Definitely worth a shot. How'd you like to trade one of yours? I already have one that looks different.
Oooo, now there's an idea. Your's looks different? How so? I'd be interested, but it'd be my first time shipping a plant, so you'd have to let me know how to do it, haha.
I have something very similar atm...just without all the pretty plants
. Mine has nothing but VFTs in it right now. I'll probably fill it with VFTs and start another one for different types of CPs. I love the VFTs...vicious looking lil things.
I would like to know how you put your bog garden together though. All info is good info
.
VFTs are pretty cool. I think a lot of us kind of... well, I don't want to say "overlook," but we don't pay as much attention to them, a lot of us. Probably because they're the stereotypical genus of the bunch. But they do have lots of variety, and I still think they're the "scariest" of the carnivores. I'm hoping to have some D. muscipula 'Red Dragon' seed shortly since I just let mine flower. I read that they can be self-pollinated, just not with as much success. We'll see! If I do get seed, I'd be happy to SASE you some. Let me know if you'd be interested. Although, are you keeping yours indoors? If so, I know a lot of people's struggle indoors because they do demand a pretty fair amount of light. Mine, even under the crazy light they are, are not as healthy as they could be, for sure. I'm going to attempt outdoors with them next spring. Just something to keep in mind if you love VFTs. Indoors probably isn't the best for them, in the long run.
As for the minibog details. Okay, let's get started!
As you can see in that picture, it's essentially two Sterilite brand tubs stacked. I put some filled water bottles in the bottom one to keep the top one lifted a few inches. This allows me to have a reservoir of water a few inches deep down there. In the top tub, I have holes drilled around the bottom, one inch up from the bottom, for drainage. Their being an inch up allows there to be an inch of water in the bottom of the substrate at all times. I got a pump and stuck it in the bottom tub with the reservoir. It pumps to a pipe along the back which, in turn, has four silicon tubes that deliver water to four different parts of the bog, roughly equally apart from eachother. The pump is on a timer for 30 minutes, once every day. So it gets a nice, thorough watering every day for thirty minutes. The excess water runs out the drainage holes in the bottom of the top bin and back into the reservoir bottom bin, simply circulating the water. This both allows for "flowing" water through the substrate and maintains a one inch water table in the bottom of the substrate.
In the bottom of the top bin, I put enough long fibered sphagnum to cover up the holes, so just over an inch. On top of that, 50/50 peat/perlite. There is 81 watts of 5000K CFLs and 54 watts of 6500K CFLs, for a grand total of 135 watts of CFL light. Temperatures are kept anywhere from ~60 degrees at night to ~80 degrees during the day, much depending on the outside weather. It is sometimes colder at night, around 55, but it never gets over 80 as I have a portable air conditioner on a thermostat in there to make sure of that. Humidity is typically right around 50%, with a rise as the temperature drops at night.
Think I touched on everything. Hope it helps in some way!
Thanks, sarracenia21!