Date: Sun, 14 May 2000 02:02:51 -0400 From: Kit Halsted <kit@kithalsted.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1543$foo@default> Subject: VFT's & Soil
I hate it when my machine crashes, which it only does when I've just
written, but not sent or saved, a lengthy email. Grrrrr...
Anyway, back to the subject at hand: my VFT's seem to be slowly
dying. Traps are turning black & falling off much faster than new
leaves are coming in. When new leaves do come in, the tips are
usually black & traps have only formed on a couple of them.
I suspect that their soil is too wet. It may also be contaminated
with whatever it is in sand that washing removes. I planted them in a
50/50 mix of long-fiber sphagnum & sand when I got them. I now know
that I probably should have used sphagnum peat instead of long-fiber
& that I should've washed the sand.
I have Canadian sphagnum peat. I have sand of unknown origin. I had
no idea where to get sand. I can't find it locally, having bought the
last bag at the garden store near my work. (They have "Cactus Mix,"
but I'm a bit suspicious of it.) I can't find it on the web, unless I
want "Green Sand" with lots of added minerals or pure silica sand.
(Pure silica sand by the truckload, that is. Also available in
50-pound bags, minimum order 1 pallet.) I was at a loss until last
night, when I stumbled across a source on my way home from the bar.
Quite literally. It seems they're doing construction around the
corner, & they've dumped about half a truckload of sand across the
sidewalk.
So, I've got a few questions for you kind folk on the list:
Does it sound like the soil might be the cause of my VFT's problems,
or should I be looking for something else?
Is re-potting them a good idea, or is it likely to be too much of a
shock to them? I just got them bare-root about 3 weeks ago.
As long as it's washed thoroughly, does the type of sand really
matter? It strikes me that this stuff around the corner is pretty
random, but not necessarily any more so than the stuff from the
garden store.
2 of the VFT's are in really bad shape: one has 2 leaves without traps &
almost looks like a a grass plant at this point & the other is about to
lose its last mature leaf & will only have a tiny sprout left above
ground. I transplanted these tonight to new pots with a 50/50 mix of
washed sand from around the corner & peat. Should I wait to see how
these do before I do anything else?
Thanks,
-Kit
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