FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

andynorth wrote: ↑Wed Sep 06, 2023 9:25 pm I just found this stuff on Amazon. 2 pounds says it comes to 112 dry quarts. I ordered specifically to see what the quality is like. Doing the math, this is about 5 bucks cheaper and shipping is free. I will post results when it arrives. Like I said, the stuff I linked to earlier is very good quality but also quite expensive, as in $22.00 for 3 dry quarts.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B5S ... =UTF8&th=1

Well, I think the more expensive stuff spoiled me. I am NOT happy with the less expensive 2 pound brick I received. It states it was sourced from a sustainable swamp. Although I have never been to China, I have never heard of there being swamps there but lots of polluted cesspools. Calling BS on that one. Pic shows the more expensive on the left and the 2 pound stuff, both wet on the right.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B4PJVC6W?re ... x=new+zeal

DragonsEye wrote: ↑Thu Sep 07, 2023 11:12 pm

Intheswamp wrote: ↑Wed Sep 06, 2023 1:23 am Is the Spagmoss on Amazon *that* much better than the Better-Gro?

Better-Gro is decent stuff. Avoid Mosser Lee products… they’re not even worthy of being called “garbage “.

I tried Mosser just as a substrate under live moss and it turned to mush.

I will give Better-Gro a try and see if it is as good as what I currently use.

I don't know much about sphagnum moss and have bought Better-Gro on the recommendations of others here on the forum. I have yet to be disappointed. I pick a small stick or two out, maybe a piece of grass(?), and several of those wiry dark reddish-brown roots/vines/alien-nose-hairs. It's a nice color (the moss, not the nose hairs). The trash hasn't amounted to enough to worry with, I probably could have gotten away fine without picking the little bit of trash out, but there again...I'm OCD-Me!

Maybe the bales I got were out a good run or something. I ordered in (I think) it was four bales...and all were fine. I'm going to do some potting up some seedlings soon and potting up other plants when they go dormant so I just ordered 10 bales of it. Less than $54 delivered for a little over 5-1/4 pounds of it. I'll have plenty leftover for future projects, too. It will be interesting to see the quality of what they send...if I open a bag or two and find it's garbage, well, I know how to return it!

The expensive stuff was my first. I think I got spoiled with it but just the smell of the other stuff was enough to turn me away from it. I thought I had posted a pic somewhere of the expensive stuff and cheap stuff side by side. I will see if I can find it. The stuff just does not look right and has a horrible smell. The stuff on the left is the more expensive stuff and on the right the cheap stuff, both wet. I like the golden and rust coloration of the expensive stuff and it does not smell.

The one on the right looks like someone pulled it out of a bog and set it in the sun to dry. That would explain the funky smell. I love the smell of sphagnum when you rehydrate it. Earthy but not musty.

I agree, Panman. The dish on the right has a definite green colorcast to it. As for smelling it...my smeller ain't highly sensitive...I'm one of those guys that could eat a hamburger sitting on a dead cow. But, I do like the fresh earth scents.

Yea, That one is the one from the 2 pound block. Came from China and they say "sustainably sourced". Very much doubt it.

So my Better-Gro arrived today. Thank you Intheswamp. It is pretty close to the same as I have been using.
Where do you buy yours from? I bought mine on Amazon. When I went to order 4, it said I reached the limit so I ordered 3 more for now. I will check tomorrow to see if it is just a daily limit or what.

I think it was Panman that first recommended it to me. Lowe's is a good place to get it at.

Yes, I get it at Lowes. Most of them stock it. You can have it delivered and of you order 8 there is no shipping charge.

Thank you. I have a Lowe's just up the road. It is the same price on Amazon and I usually get it next day but if I find I need more than 4 bales at a time I will get from them.

Panman wrote: ↑Wed Sep 06, 2023 5:36 pm I pot flytraps and sarrs that are in 3 inch pots or smaller in straight sphagnum, no chopping. I only used chopped sphagnum for starting seeds. Sarrs do really well and I don't notice them being any floppier than the larger pots of peat/perlite.

So would the same be advisable in a 7" deep pot? Or would I be better filling the bottom half with Peat and top half with LFSM to save on LFSM? I have 4 Sarrs I won on eBay (I know, I need to stop winning these stupid auctions) and was thinking of doing half in straight LFSM and half in a 50:50 LFSM and Peat just to see the results. I know, that can get expensive but I should be OK for just a couple plants.

On another note, does anyone know where to buy bulk LFSM? I mean like LARGE bundles of it, similar to the Premium Peat that Lowe's sells.

Cost is the only thing that prevents me from using straight sphagnum on all of my pitchers, so the choice is up to you. I have found that plants seem to have a hard time transitioning their roots from the sphagnum into the peat, but that may just be my experience.