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starting a container bog :D

soo.. Today i decided that I was going to take my old squat-pot that I used to use as a container pond and start making it into a bog!!
so I headed to a local nursery and grabbed some sphagnum peat and some pearlite, mixed them, added washed sand to the bottom of the container, and loaded on the peat perlite mix
I also made a little water drainage reservoir to redirect extra water when it rains :D
this is my first attempt at making a bog, so any words of advice / revisions before I add the water and some Cps would be greatly appreciated :grin:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/79377333@N05/7107648331/" title="photo-2 by feverdreamt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7114/7107648331_515b4e73ba.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="photo-2"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/79377333@N05/6961579818/" title="photo-3 by feverdreamt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8002/6961579818_4834a35f0b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="photo-3"></a>
 
Looks good!
except I dont understand:
I also made a little water drainage reservoir to redirect extra water when it rains
can you explain that in more detail?

Scot
 
Thank you :D.. Well, i dont know if i can call it a reservoir, but I pretty much just seperated most of the soil from a portion of the container with a couple bricks (washed with ro); the goal is for it to collect excess water away from the plants (to prevent rot).. Hope that made any sense at all >_<
 
ah, ok..I get the concept you are going for..but..well..sorry to be blunt, but..

its totally pointless and wont work at all! ;)

sorry..
the bricks cant "hold" the water separate from the rest of the container,
when the container fills with water, it will fill *all* of the container equally, both inside and outside of the "reservoir" made by the bricks..so the bricks are doing absolutely nothing.

all you have done is add bricks to the bog for no reason and no purpose.
and they can possibly contaminate the water with minerals..
so, no benefit, possible drawbacks..
best just take them right out..

to keep the bog from flooding all the way to the top, you need a drain hole.
exact placement is matter of opinion/science/gut feeling..
I placed mine so the "water table" is about 3" down from the surface:

CP2008-017.jpg


CP2008-047.jpg


To water the bogs, I fill them until water drains out the drain tube,
then I just let them go for awhile..
the water table drops over time (if it doesnt rain)..I dont know how much because I didn't bother to make any sort of "viewing" pipe (unnecessary IMO) so I just fill them back up when I think its time..you just get a feel for it after awhile..
The "water table" probably varies between 8" to 3" below the surface..bogs of this size are hard to dry out, so they are nearly always "wet enough", regardless of the exact water level. and I figure a "variable" water table is natural, they get that in the wild..been wirking fine this way, with these particular mini-bogs, for 6 years now..

Scot
 
Oh no lol >_<.. I'll go take the bricks out right now.. Thanks for the advice :D
About how large of a hole did you drill into your containers?
Oh and I was wondering if there was still a way to have one part of the bog be lower and submersed under water so I could eventually add some aquatic Utricularia or Genlisea?
Thanks again :)
 
nice! your living up to your word on starting one. ill let you know if i hear of any tricks or techniques to help you out. what plants are you planning on putting in?
 
Yeah lol, I couldnt wait >_<.. Cool, thank you so much :D.. I think im going to put in some drosera spatulata and others as i acquire them; I would like to put in some vft but idk if socal winters are cold enough for their dormancy requirments, same thing goes for sarracenia cause if it doesnt get cold enough here, there is no way I could fit this thing in my refrigerator >_<
 
what do you temperatures get to during the winter? if they hit in the 50's then itll be pushing it but if you have a basement which drops alittle lower to around 40's. preferably low 40s then they will be alright. not everything need to go into the fridge. I think acouple forum memebers tried just putting the root ball of sarrs in the fridge and had some luck. dont qoute me though. it think your winters would be to cold for spatulata. try looking into sub tropicals. possibly d. filiformis florida giant since they do grow in florida and so cals and florida i would imagine have the same winters alost. they are a great looking species. also you can try some annual cps like byblis they grow and mature in one season and if you play your cards right you may be able to harvest some seeds for next year.
 
Outdoors year round, spatulata really suffers here in socal. If it even survives-that is during the winter. If you are really content to set it out, do so in summer. Not winter. Secondly, at least where I am and in most parts of so cal, it is cold enough for plants to go dormant. Sarrs and vfts go dormant without issue..... so, in summary, grow temperate plants outdoors. If you want to grow tropical plants outdoors, sure they will grow.... but do them a favor and spare them of the winter and the blunt of storms. Temperate plants thrive here year round--you might as well just save yourself some trouble and grow them.
 
  • #10
People in Southern California successfully grow Sarrs and VFT's..
just leave them outside 24/7/365..
yes, its technically a warmer winter than their native climate, but *some* cooling in the winter, combined with a shorter photoperiod, apparently is enough to give the plants a mild dormancy..
(im sure some of the Socal people will chime-in and explain what they do)

For a bog this size (small) you cant easily do an aquatic section..the container simply isnt big enough..
for a much larger "in the ground" bog, you could dig a section that extends below the water table, so that is has standing water, then have raised peat around it for the non-aquatic CP's, like this:

i-bMm8rM2.jpg


but that simply isnt practical in a bog that is only a foot across! ;)
or even 2 feet across..
For now, just make this a "regular" bog, and if you want to also grow aquatics, just grow them in a separate container..

I dont remember the exact size hole I drilled..probably about 1/2"..
I got some hose/tube fittings at home depot to attach the tubing, they dictated the size of the hole..
the drain tube isnt strictly necessary..just a "regular" hole is fine..the water can just dribble out..

I fill my minibogs with pure peat only..then use a top-dressing of LFS (Long Fiber Sphagnum) to keep the rain from splashing the peat around..(peat, by itself, is very fine-grained and "muddy")..I also take a plug of LFS and stick it in the drain hole, so that peat doesnt leak out..

Scot
 
  • #11
People in Southern California successfully grow Sarrs and VFT's..
just leave them outside 24/7/365..
yes, its technically a warmer winter than their native climate, but *some* cooling in the winter, combined with a shorter photoperiod, apparently is enough to give the plants a mild dormancy..
(im sure some of the Socal people will chime-in and explain what they do)

I just simply leave them outside. Doesn't get much more simple then that.
 
  • #12
Thanks everybody for all of your responses :D!!!... Good to hear I can grow some Sarracenia and vfts in the bog; I'll definitely look into obtaining a D. filiformis ..however are there any cps that will stay evergreen during socal winters?
Im also thinking about adding some bog or marsh orchids if the temps here fit
Thanks Again!!!
 
  • #13
Thanks everybody for all of your responses :D!!!... Good to hear I can grow some Sarracenia and vfts in the bog; I'll definitely look into obtaining a D. filiformis ..however are there any cps that will stay evergreen during socal winters?
Im also thinking about adding some bog or marsh orchids if the temps here fit
Thanks Again!!!

As we don't get snow, sarrs keep their pitchers when they go dormant--you can barely tell. Until the end of the season, when the brown and die. You could always keep tropicals then just bring them inside during the winter.
 
  • #14
ooh, nice to hear that sarrs keep their pitchers during dormancy. thanks again :D
 
  • #15
Hey there again!; Just put in my Vft, and D. spatulata (just going to take it out when it starts to cool down here).
Just wondering whether or not there are any Utricularia that would be able to stay in the bog all year round in socal? Oh, and would a Darlingtonia (mountain variety) be able to handle SoCal summers?
thank You :D
 
  • #16
I can't directly answer your question because I'm not too familiar with either of those species, but if U. longifolia can handle those conditions I've got some I can send you. It's not doing much for me; doesn't like me enough to flower.
 
  • #17
wow!, thank you so much for the offer; I have no clue myself whether or not it can handle my conditions; Hopefully somebody will chime in :D
Regardless, thanks again for the offer!
 
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