Question
Hi Jeff,

I wish you a happy new year!

Lastly you mentioned that Flytraps benefit the most from annual repotting. I am going to repot most of my plants this month, while they are all still full dormant, i think it just fits!

Generally spoken, does a annual repotting, independently from the container size, makes any sense? Will CP benefit definitely, or they would not necessarily for bigger containers? And after washing out the old soil, does it make sense to merge the roots 5 minutes in "superthrive", or not needed?

Thanks for your comments!

I am really looking forward for a "reloaded" version of you carnivorous plants DVD series. I would have plenty of questions that could be addressed in a new version of the DVD. Would be great! Maybe in HD?

Cheers!

JP

Answer
Hi JP,

First I want to clarify that we are talking about temperate species with regards to yearly repotting.  Some of the tropicals, particularly Nepenthes don't like frequent repotting.  Same with Cephalotus and Heliamphora.  They tend to go through quite a bit of shock when transplanted.

For the temperate species, repotting is a judgement call.  Plants go go through some shock when transplanted, so if a plant is looking good, it has plenty of room in its pot, and the soil doesn't seem like it's breaking down, letting it go another year is going to be fine.  This is especially true for plants in larger planters.  A good example of this is our big bathtub garden you may have seen on our videos.  We only change out the soil in that when the plants outgrow it.  Since it doesn't sit in water, the peat doesn't break down very fast, so it does just fine for two-three years.  Plants in small pots are different.  Yearly repotting may be very appropriate for those.  If you're starting to see heavy moss growth on pots (not sphagnum) algae, or weeds are starting to invade, definitely transplant.

Using Superthrive to minimize transplanting shock never hurts.  For some plants like Sarracenia you'll see a little better results results compared to not using it.  Plants with delicate roots like Nepenthes, I would say definitely use it!  It really helps for those.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com