Question
I recently read that a soil mixture of 1:1 long fiber sphagnum moss to peat moss is a mixture that can cause your plant to rot, but I've used this for my venus flytrap for almost a month with it staying healthy. The reason I'm asking is because I just ordered a new sundew and I really don't want it or my flytrap to rot, so is this soil mixture Ok to use for carnivorous plants?

Answer
Hi Cody,

Short term there's no problem with this mix.  What happens, however, is long-fiber sphagnum breaks down quickly in the very wet conditions that you keep sundews and Flytraps, so it gets anoxic and mucky very fast, especially in hot weather.  Peat being more acid does this slower.  If you change your soil yearly you're probably fine.  If not, switch to a more traditional mix like peat/perlite or peat/sand.  The rocky ingredients keep more air in the soil media.  Long fiber sphagnum is expensive anyway.

Good Growing!

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