question about a bowl garden...

[rahl1972]

I'm going to be setting up a bowl garden with venus flytraps and I was wondering if there are any tips to be had with watering. I don't want to set the garden bowl in a big tray of water....personally I think that is rather ugly. I'm going to leave the plug in the bottom of it. I was just wondering if anyone has any tips on how exactly to water in a bowl like this? How do you keep from over watering or under watering? This is going to be put on my deck later this spring with three plants. The cultivers that will be arriving are Long Red Fingers, Paradisia and B-52.

[stevestewart]

I grow many cultivars of Dionaea without drainage and have had great success with them for many years.

Your choice of potting media is very important. You should plan for an eventual over watering before you begin. Pure rain, distilled or RO water is also a must. Mineral deposits from hard water sources or fertilizers will build up rapidly in undrained situations.

You state you will be leaving a plug in the bottom of the pot, can you remove it from the outside of the bottom? If you can, just remove the plug an hour or so after you water, or during rains, until the pot stops draining, and then replace it. If you do leave your plants in an over watered state for too long they will rot before you realize you have made an error.

If you choose to grow in a peat sand mix, and can't remove the plug easily, you should purchase or use some sort of siphoning or suction device like aquarium tubing or a turkey baster. Peat/sand mixes don't do well when the over watered pot is tipped sideways to pour the excess water out. I like to grow live Sphagnum along side my plants growing in peat/sand as an indicator of dryness.

Long fibered Sphagnum is also a media that can be used for flytraps. If you haven't used Sphagnum before, it is probably not the best choice for you to start using in an undrained situation. Sphagnum does hold together better than peat sand mixes and so the pot can be turned sideways for pouring out excess water. If you allow Sphagnum to sour, you will lose all of your plants quickly. This can happen even when there is no obvious excess water in the pot, a situation that takes some getting used to. Sphagnum is like a sponge, on occasion, it may require light squeezing to get out unused, no longer fresh water.

If your planter is drying out on the surface, but remaining moist deeper in the pot, it is good to mist the surface of the soil, just enough to keep the plants rhizomes from getting too dry.

I hope others here will disagree with me, or at least have alternative options to choose for your plants.

Welcome to the forum!

Take care,
Steven Stewart

[mmlr38]

Welcome to the forum!

I think Steven covered it all, but I wanted to ask where you were able to get "Long Red Fingers" from. Thanks!

[rahl1972]

Thank you Steve. That is all very helpful. The plugs for the pot are on the inside but I'm going to bet they can be used via the outside too. I always used pure sphagnum peat before for a medium and had no problem. This time I'm going to be using a peat and sand mix. I think what I might do is put a thin bottom layer of long fiber sphagnum in the bottom so I will still be able to unplug the plug if I need too.

As far as the question posted by mmlr38 about the "Long red Fingers"...I have purchased it through a Carnivorous Plant place on ebay. Here is the current link.

cgi.ebay.com/Venus-Flytrap-Long-Red-Fingers_W0QQitemZ360024854637QQihZ023QQcategoryZ1510QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[jj1109]

In my pots, which are plugged and around 2 foot deep, I have a piece of electrical conduit running all the way down to the bottom of the pot, which I cover with a small rock. This way, I can easily lower a stick in the conduit to check what the water level is, and also run a piece of tubing all the way to the bottom to siphon from the bottom. I just have a little piece of flywire over the bottom of the conduit to make sure the media doesn't work its way up the tube!

[ICPS-bob]

Below is an undrained plastic planter box that I have grown VFTs in for years and years. The box sits on my deck in the sun and is 22 inches long x 6 inches wide x 4.5 inches deep. I simply add rain water to the 100% Canadian Sphagnum peat when it feels a bit damp to the touch. I replace the peat and divide the plants every couple of years. I took this photo today. The plants are coming out of winter dormancy.

These plants are a clone of typical or common VFTs that I call "1955" because I purchased 3 rhizomes in a package from the Woolworth Five and Dime store on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, California in 1955. Yes, I have grown this very same clone for 54 years. As I moved around, I found it easy to transport the original plants in an undrained plastic planter box. I have never had a problem growing VFTs this way.
rziemer.cpphotofinder.com/rziemer/zphotos/VFT1955Typical6803.jpg

[rahl1972]

These are all very good ideas.

By the way...those plants in the planter box look really nice. I used to grow a group of them in a glass vase terrarium years back. I kept them in a south facing window and they were planted in pure long fiber sphagnum with rocks in the bottom for drainage that I could see. The top had live sphagnum. Needless to say..the plants did great and turned bright red such as yours. When company would come over I would take it out of the window and set it on the coffee table and it always got a lot of attention. For the winter I just moved them to a west window and they got cold enough to go dormant. I really enjoyed them.

[mmlr38]

Not meaning to hijack this thread, but were you happy with the quality of the "Long Red Fingers" plant you ordered from eBay rahl1972? Is it pretty large and healthy?

[rahl1972]

It hasn't arrived yet. I should be getting them next week. I know that he sends the plants bare root but that is fine by me. I have gotten many plants before like that and have never had a problem. I will give an update as soon as I get them.

[mmlr38]

Sounds good. Thanks rahl1972!

[unstuckintime]

Mar 28, 2009 15:11:42 GMT rahl1972 said:

I think what I might do is put a thin bottom layer of long fiber sphagnum in the bottom so I will still be able to unplug the plug if I need too.

LFS on the bottom, with peat covering it, causes it to rot...or so I have been lead to believe. If someone else has done this successfully, then cool, but I always thought that it was something of a "no-no," causing root rot, uncharateristicly unattractive smells, and all sorts of horribleness.

[stevestewart]

Mar 28, 2009 15:11:42 GMT rahl1972 said:

Thank you Steve. I think what I might do is put a thin bottom layer of long fiber sphagnum in the bottom so I will still be able to unplug the plug if I need too.

I have had problems with LFS in the bottom of pots as well. I use non metallic screen or weed mat in the bottom of pots to keep the media from escaping through the holes.
In glass containers live Sphagnum can survive and grow in the bottom, under peat mixes, but it will sour in no light conditions leading to problems.

Take care,
Steven Stewart

[rahl1972]

I got the plants in today. Out of the two of them...one was rather small but the other one had a nice sized bulb on it. Both plants were packaged very well and both appear to be very healthy. I'm very pleased with them. i also got a "B-52" in the other day and it looks great also.
I decided to go and individually pot them rather then what my original plan was. I used the bowl for some sarracenia tubers I got in from California Carnivores last week. They were having a sale on large unmarked sarracenia tuber divisions taken off of their specimen plants. I knew they were going to be big...but good lord!! They were HUGE. I can't wait to see what I end up with.

[mmlr38]

Thanks for the update. That sounds like a good deal on the Sarrs.