Potting Media

[kltower]

Dear All,

I was asked this question by Cactustts:

I heard from David that you're using the normal yellow garden soil to grow your nep, did you mix with other things like charcoal, sand or something? I wanna try that if it's OK since it is going to save me a lot money on buying those expensive sphagnum moss or peat.

Basically, in their natural environment, nepenthes grow on soil (clay, mud, earth, sand with decaying humus). In the highland they are occasionaly, found sitting amonst moss. So there is no reason not to grow nepenthes in garden soil.

My best sanguinea and albomarginata are grown in red garden earth mixed with sand (more porous). I also grow mirablis, gracilis and rafflesiana in soil. Lately, all my MT plants are repotted using the media they came in (moss and perlite) and mixed with red earth and sand. So far they have not shown any adverse effect.

The reason the west growers used spaghnum moss and perlite are mainly:
1) the media is generally clean and free from bugs (easy for export) as many countries forbid import of soil material, and
2) moss and perlite do retain lots of water. In the Europe, America and Australia, the places can be dry, very dry, particularly in winter where alot of household use humidifier to make the home less dry and prevent the generation of static electricity.

Maybe Robert can enlighten us on his potting mix.

Choong

[artificialive]

Ahah! Choong, this is what we are waiting for in the other thread thanks for sharing!

Ooh, and u mentioned red garden earth. Is it burnt soil?

[Robert]

I agreed with Choong the reasons for using local natural material.

northiana was one of the very first plant i grow, having no knowledge of peat or sphagnum moss at that time,and using the natural substrate was the first idea came to my mind.

northiana required moist to dry and very well drain medium. In their natural habitat they grow mostly on very steep slope and cliff. Some of the hills comprised of clay and limestone.



clumps of northiana grows on steep cliff surfaces. On this east facing part of the hill they grows in the open to receive full direct sun from midday to sunset.



my first northiana,already an adult with 3 basals growth. Half each limestone and coarse clay.



2 pots under rooting with limestone chips and coarse clay.




Another friend Mike Lo from Kuching (forum member in carnivorous plants in the tropics) grow his northiana with garden peat and limestone chips.

To conclude it's safe to use garden soil,clay + provision of stone chips for well drain medium.Stone chips act as openings thereby allowing water to drain off easily.

[kltower]

Artificialive, yes I meant burnt soil. You usually get for RM1.00 a bag from the nurseries. I use coarse sand (from hardware shop - RM3.00 a bag) because it has alot of stones (act like perlite).

From Robert's pictures you can confidently grow your neps using garden soil. Save on spaghnum moss.

Choong

[cactustts]

Thanks Choong for sharing your precious experience. If that can be used I think many in the forum will be very happy, haha. Is the hardware shop you mentioned (where you bought the coarse sand from) the normal hardware shop or those in the mall or supermarket?
Robert, thanks for your adivice and those wonderful pictures, now I can grow my rafflesiana & ampullaria in garden soil mix, ha ha ha... save me a lot of money!!!
Thanks guys!

[isaacgoh]

Good to hear all the sifus sharing their tips for growing neps.

I have just got back from Kledang on Saturday and I took a bag of natural soil from the hill. It's actually consist of mainly clay(and coarse sand), the area nearby is called "bukit tanah merah". Btw, did you know what clay is actually a very good growing media for plants? Ever heard of clay balls that you can get from nursery? In fact, it's rich in irons which is good for plants. Even plants with Cryptocoryne in the wild grows especially well with them. If you dig out plants grown with clay balls you will notice how the roots grip tightly to the clay balls to absorb the minerals.

I planted the n. albo with kledang clay soil and I find that they are actually quite well drained and cooling for the plant roots underneath. I'm also growing my land orchid with them too.

As for garden soil, what you should not use I think is black soil. Clay soil is fine from my experience because it's well drained. I planted my northiana with rm1.00 a bag soil and it's doing quite well.

Cheers mates, I also suggest going with clay soil because spagnum moss is indeed very expensive if you plant alot of neps. But one thing that spagnum moss gives what others doesn't is its ability to retain moisture much more than other medium. It's a lazy man growing media if you are the type that does not water your plants often.

[David]

Thanks everyone for your valuable info. Now there's a cheaper alternative for media use for neps. I'll archive this thread in a few days time.