What's the Best Soil For a Flytrap - Soil Recipe for a Venus Flytrap

[@johnchappell7137]

My flytraps seemed slowed and stunted in the peat that my plants were in. I transplanted them into spaghnum moss which gave the roots more aeration and growing room, and it started sprouting new traps like crazy. It was doubled in about a month. I'm sure some cultivars might fair better in peat just because their root systems grow in denser peat, but the dente's I bought in store really loved the spacing and light feel of their feet in the moss.

[@ScottrickTV]

Got my first venus fly trap from walmart a few weeks ago transferred it into a peat moss perlite mix and it looks to be doing alright and has some new growth. thanks for the videos!

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

Happy to help!

[@foamy909]

I've grown in both moss and peat moss soil as well as either or. For me it's the aesthetics rather than the actual function. I do like peat moss soil as its more weighted down but if not mixed with perlite/sand properly can get compacted very easily compared to moss. Moss is a bit tougher to remove from the roots. Soil also, in my experience, is more susceptible to pest more than moss. So I usually use both! I use the moss to top cover the soil so that it looks much better not having to see perlite and soil. Anyways thank you so much for you vid!

[@Knein1967]

I use both media for my VFTs, however when planting in sphagnum moss I use the taco method and wrap the plant in sphagnum with a layer in the bottom of the pot. I wrap it until the plant has enough sphagnum around it to mostly fill the pot, then place it in the pot and fill in any areas around that need. It gets super hot during the summer here in Texas, so the lighter color of the sphagnum may help a little with heat absorption. I do shade my plants when it gets up over 100 degrees for more than a day. To save on costs when using larger pots, you can also put peat/pearlite in the bottom of the pot and use sphagnum in the top half of the pot.

[@drikonrokon852]

I just got 3 B52s and I wrapped mine bottom area with the moss then put them into carnivorous plant soil and left some of the extra moss on top of the soil and a small amount in the carnivorous plant soil to help it absorb more water into it and since I live in Texas as well Im hoping my method while help protect them

[@DelfinoGarza77]

I want to troll and heckle this guy, but i cant... the information is too good. Thank you!!!

[@johnchappell7137]

And obviously since you said moss is so prone to air pockets and cavities, it's very difficult to drown a vft in SM.(it also encourages vigorous root growth). Peat particles are much smaller and absorbent, so I find that drowning vfts is much easier in peat.

[@DeadlyPlants2024]

I’ve grown my fly traps in sphagnum moss for years, and they’ve thrived. Not to mention, if you’re growing them in peat moss, and it rains, the peat moss kinda splashes up onto the plants, stays on the plant, it dries there and they look like shit. Kinda literally, like someone shit on my plants.

[@Tommyr]

I have found over the last 4 years that they grow about the same in both mixes. Matter of fact I don't even add perlite to the LFSM. I DO NOT notice any different growth at all between the mixes. They grow the same speed and size. I prefer peat/perlite but LFSM is cleaner to work with but slightly expensive. I know the Flytrap store uses LFSM exclusively the past few years and prefers it.

[@Tatusiek_1]

peat moss also provides more insulation to the roots and the rhizome than long fiber sphagnum moss. The cold weather killed my VFTs in the past winter and they were in long fiber sphagnum. Although it might have been the same with peat since it was an unusually strong cold weather storm. My current VFTs are in long fiber sphagnum, while they are not dying, they do not seem like they are in optimal condition. When winter rolls around, i’ll repot them in peat and see how that works out for them.

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

That’s an interesting one! I guess they also hold more heat and absorb more heat due to the darker colour. Thanks for the info!

[@LivingCyberweapon]

Right now, I use peat with a topping of sphagnum. In their natural habitats, there is usually them sitting in peat with sphagnum growing on the peat. But I’m going to try adding perlite for aeration

[@lud3269]

Interesting, here in Brazil the standard soil for venus flytraps is the moss, I don't know why, maybe it's better for our weather, but when visiting the forums here 90% of the plants I see are growing in moss + perlite and sometimes sand, the plants grow really healthy and big, I've also seen people growing them in peat and I couldn't see much of a difference.

[@JamesEndo1]

Very interesting. Did you make a follow up video from a year ago? Thanks.

[@veesentdaysendz8113]

Awesome video!! What if you Mix all three substrates-peat,Spaghnum moss,and perlite all together as one substrate??

[@AlienSnowflake]

When i first bought my flytrap, they were tiny af. Newborns. Smaller than my pinky. Fter 3 months, they're larger than any of my fingers. I used peat moss, perlite and silica

[@3RAN7ON]

6:00 putting the plant in a bowl of clean RO water will help it to separate and easy to pull apart

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

Yep that’s correct 😁

[@darwansebastian9286]

3:06 Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the sphagnum peat you're using actually unsustainably harvested from peat bogs? On the contrary, isn't dried sphagnum moss more sustainable through cultivation? Thanks for the great videos!

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

The peat I have is Canadian peat which as far as I last searched, is sustainably harvested. They remove the top layer, harvest the peat then put the top layer back onto the now lowered layer of peat and they allow this top layer to continue growing and “fill up” the layer of peat they removed. To harvest the moss they have to take the live moss from the surface and then dry it out which as you can imagine destroys the living top layer Either way, I am starting to grow live sphagnum now (FINALLY) because it takes AGES to start growing again but I can’t wait for it to be growing so I don’t need to get any more.

[@Steve-kg8zk]

The sphagnum moss unsustainable conspiracy was started by the coco coir industry and is purely a myth to change the market in their favor there's nothing unsustainable about the harvesting of sphagnum moss.

[@Ricklet0ons]

I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one repotting In their growing season

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

It’s winter here so they’re still dormant

[@Ricklet0ons]

@@TheFlytrapGarden odd.. hey I've got an idea for you, how about you do a video on "Emergency repots" like the plant won't make it till winter because it got mineral build up and the soil smells bad.

[@buggsy5]

@@Ricklet0ons If the soil is bad (smelly), I would repot - even if it sets the plant back for a year.

[@Trekmario1701]

I grow in spaghium. It grows faster and it retained the water better. So I dont have to water as often .

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

That’s what I’ve heard!

[@Trekmario1701]

@@TheFlytrapGarden i live on topsail Island nc . So its hot and humid. . It works well. Here. And its easy to get . I dont mix anything in it. With the sometimes hard rain . It will kick the peat and perlite out of the pots. Thats another reason.

[@wavyk3680]

Yea be careful of the rain, the rain could kill them to much water

[@dingodyno9016]

@@TheFlytrapGarden Yup, thats the whole point of Sphagnum moss holds moisture better and aeration. Also it may be hard to find maybe in you're area, but out here in the US it can be found at any big box store for 5 dollars or more depending on what size you and grand you get.

[@-AnyWho]

i'v been reading several different sources sugesting 5:3:2 of peat:silicia sand:perilite is the best mix ... mainly cuz i guess silicia sand adds areation to soil to make it healthier for roots as well keeping the soil from compacting over time ... can't say i've tried it yet cuz i dont have that many plants but i plan to in future. but they also agree 1:1 peat perilite is fine too ...

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

There's a lot of different recipes. In a perfect world I would see the soil they have in the wild and mimic it. I know wild drosera grow in ash and sand and peat like soil in South Africa. For a venus flytrap, I always grow them in peat and perlite but I have used peat and silica sand in the past. However, I want to experiment in the future on peat and different types of sand. But that won't be until I am in the correct place where I have space for this.

[@tobiasware]

I use a peat and river sand mix, with a live sphagnum topping - no perlite. They thrive here in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. I have always had to re-pot any Venus Flytraps placed in a sphagnum mix for the reasons you state - too much root rot from excess water retention. I dislike perlite as it gets everywhere, is messy, and looks awful in a pot.

[@codyaguon6767]

Dp you use a half and half mix? I use that mix for several of my sarracenias but have been hesitant for my dionea

[@tobiasware]

@@codyaguon6767 I use 2:1 mix peat to sand, and just a few strands of live sphagnum, placed on the top. I also place them in a flat terrarium, 5cm (2inch) depth and use the two inch clear plastic lid with the air slots just open a crack. This stops excessive evaporation. I place this in another flat terrarium base of the same type with small stones to raise the inserted terrarium evenly one or two centimetres. The soil-mix is then watered until the lower base overflows. This whole assembly is then placed on a garden shelf with heavy shade-cloth above it (about 1 metre above) for protection against sun burn. I check and change the water twice every month in summer and once every six weeks in winter. Oddly enough I use the exact same set-up and soil mix with my Drosera Adele with great results.

[@buggsy5]

@@tobiasware You are starving your VFTs for sunlight with your method. The more sunlight they can get - the better. You cannot do that when you have the plants inside a terrarium, even if it has lots of holes. The plants would quickly cook.

[@tobiasware]

@@buggsy5 My plants are now not inside a terrarium. They are potted in doubled terrarium bases with no lids. They now get full morning and noon sun but the direct sun here in Queensland Australia will literally cook the plants if left in it all day. Temperature gets to over 46 degrees Celsius in summer.

[@buggsy5]

@@tobiasware It gets about that hot here on occasion and I have never experienced any problems with my VFTs frying - even with the low humidities we get here during the summer months. I use 50:50 peat/perlite - with the pots sitting in a shallow tray of water year around. Your current setup sounds far more reasonable. VFTs seem to love lots of bright sun - although your early afternoon sun might be excessive.

[@tylerj44]

I use peat, perlite, LFSM, & silica sand mixed together with charcoal & LFSM at the bottom along with store bought river rock thats always rinsed in distilled water & I rarely have any dead traps due to soil issues since employing this method.

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

Sounds like a really good mix!

[@johnchappell7137]

It's also easier to buy moss, pre soak it, and stick a plant in it. Peat requires a bit more work imo.

[@goredakunbound5301]

Home Depot had the moss for 4.35 for a massive bag, online tho is where it becomes expensive, fraction of the size but more than double the cost

[@wavyk3680]

Yeah I got it for 4.35 good price for the moss‼️

[@dingodyno9016]

Same here and not hard to find, maybe in his neck of the woods it is. The New Zealand brand moss is the more expensive one online

[@duncanpage1556]

Great vid! Hello from Alberta Can.

[@brightbkh07]

Was there an update video to show the results? I’m sure I am looking right over it but I was curious to see what happened here. I have some that are potted in sphagnum alone with no perlite and some that are in peat and perlite and I have noticed a difference. The sphagnum plants almost died at first and then came back all the sudden and are growing great and the peat and perlite steadily grew at a slow pace but never went through the shock the others did in the beginning.

[@lionelescandor4727]

some of my vft's are growing in cocopeat some are in sphagnum moss... and they are doing well

[@Jesus-eg3yb]

What do you think about peat and sand? I’ve learned the most common usage is peat and perlite. In my experience, I am annoyed that with peat and perlite the perlite floats to the top when it rains or top watered. In the book The Savage Garden, he states sand is great too. I’ve liked it so far; peat and sand.

[@buggsy5]

Peat and sand works fine, but you have to be careful as the sand can escape through the bottom holes in the pot. I think Peter Alway uses a mixture of equal parts sand/perlite/peat for many of his plants. California Carnivores has a video on what they consider the optimum VFT mix.

[@sds6235]

Where do I get some of those pots??

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

If you’re in Australia I sell them. Send me a message or email If you are

[@돈땃쥐미-f6n]

Do you think root length and plant size are not related?? In a nutshell, how much do you think pot size is involved in plant size

[@ninobercilla1071]

Good day sir from philippines do you have any idea on how to make peatmoss at home? Cause a lot of growers in the Philippines including me using only Sphagnum moss and here we don't have local peatmoss to buy like from your country i hope you read this thank you.

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

Hi. Unfortunately you can't "make" peat moss, you'll have to let it degrade over time in an anaerobic environment. The best would be to finely chop up your sphagnum if you can't get peat

[@ninobercilla1071]

@@TheFlytrapGarden thank you sir Also we do have options in our media like using cocopeat with perlite what can you say about it? Is it also good for carnivorous plants And before we use it we washed for about 5 times to lower the minerals of it. Have you try sir using cocopeat with perlite?

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

@@ninobercilla1071 I would not recommend coco peat however many people do use it and have success, and yes, you need to wash it out multiple times as you say. I still am not a big fan of it.

[@buggsy5]

@@TheFlytrapGarden I have seen mention of "seasoned" coco peat - which is supposedly coco fiber that has been left out in the weather for a couple of years to allow the rain to wash out the salts. I never use coco peat, so cannot comment on its usage.

[@hrromanslaparsso4403]

You know, I notice the plant roots much better on peats. It's really just much more convenient for reproduction.

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

I agree

[@bimalkumbhar12]

Is it normal for the algae to grow on the substrate (top of the pot) ?

[@ScooterMcGraw]

Sorry - me again. My plants are in Carnivorous Plant Focus Repotting Mix, with a 50/50 mix of perlite. They are about a year old, and clinging on for dear life. I might end up losing them eventually, but I'm desperate for them to thrive. However, my drosera capensis loves it and has doubled in size! I'd love for there to be a one fits all solution. BTW - sphagum peat is the same thing as sphagum peat moss, isn't it?

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

I find that focus mix is not the best for them, the best is definitely peat and perlite. And yes sphagnum peat is sphagnum peat moss, it’s always said in weird and different ways. But here’s the explanation why it is said in different ways: The peat we want, is sphagnum peat. Sphagnum is the moss, and once it has decomposed, it becomes peat. So people say sphagnum peat moss because it sounds better than sphagnum moss peat. All the same thing, just as long as it is sphagnum peat and not coco peat haha😁

[@tamilselvanv2896]

IH bro can I use washed coco peat and perlite for Venus flytrap to pot mix

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

If you wash the coco until it reads less than 50 ppm on a tds meter then yes

[@Aryoncreative]

Well for me I use live sphagnum Moss because it grows so over time I make back money back and it absorbs all the nutrients but it can choke out the plant

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

I think that’s the direction the UK will have to go with the peat ban 😬

[@tetzumogetzu7261]

update video??

[@tamilselvanv2896]

hi bro can I use peat moss and sand mix for Venus fly trap

[@peterphan227]

I had several red dragon VFTs growing in LFS and they all suffered from root rot. (The LFS came with the red dragons.) I could tell something was wrong because they were declining compared to all my other VFTs that were growing in peat+perlite. I repotted them into peat+perlite, and now they are recovering nicely. So I don't think I'm going to go back to LFS. Peat+perlite works fine for me.

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

I agree :)

[@elsonjulesgalinato3404]

I have a question. I recently got peat moss but after running through some rain water though it, my TDS meter read around 900+ ppm of dissolved solid. After washing it out with a few gallons of water, it now reads around 22-18 ppm. Would this be good enough for my flytrap?

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

Yes, less than 50 is ideal. But ensure it is not coco peat, as coco peat has a lot of salts which would contribute to a higher TDS. If coco peat is all you can get, then you are doing the right thing by rinsing it out

[@juarezzz3475]

what’s that thing on the soil that’s green like grass?

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

Moss probably

[@peternguyen5915]

what size pot is that?

[@plantkuyaboy1515]

Is it okay to use cocopeat as a soil mix for venus flytraps?

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

Unless you know what you’re doing I don’t recommend using coco peat

[@plantkuyaboy1515]

@@TheFlytrapGarden ok thanks

[@アルセウス-l7x]

Honestly the hottest guy talking about vft

[@fairuzraz2468]

Most botanist are built different.

[@macrick]

Where's the followup for this video? Thanks

[@thisisthepart311]

I've always used peat, perilite and moss and always had amazing results. Best of all three worlds.

[@FavOnIcon]

how to prevent the rain splashing the peat/perlite ?

[@buggsy5]

Add a thin layer of LFSM or small river rock on top.

[@lorenzomabalos9851]

I grew mine before in coco peat back in Philippines but people keep telling me that they'll die from root rot. Now I keep mine a 50% peat moss, 50% perlite and 25% silica sand mixture.

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

I don’t know about rot from coco peat because of too much water but the nutrients in the coco is too much for the plant and that kills it which causes it to rot from my experiences but it’s good what you have now!

[@lorenzomabalos9851]

For sure. Perlite and sphagnum peat moss just do not exist in the Philippines.

[@Tommyr]

Coco peat works but you have to rinse it very well as it contains a lot of salts.

[@arovinalnayem2209]

Is there no way to use garden soil?

[@tylerj44]

No u can't bc the minerals in garden soil will kill it.

[@drewbowman7644]

This is pretty off topic, but as I’ve been collecting cultivars and I’ve noticed that many of them are not vigorous at all. I have several typical flytraps that are about 1.5x as vigorous as DCXL. However the traps get about 75% the size of the DCXL traps. I’ve only been growing for about 6 months though. So maybe someone else has some input.

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

Yes, cultivars may lose vigour as they’re inbred. I have a fairly recent video on this topic, “why your VFT are fake”

[@jayealison]

Why with my fly trap, half the plant is tiny leaves and the other half are big. Does this mean I can split it?

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

Yes, there’s possibly two plants there

[@hwkshorts9958]

Bro am having seed vinus flytrap plant it will work plz

[@LivingCyberweapon]

By the way where’s the update? 2 years already. They should already be mature

[@popo7718]

Sphagnum moss is best

[@janstewart2041]

Where is the update?

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

I did an update on a different video but there’s been so many since then I can’t say which one it was exactly

[@janstewart2041]

@@TheFlytrapGarden I was looking but can’t find it

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

@@janstewart2041 the peat proved to be much more effective than the sphagnum moss in the long term. Sphagnum held too much water and caused them to rot away in my set up

[@borrisdillan9783]

hi sir. i just bought venus flytrap from an online plantshop.. i notice the traps aren't responding? i mean i tried touching its mouth but it just remain open and it doesn't close? i hope that online store arent scammers selling me a dead venus flytrap or what. wish i could share a pic to you of my flytraps..

[@TheFlytrapGarden]

Send me a picture on Instagram Facebook or email

[@buggsy5]

You have to touch the trigger hairs at least twice within a few seconds for the trap to respond. Touching the trap itself does nothing, nor does touching a trigger hair only once. Making the traps close unnecessarily is hard on the plant - it requires a lot of energy to reopen them. Also, a trap can only close and open a very few times before it will no longer respond and will die.

[@lucasroman6510]

Peat moss is more harmful to the enviorment than spagnum tho, peat is farmed from arre habitats, moss can be grown

[@yohana3781]

Remember that peat moss is extremely BAD for the environment. A quick google search will tell you that "It takes thousands of years for peat moss to develop, and harvesting it requires digging up bogs, which destroys the potential for regeneration of the swamp." This means we are literally destroying the very same plants we claim to love (aka carnivorous plants). You can also do research on this but thats the gist. I think we can all continue loving and enjoying these amazing plants in a sustainable way so that we may continue to enjoy them for as long as we can. While I really like your channel and your other videos, I was VERY disappointed to see you discouraging people from using sphagnum moss even though it's much more sustainable and gives the same results :/

[@buggsy5]

VFTs and Sarracenia grow in bogs, not swamps. The major problem with LFSM is that it often outgrows the VFT corm (it is not a bulb or rhizome). When that happens, the VFT is prone to crown rot.

[@thomasprice810]

I want a venus fly trap please. 😢😢

[@aui4225]

Handsome

[@hannahtezza706]

❤❤❤❤❤❤😮😮😮😮😮😮🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@mapuanayork2273]

When you say I don't no how many times I told you guys the same thing just watch the videos man. Some people like me are 100% new to veniuse fly traps and haven't had the chance to watch all your videos, and for some people it may still be a little confusing for them. I feel you were a little rude. You sound iritaided that people are asking you ? .don't do videos then .

[@theshushshushman8496]

Biden supporter 😢 you must be really oblivious

[@theshushshushman8496]

Karen