Gotta run, so quick reply. The rotten egg smell indicates hydrogen sulfide gas. That forms when there is a source of sulfur present in anaerobic conditions (no air). So somewhere you got sulphur in your pot (doesn't take much), and in the waterlogged conditions at the bottom of the pot it is reducing to hydrogen sulphide.

You could let the mix get unsaturated to let air back into the waterlogged area, but when you wet the pot again the problem will likely return. What is the rest of your mix?... could it contain some form of sulphur that is leaching to the bottom of the pot and becoming hydrogen sulfide?
-Don

Don,

Thank you for your quick response. The pots have VFTs in them, media is 50/50 peat and perlite. The other 2 pots have the cape seedlings, same media.

I googled hydrogen sulfide gas, the rain water doesn't sound likely but is the only thing I can think of.

Anyone else have some ideas?

Ty,
Nycti

What I have been doing with things like this is to poke holes toward the bottom to allow for drainage and a little bit if circulation. These are artificial environments and nature deals with things that we have to take care of manually.

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Hi Petiolaris,

Thank you for the idea. Are you poking the holes from the bottom? That might work to help my cape seedlings. Would be awfully hard to repot them. They are only the size of pinheads.

Your Sarrs are beautiful. Do you have a layer of dried sphagnum in the bottom of their pots?

Does anyone or everyone put a layer of moss in the bottom of their pots that sit in water? That might be what I did wrong.

Thank you,
Nycti

Personally, i always heard that you put the LFS at the bottom of nepenthes pots, because you top water them and the media is very apt to run away from you. I would try and remove the LFS from the bottom of your pots...or put them outside where you cant smell them.

Hi Icenine,

Yes, I started wondering if it is only used with pots not placed in a water tray. That could be the whole problem.
The odor isn't that strong "yet", only notice it when I pick a pot up and actually sniff the bottom of it. But, I am going to repot them all just to be on the safe side.

Learned a valuable lesson here.

Ty,
Nycti

Hi Nycti. I had exactly the same problem when I placed lfs in the bottom of a pot of drosera. I thought it was stagnant water and changed it several times before I realised that the moss was reacting with the water producing some sort smelly gas. Don55 may well be correct! I eventually pulled the moss through the holes in the bottom of the pot, as the stench became unbearable with the heat of summer.

At this time of the year it may not be too bad, but you could still try poking holes in the pot.

Nycti,
Before you do something too drastic, you might just want to wait awhile and see if the smell gets worse or goes away. If it's just a bit of sulfur that was in your rainwater or something like that, then it may go away on its own in a couple of weeks.

For the record, 4 of the aquariums I use for flytraps and pitcher plants are filled with 5-8" of long fibre sphagnum (pure LFS, nothing added) and the bottom of the aquarium is usually saturated (except in winter when I tend to keep them a bit drier). There are no drainage holes and I have never had an odour problem. I find LFS usually smells kind of "sweet". I usually use melted snow or rainwater for watering, and I change the moss completely every two years or so.

-Don

I poke holes near the bottom. Having holes near the top is also helpful, in case of a deluge. I basically mix sand and peat and them add a layer of the dried LFS on top. Eventually the LFS becomes live.

Thank you to everyone. It's a comfort to know there are people out here who can help.

Trickster,
I hate to hear you had to go though this to but it helps to have company. I tried flushing the pots before I posted but pulling the moss might work, thank you for the idea.

Don,
I know people use a lot of LFS like you do, in aquariums etc. Thats what I just don't get or understand why this happened. I'm not going to get drastic, ty lol, but slowly repot as needed and the seedlings will have to deal with it for a while. That will be a good test to see what happens.

Petiolaris,
I have poked some holes in the seedlings pots, now I guess it's a waiting game. No more moss on the bottom for me, just the top. Seems safer.

I hope mine and Trickster's experiences help keep someone else from going through the same problem.

Nycti