A Peat Sand Mixture – Soil for the 2017 Planting

A Peat Sand Mixture – Soil for the 2017 Planting

I must determine the soil composition for my 2017 planting. Carnivorous plants need a low nutrient soil. Potting soil will kill the plants. In the past I have used sphagnum moss with good results. This time I have acquired peat. Peat is sphagnum moss that has decomposed. For any experiment, test runs of small parts should be conducted to confirm the big project will go smoothly. The same I have done for the soil. I decided to use clear plastic cups rather than glass for this experiment. Due to a few failed errors, I understood it would be important to measure out quantity of soil parts before I mix them together in order to obtain a uniform soil for my experiment. I took a cup and marked a 3cm line to measure quantities. I will note, water mentioned in this experiment is either rain collected water or distilled water. Tap water may contain nutrients that are bad for carnivorous plants. With the measuring cup I measured 1 part peat, 1 part sand, and 1 part water.

 Above: cups with 3cm volume of peat, sand, and water.

 

Peat is dry and doesn’t mix with water on its own. In a trail I added peat to water. The peat floated on top of the water. Even after days the peat on top remains dry and did not diffuse through the water. In another trial I added water to peat. The water will wet some of the peat while it flowed and filled up the bottom of the cup. The water then lifts the dry peat. Again the top peat layer is dry and water and peat do not mix.

Cup with peat floating on water. Even after days the two may not mix.

The problem of mixing peat and water is known and has been reported by others (http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq3200.html). After adding water and peat to the same cup, I mixed and stirred the contents. The peat eventually became wet. In a trial I let the cup sit for days. I observed that peat holds water very well. The top can become drier, yet underneath it is moist.

From discussions with other growers in the past years, books, and when searching online there is mention of a sand-peat mixture. My first purchase was play sand. This sand is very fine. When water is added to it, the water turns murky. This sand has a lot of contaminants, dirt, in it. This could be materials I don’t want for the sensitive carnivorous plants. I have used it after rinsing. A tip was told to me to use pool sand. Pool sand is much cleaner and the sand particles are larger. Pool sand is the type of sand I will use for my mixture even though some say it is still too fine (http://www.carnivorousplants.org/howto/SoilsWater/PeatSandPerlite.php). Pool sand is what I have available, is better than the play sand, and better than the no sand option.

After mixing water and peat, I then add the sand. I find the sand helps to wet the peat further. The sand particles break clumps of peat during mixing allowing the absorption of more water.

The 1 to 1 to 1 mixture of water to peat to sand has been suggested by others (http://icps.proboards.com/thread/7122/preparation-peat-moss-carnivorous-plants and http://www.carnivorousplants.org/howto/SoilsWater/PeatSandPerlite.php and http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq3200.html). In trials the mixture looks good to me. What I mean by that is pure peat alone doesn’t look good, maybe just too mucky. Through the Portulaca weed growing experiment, I can confirm pure sand has no available nutrients for plants. Yet mixing the two, peat and sand, water can move about the soil better (http://www.carnivorousplants.org/howto/SoilsWater/PeatSandPerlite.php and http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq3200.html). The modification I would suggest would be slightly less water. If too soggy I fear seedlings will not grow. If I go through this procedure, I may let the soil sit a few days to let the top moisture dry out slightly before I cover the top with plastic wrap.

To see what the soil will look like with plants, I replanted some of my stock of Leah Wilkerson seedlings into some sample cups. My experiment will use the 1 peat to 1 sand to 1 water parts for the soil.

Above: Cups with soil of parts 1 peat to 1 sand to 1 water with Sarracenia seedlings planted within them.

 

Above: Overhead view looking down into completed cups. Left: without clear wrap. Right: with clear wrap placed over the cup.

Citations

Rice, Barry. 2005 The carnivorous plant FAQ courtesy of the International Carnivorous Plant Society: Cultivation: Q: About peat. Available from http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq3200.html (accessed December 2016).

Brittnacher, John. No Date. ICPS How To: Soils-peat, sand, perlite. About peat. Available from http://www.carnivorousplants.org/howto/SoilsWater/PeatSandPerlite.php (accessed December 2016).

Southbaytraps. 2015. International Carnivorous Plant Society: Cultivation techniques: Preparation of peat moss for carnivorous plants. Available from http://icps.proboards.com/thread/7122/preparation-peat-moss-carnivorous-plants (accessed December 2016).

 

Sunflowers 2016

I bought a pack of sunflower seeds for a few dollars. The packet said they get between 10-16 feet tall. I walked around my apartment and town planting the seeds in early March 2016. There was an abandoned flowerbed at my job site. Bare, I decided to plant more sunflower seeds there early May 2016, just after the last frost. Frost in May, yes. The seeds grew and I had 10 around my apartment and 72 at my job site.

Apartment Sunflower

Job Site Sunflowers

I did see evidence of the plants around town, but they were mowed, a risk I knew I was taking. Five  at my apartment were destroyed by a weed eater, the lawn care people, a risk I knew I was taking. The other 5, I put mulch around them. The mulch help. Out of those 5 remaining, 1 grew to 7-8 feet right now and is producing a flower. The 72 at my job site are between 4-6 feet tall, they were planted much later.

Aerial Photo Apartment Sunflower Estimated 7-8 Feet

Job Site Sunflowers

Enjoy your day!
:)

Venus Flytrap Seed Collection 2016

Venus Flytrap Seed Collection 2016

I got a Venus flytrap in 2014. After that first winter, I separated the single plant into 7 plants in 2015. 3 of those plants lived. They flowered in 2015 and I got 2 poor small looking seeds. The 2016 seeds haven't been looked into yet.

I saw another Venus flytrap plant at the store. It had bigger traps than mine and I wanted another plant. I bought this plant in Winter 2015. I kept it upstairs near a window. It flowered this season. I took a small paint brush and tried to pollinate it. That was months ago. Today I looked and was amazed to see many seeds!

Venus Flytrap Flower Stalk with Seeds

This is a picture of the single flowering stalk. It had a group of white flowers. Now shown is the dried flowers with seeds, the black part, within them.

Single Flower With Seeds of the Venus Flytrap

I carefully cut each flower from the stalk. Then using a saucer, white sheet of paper, and a needle, I harvested and collected the seeds.

Flower|# Seeds Collected
1| 22
2| 20
3| 26
4| 28
5| 28
6| 22
7| 17
Total 163
2 additional flowers did not seem to mature with any seeds. Maybe I missed the pollination, maybe they were just duds.

Collecting the seeds revealed the dispersal mechanism. The seeds are small, black, shiny, and tear shaped having a pointed end and a bulbous end. A seed separated from the flower is pictured with the cut flower, but hard to see. The pointed end of the seed fits into a socket of the flower receptacle. The bulbous end sticks out. When the seeds mature, they are visibly seen on the flower. Maybe due to drying, change in temperature or moisture, or water content of the plant maybe after a rain or watering, the receptacle probably expands and contracts. This pinches the seeds and launches them from the flower. I estimate without any measurements that a seed can be launched a foot away from a flower stalk, with the potential to bounce further if lucky or to flow with water. For harvesting, I pointed the receptacle down, and pushed the flower into the paper; the paper contained within a saucer. The seeds popped out, some bouncing off the paper into the saucer. I then counted the seeds and placed then into a container.

These seeds are larger and more robust looking than the 2 seeds I harvested before. Compared to my previous plant and its clones, this new plant is definitely a breeder.