Question
Hello guys,

Last year in spring I build a bog, planted several temperate carnivores, and they did great all summer long.

They grew real good in my new soil (peatmoss from big bags and perlite). Looks like they all survived our long winter months but I worried about the soil (acidity, it's dropping to 4.5 - 4.3 PH)also have a "PPM" meter and it says the water only has a good 41 PPM.

Got several books (the ones you recommend on you site)and they talk about "alkaline soil" kind of "base" opposite of "acid soil".

Is there a way to correct the soil acidity without killing the plants or will the be fine in such an acid environment? Not yet out of dormancy (although it's not going to take much longer) so I could still change the top soil.

Answer
Hi Jimmy,

You don't need to do a thing.  pH in the 4's is exactly where it should be.  Peat moss is quite acidic due to its high tannic acid content.  It's exactly what carnivorous plants like.  Live sphagnum moss also makes the pH right around 4 since it takes up tiny amounts of minerals and replaces them with Hydrogen ion.  Alkaline soil is often very harmful to carnivorous plants.  This is why you can seldom use any commercial soil mix since they add dolomite lime to adjust the pH up.

Good Growing!

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