This can throw people for a loop when they start as many believe gardening is the same for all plants. In the case of carnivorous plants though the standard approach can even hard or kill your plants! Take heed and read below to find out how to best create soil that will have your plants thriving!
How To Make Soil for Carnivorous Plants So They Can Thrive: The soil you need for a carnivorous plant is a mix of sphagnum peat moss and washed river sand for the maximal performance. This mix is important as many standard soils will kill your plant if used.
Lets take a deeper dive into plant soils and what is needed to make your carnivorous plants thrive for your enjoyment. What we can look into first is do these plants all need the same soil or do you need to make sure you have the right soil for your specific type?
Do All Carnivorous Plants Need The Same Soil?
While it may seem that all plants should use the same or very similar soil there is nothing further from the actual story. While some carnivorous plants can survive within the same soil it doesn’t provide optimal results for growth and this should be your concern when growing a plant.
This is due in large part to the normal living and growing areas that are for carnivorous plants, which is acidic and typically unfavorable for most plants. This is why you must either look into creating your own soil for your plant or look to places like Amazon to buy soil which is properly prepared for carnivorous plants.
Building Your Base Soil For Carnivorous Plants
There are two basic ingredients required to support carnivorous plants which are peat moss and sand. The peat moss you should purchase is the sphagnum peat moss and washed river sand as they are in almost all habitats that the carnivorous plants consistently grow in within the wild.
Assembling your soil is like laying the foundation of a building and if the foundation is not set correctly then the entire house, or in this case, plant could die. This is why special concern needs to be paid to assembling your soil, using quality ingredients and good old fashion TLC.
How Do You Make Soil?
Making soil for your first carnivorous plant may sound like a big time challenge, and for many of you it may feel close to impossible at first. Instead, you just need to relax and take a few minutes to read through the below and mix it together.
You don’t need a degree in gardening or some super level of knowledge in plants to effectively create tasty soil for your insectivorous plants.
Can I Purchase Soil Instead?
If this is beyond you there is this pack on Amazon which I highly recommend for ease of setup, or if you prefer organic this option is high quality also. This is fairly inexpensive and can be to your door shortly from online if you feel that this will help you grow your plant.
The benefit to purchasing your soil is you don’t have to question if you mixed the right types in the correct amounts. Instead you can focus on growing your plants and putting in the effort to master growing and supporting your new plants.
What Kind of Soil Does a Venus Flytrap Need?
The Venus Flytrap should be potted in a blend which features one-third sand and two-thirds sphagnum peat moss. This mixture provides the best drainage and allows for the most moisture retention which leads to a longer life for your plant.
Please take special care not to add lime to your Venus Flytrap soil along with never fertilizing the plant.
What Kind of Soil Does a Pitcher Plant Need?
Pitcher plants can tolerate a large range of potting mixtures as long as the mixture is fairly low in nutrients as long as it provides good drainage. Most gardeners will prefer making a combination of half perlite and half dry sphagnum moss.
If you wanted you could also use a mixture of half sharp sand or perlite and half peat moss. For the pitcher plants you should look to avoid all regular commercial mixes which can be far too rich.
Is There Soil Which is Damaging To Carnivorous Plants?
When you are preparing for a new plant to pot you may think that you can just use the regular potting soil around home that maybe was used for other plants. This would be a large mistake as potting soil is actually very bad and damaging to carnivorous plants.
This is the same for using regular garden soil as it is unfortunately a mistake that many new carnivorous plant owners make. Which ends in the plant meeting its end unfortunately and you believing that having one isn’t in your future.
Bottom Line
I hope this has helped explain to you how to best prepare soil for your carnivorous plants and why you should pay more attention to what you plant them in. This can help make sure your plant grows tall and strong and vibrant, basically everything you are wanting from your plant.
Please feel free to contact me if you have anything you would like to add or if I missed information that would have helped you. I strive to post the most straight forward and assistive information I can in a way which helps you to grow the plants I have loved my whole life, I love to hear success stories and to see your pictures too!
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