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Circ bog revamped!!

JB_OrchidGuy

Cardiac Nurse
I had to revamp my circulation bog. I wanted a way to be able to keep the plants separate and in their own pots so there wouldn't be plants running over each other as they grow. After looking at the pictures Chistof posted from the nursery he recently went to with SeedJar, I started thinking.

So I too myself with an idea down to Lowe's to see what I could come up with. I didn't take progress pics like I always plan to. I actually had the camera outside then realized oops the camera is dead. So i snapped some pics today and it honestly was not that hard to do and took me all of an hour to revamp. From scratch it would have taken a little longer due to the need to build the frame for the tubs.

This is the finished product.
CircBog8-27-201122.jpg


I have to find pics of the old setup, but as some of you may recall I had 5 5 gallon buckets in tandem with a piece of gutter running under the 4 tubs and holes dripping into the gutter to rout it back to the 5 gallon buckets. This system is much neater and sleeker. I am very impressed.

As you can see it is just some pipe now and no gutter.

CircBog8-27-20115.jpg


And the other side...

CircBog8-27-20116.jpg


As you can see on the end of the pipe there is a 3/4 slip to female threaded fitting. Into the fitting goes a hose to pipe adapter found in the drip irrigation section. You can see the T fittings and the 90 on the end. All are slip fittings for 3/4 PVC. Do not use CPVC because it cannot take the sun.

Into the tubs you want to drill a 1' hole using a fan tip or other method, but that is the proper size for the threaded end of the 3/4" male fittings. You will see a piece of rubber under the 2" slip to 3/4" threaded adapter. That is a piece of cut to fit washer. I could not find a washer large enough to fit the 3/4" threads of the male PVC fitting. And you cannot screw the 3/4 inch threads far enough into the 2" slip to 3/4" fitting. It was used as a spacer and gasket to minimize leaking.

CircBog8-27-201110.jpg


Into the 2" slip adapter you can add the drain cover. They only had 2 at my lowers so I will be getting more later. Here is what it looks like with the cover in place.

CircBog8-27-201120.jpg


It keeps the big chunks from going down the drain and back into the reservoir.

Here is the rain barrel I used for the water holding tank.

CircBog8-27-20117.jpg


Inside the holding tank there is a pump. The same pump I used on my old bog. Just remember you need to get some type of filter so it doesn't clock the small feed lines. U just used some fabric that was used to cover French drain lines. And the black tube is for drip irrigation and I just used the puncture method and placed the feed lines to fill the tubs. SO in the picture you see the black feed lines coming out of the tank. The bottom connection is the return line coming back from the bog.

I find that sarracenia like flowing water vs stagnant wanter any day. After repotting I lost a few plants to rot and couldn't figure out why. Well when I started paying a little more attention to the tubs I noticed they stunk from stagnation. This should fix that problem.

I don't remember the pump size, but it was purchased at Lowe's too. It was one of the medium sized pumps and it has an auto shutoff for low water levels. I had burned up 2 or 3 pumps previously due to them running dry. So I recommend getting one with the water level sensor.

I will be glad to answer any questions. Just FYI all my fittings were dry fit and not glued just so I can make adjustments later as I add more tubs. There is some slight leaking due to just being dry fit. Very minor and nothing stead. I wanted to make sure it would work first. So if you are wondering why you see no glue. That is why. Drain lines are not under pressure so I didn't think it was essential.

Happy growing!!!!
 
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Very Cool! I hope to make one pretty soon
 
Very similar to the Meadowview setup. This should work very well.
 
Nicely done, and nice plants too!
 
great looking system Josh, very clean design....

excellent!
 
wow.. that's actually really cool. You should come out here and build one for me.
 
That looks very cool! but maybe im missing something..
I have been paying casual attention to all the recirculating bog ideas on this forum over the years, and I plan to try it myself..someday..but wasnt one of the main benefits of the recirculating idea that the water is always moving down through the pots/bogs themselves, directly among the plant roots?

In this system, it looks like the water is moving *around* the pots, on the outside of the pots, but not dripping down through the pots themselves..im not saying that is bad! ;) because I honestly dont know..and im sure its not actually "bad" in any possible way..definitely much better than stagnant water in the bottom of a large closed container!

I suppose with this system the water is still "recirculating" among the plant roots in the pots..just not as "directly" as it would be if dripper nozzles were on top of each pot..So this seems to be a new method in the recirculating bog evolution that I havent seen before..I still like it! ;) Im just wondering how this came about, and people's thoughts on this version vs. the older style, where the water dripped down into the pots/bog themselves, directly among the plant roots..

as I said, i have been paying *casual* attention, so im probably missing some details! ;)
I would like to know more detail about how this "new" (as far as I know) idea came about, and the thinking behind it..

thanks,
Scot
 
The circulating bog in the conservatory of the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, CA circulates from one end to the other. It was designed by Jim Folsom who spent lots of time researching and studying bogs in the South East United States. Many of the Sarracenia in the bog were collected by him (under permit/permission).

Many Sphagnum bogs are essentially slow draining lakes with an inlet on one end and an outlet one the other.

In the new Sarracenia "ponds" at a certain nursery in Northern California the water circulates from on end to the other. They are simple 2 x 4 frames lined with a roofing material (flexible, tough, UV resistant). Some of the plants are in net/mesh pots. The ponds are replacing the older non-circulating swimming pool tubs. A wild guess from memory the ponds are about 3 feet x 15 feet
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older tubs
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What difference does the direction of the water flow make as long as fresh oxygen is supplied?
 
  • #10
Scotty, as long at the water flows. I want to use the mesh pots for the plants but didnt have the money to upgrade to them yet. This way the water in the tub is flowing and doesn't stagnante. Yeah it is not as great as if the pots were mesh or like my old system, but the old system the plants were all int he same medea and the plants over ran each other. There is still going to be some flow around the roots through the holes in the bottom.

I plan on adding a fish tank air pump to airate the water in the holding tank too. That was the main benefit sighted by Bugweed was the oxygenated water. Since this water doesn't flow exactly like my old system I think it would benefit with the air stone added. Then the oxygen flows by defusion to the unoxegenated water as it is pumped up.

I have to procure some more azzola and I will have the nitrogen needed in the water too.
 
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