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hunterkiller03

Adding charcoal to the growing media of a Nepenthes

hunterkiller03
17 years ago

Here a question for those that grow Nepenthes. I have grown N. alata ssp. elongata, a typical N. rafflesiana variety and a giant variety (still a small plant) and N. ampullaria spotted. Normally the media mix I use for my neps consisted one part LFS, one part perlite, ½ part vermiculite and it is a mix that has worked fine. I even considered myself a decent nep grower.

But recently I repotted my N. alata and to the normal mix I added charcoal because IÂve heard that it's good for absorbing impurities. Later I bought BarryÂs new book "Growing Carnivorous Plants". In his book he wrote that he added charcoal to his mix and his neps didnÂt do so well. I hate to realize that I may have made a big mistake by adding charcoal in my mix.

Just hoping BarryÂs experience isnÂt widespread among neps growers, how many of you have added charcoal to your media and how well your plants grew in the mix?

Otherwise, I may have just to re-repot my plant and I hate doing that to a recently repotted plant, especially to a nep.

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