface of the mix).
You could get away with a simple peat:sand mix - Sarracenias
don't appear to be fussy plants (neither are *most* Drosera).

Perlite has *possible* health risks (if inhaled - something like asbestos)
but then, you can catch some fungal diseases from natural products (there
is a nasty one related to sphagnum (?) which was discussed a while back)...

Hope this helps.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| John Taylor [Catweasel] | Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology |
| rphjt@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au | Department of Applied Physics |
| | Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+