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Post by Devon on Aug 22, 2011 18:52:00 GMT -5
I haven't thought about it much before, but I recently realized that I use an unnecessary amount of peatmoss. I use the largest pots I can because supposedly it helps most plants grow more robust. (They do help, but only to a certain extent.) Anyway, I've started cutting down on my peatmoss usage to help "Save" the bogs or whatever... (I really need to educate myself on this kinda stuff) Below are the few things I've done/thought of doing... For my indoor Drosera collection, I re-potted all of them into much smaller pots; pots that are 2 inches wide and 2 inches deep. (pudding cups ) For my outdoors collection, which consists of Dionaea, Sarracenia, and temperate Drosera, I decided that next year I will pot my smaller Sarracenia into typical 4 inch nursery pots instead of huge foam pots... For my flytraps and Drosera, I will try to grow them all in pure LFS, perhaps with a small amount of peat on top because I like the look... I dunno if that helps or not, since peat is basically decomposed LFS though. One more thing, is that I will only re-pot my Sarracenia every two years. This will include this years Sarracenia, so they are going into the fridge in their pots. Sure, it will take up a lot of space and my parents might not like it, but it's for a good cause. Please, share your ideas of how you use less peatmoss! Thanks for reading, I shall have pics of the new Drosera pots when my computer works properly again.
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Post by quatchi on Aug 22, 2011 19:01:17 GMT -5
Hey Devon, For my planters that are about 10 inches deep, I put about 2-4 inches of pumice on the bottom, with about an inch of sand on top. Then I have a mix that for about 3 inches that consists heavily of sand,vermiculite, pumice/perlite, and some peat. The top two inches are heavier on the peat side of things, but I'm going to change things up in the spring and use more sand so it drains better, and so algae doesn't grow as easily. Anyways, whatever you end up doing, try and mimic a natural bog. They would likely have more peat the further down you go, and more moss/sand/litter closer to the surface. For VFT's especially, you really don't need peat moss I've found, but for other plants, it's somewhat useful I don't use much peat at the moment, but I wan't to use zero peat in the future. Good luck cutting down!
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Post by Devon on Aug 22, 2011 19:07:05 GMT -5
Very true. Photos of purps and VFTs growing in the wild I have seen, they look like they're either growing in almost pure Sphagnum, and pine needles and other leaf litter like you said.
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Post by quatchi on Aug 22, 2011 19:13:45 GMT -5
Exactly! And when it comes to pings, even mexican pings, the majority either grow, or can grow, in a media that has calcium, like limestone, dolomite, or whatever. All my mexican pings are growing in that right now.
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Post by Raymond on Aug 22, 2011 19:15:58 GMT -5
ok I could do that but... since I didn't built my bog this year (I think it's too late) I was going to built it 10 inches down 1inch of sand and 7 inches of peat moss with 2 inches of sphagnum how can reduce peat moss I don't want to spend a lot of money on buying more sphagnum any help
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Post by lloyd on Aug 22, 2011 21:49:06 GMT -5
Most Canadian peat moss is grown in a sustainable way-it usually has a certificate on the container. Tom has endorsed the sustainable Canadian peat industry. So you probably don't have to worry.
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Post by H2O on Aug 23, 2011 10:55:29 GMT -5
I'm going to have to agree with Lloyd on this one. In addition, the amount of peat that one person uses on this hobby is rather insignificant compared to the amounts that ornamental greenhouses use for their plants, they can use several 16foot x 16foot bales a day. I'm not saying it's a good thing but it's hard to justify using such a small amount.
Another way to save is just to grow Neps haha no peat required. The only things I have inside with peat are my Cephs and Drosera regia.
If you were hardcore into saving I would be interested in seeing what a good substitute for an outdoor bog would be.
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Post by Raymond on Aug 23, 2011 11:22:04 GMT -5
If you grow sphagnum you can use 100% lol ;D and anyone heard of coco peat
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Post by Devon on Aug 23, 2011 12:40:51 GMT -5
Lloyd, I honestly (not trying to be rude ) don't see how so much peat can be taken in a controlled manner. Can you please explain? Don't forget how many people are getting into the hobby now! I would assume at least 1000 people grow CP's now, and all of those people using peat adds up to a lot. Anyway, here are the pics of my improved indoor set-up with small pots.
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Post by Raymond on Aug 23, 2011 12:46:56 GMT -5
I think 100 000+ I know about 20 but think how many people buy death domes (what I call them you know Vtfs in the cups with domes...). I think in you first pic "the world around us" is should be "the world of cp growers around us"
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Post by Devon on Aug 23, 2011 13:17:49 GMT -5
I think 100 000+ I know about 20 but think how many people buy death domes (what I call them you know Vtfs in the cups with domes...). I think in you first pic "the world around us" is should be "the world of cp growers around us" Lol, you know that is just a book I used to help hold the trays better, right?
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Post by Raymond on Aug 23, 2011 13:23:23 GMT -5
I saw that in the first and second pic
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Post by lloyd on Aug 23, 2011 13:26:52 GMT -5
www.peatmoss.com/concern.phpTom is a big peat bog aficionado and knows all about them. He had a post somewhere around here about sustainable peat harvesting in Canada. This explains about the environmental aspects. Look for the certificate on the bales, all of them I have seen have it.
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Post by Devon on Aug 23, 2011 13:43:32 GMT -5
Thanks Lloyd.
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Post by Raymond on Aug 23, 2011 13:53:27 GMT -5
:^) < thats all that I can do
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