Post by southbaytraps on May 14, 2015 7:43:58 GMT
More on Darlingtonia after basic explanation of my setup. Images are at the bottom...
Last year I expanded my garden quite a bit and started using 6.5 Inch deep 2ft x 4ft white hydroponic water trays. They have grooves in them which creates even water flow from one entry point. I put mesh filter in front of two overflow holes on one side and used a solar powered air pump to drive water up from my water tank into the tray. Over flow goes back into the water tank which has another mesh filter to keep things from clogging up.
This year I used the same cheap solar air pump and linked 6 water trays.
Anyway, I live in coastal Southern California and successfully grow darlingtonia but they only take up a maybe 3 square feet of my bog. There was one plant which has some nice 2ft pitchers that needed to be repotted so I set up a little system which will provide its pot with some fresh running water via a cheap solar water pump. If I see negative results, Its easy enough to pull the plug but I think this will work out.
I started by using a white hanging basket as my pot. These have a recessed ring around the bottom of the pot with no drainage. This ring was filled with a mixed of course sand and pebbles. Next I drilled two over flow holes about 1" from the bottom of the pot. A small hole is drilled up top so I can run a small tube in for the water pump.
The pot was filled with the same stuff I use every year... I use Pumice and peat moss that has a decent amount of chopped long fiber sphagnum blending into it as well as a bit of sand. If I had to guess my mix is 30-40% Pumice, 40% Peat/LFS Mix.
Water is pumped in via a tube that hugs the wall of the pot and is about 1.5 inches below the surface. Directly below this entry point, I made a 1.5" hole in the soil and filled it with a mix of pebbles, #12  sand. I tested it immediately and water swiftly drains out my overflow holes, the surface of the soil does not become saturated but remains moist.
Lastly this pot is placed in one of my water trays but also has its own water tray and is elevated above the water level. I did this to allow better drainage during the evening. The solar water pump uses is so weak that an application like this is about all its good for.
Pictures Below & in about a week I'll post an update on my blog showing the entire setup. Any suggestions or input will be appreciated
"Over flow holes... These are blocked with pebbles and a bit of sphagnum."
]]
"Hole drilled up top as an entry point for the water pump"
"hose placed in the pot and image of the solar panel"
I have to clean up the other images but hopefully my description and the pics here are good enough to get an idea of what was done...
~Mike | Southbaytraps.com
Last year I expanded my garden quite a bit and started using 6.5 Inch deep 2ft x 4ft white hydroponic water trays. They have grooves in them which creates even water flow from one entry point. I put mesh filter in front of two overflow holes on one side and used a solar powered air pump to drive water up from my water tank into the tray. Over flow goes back into the water tank which has another mesh filter to keep things from clogging up.
This year I used the same cheap solar air pump and linked 6 water trays.
Anyway, I live in coastal Southern California and successfully grow darlingtonia but they only take up a maybe 3 square feet of my bog. There was one plant which has some nice 2ft pitchers that needed to be repotted so I set up a little system which will provide its pot with some fresh running water via a cheap solar water pump. If I see negative results, Its easy enough to pull the plug but I think this will work out.
I started by using a white hanging basket as my pot. These have a recessed ring around the bottom of the pot with no drainage. This ring was filled with a mixed of course sand and pebbles. Next I drilled two over flow holes about 1" from the bottom of the pot. A small hole is drilled up top so I can run a small tube in for the water pump.
The pot was filled with the same stuff I use every year... I use Pumice and peat moss that has a decent amount of chopped long fiber sphagnum blending into it as well as a bit of sand. If I had to guess my mix is 30-40% Pumice, 40% Peat/LFS Mix.
Water is pumped in via a tube that hugs the wall of the pot and is about 1.5 inches below the surface. Directly below this entry point, I made a 1.5" hole in the soil and filled it with a mix of pebbles, #12  sand. I tested it immediately and water swiftly drains out my overflow holes, the surface of the soil does not become saturated but remains moist.
Lastly this pot is placed in one of my water trays but also has its own water tray and is elevated above the water level. I did this to allow better drainage during the evening. The solar water pump uses is so weak that an application like this is about all its good for.
Pictures Below & in about a week I'll post an update on my blog showing the entire setup. Any suggestions or input will be appreciated
"Over flow holes... These are blocked with pebbles and a bit of sphagnum."
]]"Hole drilled up top as an entry point for the water pump"
"hose placed in the pot and image of the solar panel"
I have to clean up the other images but hopefully my description and the pics here are good enough to get an idea of what was done...
~Mike | Southbaytraps.com
