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Re-potting Question


Nick1234

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When I went to see Mike King's collection recently he told me that he re-pots his VFTs every year as it added vigour to them. Other growers seem to shy away from re-potting VFTs as they say it harms them. What is your experience? Also, when you re-pot do you wash away all the old compost from around the bulb and roots or do you try and disturb the plant as little as possible? I realise this question is a bit premature given that re-potting time is a long time away, but it is a question that I'd like to know the answer to. Thanks.

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Guest Sheila

I like to repot every year, but I only do it in the growing season when they seem to recover from any shock a lot easier. I wash all the old peat away from the roots being careful not to damage them. Repotted vfts always seem to grow much better than vfts left in old peat.

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Interesting how techniques vary.

I repot if a plant appears to have lost vigour the previous year or if I want to divide/propagate. I remove loose compost and dead leaf bases, but don't wash old compost away preferring to disturb the roots as little as possible. I do the opposite to Sheila for the same reason and repot in late winter while the plants are still dormant.

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I also repot my VFTs annually. I do this each year in late winter just before they come out of dormancy. This accomplishes two purposes: it refreshes the soil; and it allows me to separate the plants with the least disruption to future growth. I also find that this is the best time to trade plants with minimal shipping trauma.

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Hi,

I always tend to repot and divide my vft's in (early) january. I haven't noticed any difference in dividing them that early or just right before they start to grow (in march). I maybe try that next season as an experiment with all my vft's.

Nevertheless I am convinced that flytraps can be divided and repotted in every moment in the year. This summer I have bought / swapped / given me quite some vft's and repotted most of them throughout the year, some till the end of july. The only difference I noticed on occasion is that coloration is not optimal when dividing them this late.

When you need quicker larger plants: wait with dividing till the motherplant has several medium or larger sized clumps, and then divide. These plants will be mature divisions the same season.

I noticed that vft's are very very easy plants when you keep 3 rules in growing these plants: sunlight, rainwater, dormacy (colder than 10 degrees)

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I repot my vft's every year and take no care in doing it. I slam them out the pot, remove every bit of old compost. split, cleanup and them slam them back into a new pot! They all seem to grow vigorously and I have not had any losses.

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Nick, you might wanna listen to these guys.

I'm one of those growers who repots as less as possible. My adult plants stand in a big windowsill container and count about 30 adult VFT's. They've been in there for a number of years and gradually burry themselves deeper, until last year they were only centimeters from the plastic bottom. Last year was also the last year they gave a great display, these days they look misserable and neglected and incedentally, most have literally hit the bottom (although none have died yet fortunately, but replacements have been grown to replace them just in case). In case you were wondering, tourough inspections revealed they don't suffer from diseases or pests.

I'm now switching sides and am convinced they should be repotted on an annual or bi-annual base.

Fred

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Guest Dave2150

I too recommend ropotting/dividing every year, during dormancy just before spring.

This year as an experiment, I didnt repot a 5" pot full of sw giants, so they had been in the same pot for 2 years.

When the traps were coming up, they were actually pushing themselves through the peat, and damaging themselves in the process. The peat was very hard because it had been there 2 years, and so theres no way the traps could get through undamaged.

They definately dig themselves down over time, which leads to the above in my experience.

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I just started to use a 50/50 peat/sand mix.

The only thing I've noticed is when I water the soil can get disturb a lot. I'm going to try the same mix but have the top 1/4" be just peat and see if that helps.

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