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Darlingtonia's preferred soil mix

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Started by obregon562 , Jun 02 2007 23:45 PM

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#1
obregon562
Posted 02 June 2007 - 23:45 PM

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Hi all!

I have searched the internet and all of my 2 cp books looking for a darlingtonia soil recipe. Every single soil recipe is different!!!

Some say treat it like a sarracenia. Some say 100% LFS. Some say this wierd mix of bark, peat, perlite and vermiculite. Some say use plutonium rods and nuclear waste!  :P  Anyway, i would like any and all imput on the soil mix. My darlingtonia is coming sometime next week, so please hurry! thanks so much!!!

#2
Guest_Sheila_*
Posted 02 June 2007 - 23:51 PM

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Everyone has a different mix for their plants. I use 3 parts peat one part  potting grit or sharp sand for mine and sometimes I throw in a handful of perlite as well for good measure.

#3
Guest_Aidan_*
Posted 03 June 2007 - 01:10 AM

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Go easy on the plutonium. Otherwise pots spontaneously generate heat... and we all know that Darlingtonia prefer a cool root-run.

#4
obregon562
Posted 03 June 2007 - 02:28 AM

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Quote

...go easy easy on the plutonium...


darn. it was gonna be so much fun! dang!

i was thinking 2:2:1 LFS, perlite, peat. does this sound good?

#5
Tim
Posted 03 June 2007 - 02:38 AM

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Mine are doing very well for several years on half peat half sand. I do re-pot every year as I use a high pH high mineral tap water and the peat rots down to sludge.

You can consider keeping three or four plants and keeping them in different light levels, water levels, soil types etc.. until you have the optimum growing conditions for Darlingtonia in your area.

#6
gardenofeden
Posted 03 June 2007 - 08:55 AM

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"peat" perlite mix for me. never ever use vermiculite for CPs as it is a slow poison... except for Pinguicula

#7
C.Weinberger
Posted 03 June 2007 - 09:59 AM

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obregon562 said:

Every single soil recipe is different!!!
Ask 5 cp growers and you will get at least 5 different answers. Darlingtonia grows good in a big variety of soils. In my bog one Darling is growing in peat with a little bit sand. Works fine for me.

#8
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Posted 03 June 2007 - 11:09 AM

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I use pure live sphagnum mainly as I have plenty and it's simple ( a bit like me).

I have used peat /perlite and peat/sand/grit in the past and it performed just as well.

A good light open mix would be fine.

#9
obregon562
Posted 03 June 2007 - 14:29 PM

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ok, sounds good to me! now i just need to get some soil!  :D

I am NOW thinking something like:
2:2:1:1 LFS, perlite, peat, sand. i think is light and airy enough...please tell me if it wont work for some reason.

Thanks for the imput!

#10
Zakhren
Posted 03 June 2007 - 15:37 PM

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Isn't vermiculite ok for neps too?...

#11
Alexis
Posted 03 June 2007 - 15:41 PM

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I have one in 100% LFS and one in peat:perlite. They both do as well as each other.

#12
obregon562
Posted 03 June 2007 - 15:58 PM

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i thought they were kinda picky about soil! huh. it seems that they really dont care. good. thanks for all your help!

#13
Derek
Posted 03 June 2007 - 16:16 PM

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I thought I'd confuse things a bit more and put my recipe in the mix. The only ingredient I seldom use is peat. I think it's not open enough for the roots. I use a mix of LFS, hort. charcoal, perlite and the biggest ingredient by far is orchid bark, size depending on size of the plant. Using this mix and my own system of growing, the cobras regularly reach in excess of 2.5 feet tall. I do tend though to throw a handful of peat into the mix. About one to a swing bin full of mix. So not much. I don't think it wise to put my growing methods down yet, as I can already hear the arguments and controversy beginning! It's almost as bad as N. northiana. The chap who mentions earlier about 5 different growers and five different answers was exactly right. I also strongly suspect that radically different areas require different solutions. And if you think that's a cop-out, you'd be dead right! cheers, Derek.

#14
obregon562
Posted 03 June 2007 - 17:15 PM

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hmm. orchid bark, charcol, and LFS? sounds crazy enough to work! i might try that!

#15
Guest_Aidan_*
Posted 03 June 2007 - 17:22 PM

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Derek said:

The chap who mentions earlier about 5 different growers and five different answers was exactly right.

That's pretty much true of all plants. Once you have been growing and experimenting for a few years, just about everyone develops their own variations on a theme.

I cringe every time I hear someone recommend growing Mexican Pinguicula in pure peat. In my eyes at least, it's a guaranteed method of losing plants to rot.

#16
Milos Sula
Posted 04 June 2007 - 06:45 AM

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The soil strongly depends on type of watering.If you ask us for the best soil, tell us how the plants will be watered ( stay in few cm in water, or watered from top with good drainage or lightly watered from bottom whenever the soil dries, or self-watering pot etc...) If you use more compact soil like peat, you must be carefull with watering / good idea is to let the soil dry out between watering.
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