Thanks for informing me, Robert. For some reason, perlite tends to go to the bottom first with the charcoal and limestone on top. Plus, the pot was really small, so it was hard to mix it.
Now, I am wondering whether this is a good media. I have heard and hypothesised that northiana grows in gaps inside limestone cliffs. I doubt that N.northiana grows directly on hard limestone. Most probably there should be some ferns, peat or moss growing and decomposing, thus becoming a media for N.northiana to grow in. Therefore, I intend to prepare a very complex media to mimic northiana's environment......
1st layer-a bedrock of big sized limestone at the bottom of the 6 1/2 inch deep pot. Most probably will fill it up to about 1/3 or half of the pot.
2nd layer-small pieces of limestone, some charcoal, a little bit of perlite and peat moss. I believe that maybe sphagnum moss might have grown on broken pieces of small limestone and overtime, decompose to form a small layer of peat moss.
3rd layer-a few strands of LFS, lesser amount of limestone and charcoal compared to the second layer, peat moss, tree bark, dead ferns. The third layer as I imagine, is where ferns and some other plants grow on top of the decomposed peat moss which acts as a media.
4th layer-a few strands of LFS, more dead ferns, tree bark, no peat moss, a few limestone and dead leaves. The further growth of ferns and moss on the 3rd layer which has decomposed.
5th layer-a few strands of LFS, dead ferns, tree bark, limestone and dead leaves. The part where I imagine N.northiana grows on.
Altogether, I think that this MAY be the environment that N.northiana grows in. Perhaps when northiana has matured, the roots will penetrate the limestone to gain better anchorage and maybe to stimulate the growth of large pitchers. Of course, all this is my imagination and I haven't tested it out yet.
Too bad my terrarium isn't windy....
