Nepenthes substrate

[astaroth1990]

Hello, I recently bought a nepenthes witch I think is alata (I'm not entirely certain, I hope you can help me with that as well). I realized a couple of days ago that it is planted in pure sphagnum, which isn't the right substrate, so I'll have to replant it with the correct soil (I'm planning on using one that D'Amato mentions in his book, vermiculite, perlite, orchid bark and long fibered sphagnum) The thing is, we're right in he middle of winter here in Argentina, and the perfect time to transplant it would be on the beginning of spring. The plant is growing fine for now, it's even developing some traps, but I just want to be certain that nothing will happen to it if I leave it in pure sphagnum for about two months longer before repotting it.
Thanks for your answers, and for all the posts, I've been reading it for a couple of weeks, and found tons of useful information. I leave two pictures of my nep, one that I took when I bought it, and one I just took some moments ago.

[paulbarden]

There's nothing wrong with a pure Sphagnum media as long as you are cautious with watering: allow the medium to dry out a BIT before watering again. Make sure there are adequate drainage holes too.

[astaroth1990]

Thanks paul, that's great news! The drainage holes are good, so I don't think there's a problem there.

[hcarlton]

Yep, looks like an alata. And yes, pure sphagnum is fine as long as the proper watering regime is used. As i grow many of my plants in undrained plants (I know, silly me), I wait until the top moss is starting to dry before watering again, but with drain holes, make sure the moss on top is always at least somewhat damp. A good mix can also be 1:1 sphagnum/perlite or sphagnum/orchid bark.

[mcmcnair]

I use a typical orchid mix produced by Fafard, an American soil and substrate company, and add one part charcoal, one part peat, and one part sand for my mix and I have new growth constantly. However, this mix does require you water a lot...