Mini Bog

[Nevermore]

I just finished a set up similar to the that Crissytal just posted with a water reservoir. 2 years ago i had my collection in undrained containers and I always seemed to keep it on the dry side. So i came across a few posts/links here that referenced this type of set up with the "dip stick" pipe to the bottom to check to see the water level. The media is spag and perlite to keep it nice and open.

I just used 2.5" PVC for the entire line. The bottom section has many 1/4" holes drilled around the pipe and is wrapped in that plastic screen you can get for window repair. This will hopefully keep the media from entering back into the pipes. Watering will be a snap. I spray painted the top portion of the pvc that shows black to blend in a bit.

I replanted all my guys and just have to add the lfs to the top to reduce the splash back. After that.. just wait for the cold front to pass through and outside they go. I will post final picks once i am done.

 

[scottychaos]

This is all well and good, but I dont quite understand the need for all the complicated engineering..(I also questioned Crissytal's setup with the huge buried plastic reserviour)

These ideas arent necessarily bad..they should work fine, and im not really "against" them..
but I dont see any need to check the water level with the pipe, and there is no way to prevent the water from filling all the way to the top during rainy spells, which is IMO the biggest drawback to not having any kind of drain.

what are the advantages to the above system as compared to:

with "my" system (I didnt invent it!
the water can never fill all the way to the top, because of the drain..
yes, there is no way to monitor the water level, but IMO that is totally unnecessary, especially with a bog of any mass..because with that much water, the bog will not dry out very quickly..."topping off" the bog, until water runs out the drain, once a week or less is more than sufficient, even during summer hot spells.

I suppose the "monitoring pipe" could be usefull, but personally I dont see the need.
the main drawback to such a system IMO is too high of a water level! (with no drain)
not too low..and no way to prevent the high water level.

thoughts?
perhaps im missing something?

thanks,
scot

 

[Nevermore]

Scot... i will definitely be adding overflow drain holes like you noted for the high rain periods to prevent flooding.

For me.. seeing the water level is good just for my own (lack) of watering consistently during our hot dry summers... i was watering and keeping the top portion of the media wet.. but i don't think i was watering enough to the bottom. My plants just lagged through the year.

Last year i switched to the water tray method (deep water tray 10+") and the plants did great. I had the the set up buried down a bit in the garden so the water tray wouldn't show... but for some reason the local mouse and shrew population thought that this was the local YMCA. So not only were the pitcher plants catching prey.. my water tray was also.

So this year i am switching back to the contained method and will keep an eye on the water more closely.

 

[billylh]

this is how i setup mine, which is a bit more complicated but it works REALLY well, for me atleast.
the overflow drain on my top bin isnt necessary since it would all flow thru and overflow the bottom reservoir.

~b

 

[Nevermore]

Smokes! And i thought just using PVC was getting complicated. Are you growing Darlingtonia that need the movement?

 

[jimscott]

Why not whiskey barrels and gallon jugs of milk filled with rain or streamwater for the summer. That concept works for me.

 

[billylh]

nope, no darlingtonias. i tend to make things more complicated than they really need to be, alot of people i know nicknamed me MacGyver, i use my ideas towards diy projects for myself, this was one. i also used this same idea and made another mini bog out of a 3 gallon bucket sitting inside a 5 gallon, time will tell how well this works.

~b

Smokes! And i thought just using PVC was getting complicated. Are you growing Darlingtonia that need the movement?

 

[Nevermore]

Okay... billlh got me thinking... pumps.. fresh water... nice looking... Plus.. i think walmart sells this fountain kit for $39.99. (and billylh.. my wife goes after me for "overthinking" and "overbuilding" things too)

 

[billylh]

now theres a real project, have fun! lol

~b

 

[D_muscipula]

get some floating islands a nursery has them a cp nursery just try googling them.
the ebb and flow design is great, if the pump dies then the plants still have water. I also suggest drilling a hole at the ideal water level in the reservoir if you get alot of rain to help prevent the entire reservoir to fill and not be able to drain out of the bog.

 

[xvart]

This is getting fun!

xvart.

 

[rco911]

Okay... billlh got me thinking... pumps.. fresh water... nice looking... Plus.. i think walmart sells this fountain kit for $39.99. (and billylh.. my wife goes after me for "overthinking" and "overbuilding" things too)

OMG -- BBBWHWAHAHAHAHAH!! I LOVE IT!!

HMMM -- The CP collection is in the shadow of that upper level percolator - Its casting shade on some of those CP's in there. I think we need some supplemental daytime lighting while we are at it. Oh, and it would be nice to add on like a 10 stage RO filter for the distilled Delaware water just to be safe, and that 4" PVC drain maybe can get routed to the nearest Starbucks or something first....

HAHAH!! Nevermore -- maaannn, this is great! HAHA!!!

 

[Nevermore]

rco911.... now you ideas are good... don't get me wrong.. but to tell you the truth... it is up to Delaware to get my water cleaned and distilled.. i don't want to be micro manage this one... it's on their shoulders