VFT Roots
Carlstrom_Rick (Carlstrom_Rick%P-AME-HQ.CCBRIDGE.SEAA.mrouter@seaa.navsea.navy.mil)
28 Sep 95 12:12:00 EST
I have had similar problems with VFT crown and root rot. Although
I have been successfully growing other CP for many years I could never
get VFTs to stay healthy. They always eventually died due to root and
crown rot. I tried planting them in peat and peat/live sphagnum
mixtures. I tried distilled water. I tried rain water but they always
died. Then this spring I met other people growing CP during a CP
convention in Caroline County VA. It was there that I learned that my
soil mix was all wrong. I was using mixtures of peat and sphagnum
with a little bit of sand. Every VFT I saw was growing in mixtures
that were mostly sand with a little peat or sphagnum added to the mix.
When I got back home I repotted my three sick VFT's into new soil of
40% peat 60% sand. I must say they have recovered remarkably. The
traps being produced are larger, more red and snap shut more quickly
then I have ever been able to grow before. The only conclusion I can
draw is that VFT's like very sandy soil.
Rick