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my ideas for a self-watering mini-bog

Maneatingmoo had asked me a question about automating a mini-bog`s watering system and this is what i have come up with and i thought this would make a good thread to get people`s minds going about D-I-Ying.

Idea #1
One could put a timer and have it control the cycle of a water pump to go on for a certain amount of time at a certain frequency, depending on how much it needs to be watered. I`d try to make it as waterproof as possible, to avoid malfunctions and to avoid drying out your plants if it fails. My timer has pins that you plug into the time of day (at 15 minute increments) so I can have it on for 15-30-45 minutes on a 24 hours period. If you do this, do it without plants at first for a week and test how much or little you need to have the pump running for. This setup should cost between 40-50$; timer: 10-15$, water pump: i d k, depends how much water you want to pump. some are quite pricey here.

Idea #2
What i want to accomplish is as follows: my mini-bog is separated by a divider (plexi-glass or plastic). On one side I have my plants, the other is empty aside from the level of water that is in the bottom of the bog, water can get through the divider but not peat or sphagnum(mesh covering hole of divider. I would put a toilet bowl floater in line with a valve controlling a water hose. When the level goes down, the bob on the floater will descend and open the valve, which will send more water to replace the missing water from a reservoir you place above the mini-bog`s water line (gravity will send the water from point A to point B). when the water line goes back up, the floater will close the valve and you`ll always have the right water level required, based on where you place the floater, and your needs. This setup requires having a slightly deeper mini-bog, but takes ALL the work out of watering your plants. All you have to do is fill it when it is empty.

This setup costs a lot less than the 1st one, it is mechanical, has no electronics and it`s a do it yourself-er so experiment with it if you can! I don`t know how pretty this could be, and the better we can hide any eye-sores, the more people will appreciate the plants.

I`d love to hear your thought about this and if anyone has any similar experience with something like this.
Steven
 
interesting ideas..but..
what is so hard about dumping some water on the bog, by hand, once or twice a week? ;)

Scot
 
The part where you said

dumping some water on the bog, by hand, once or twice a week

heh. I like watering my plants I just wish they got enough from automation and I could just put a little extra here and there as I look at them
 
no problems watering manually, actually, i have not yet had the chance to make a mini-bog, it is my first summer as a CPer, so this is something i thought might be interesting to do, i was just putting across an idea that popped in my head... i study in electricity, and we were talking about automation, so this is where the idea went from there. just letting my imagination guide me! and you guys can confirm wether these ideas are good or not.
Thanks for the feedback!
Steven
 
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I came up with pretty much the same idea as you on #1, except I would use an aquarium powerhead instead of a "pump."
Powerheads are relatively cheap, completely waterproof, and very easy to work with.

Since I'm usually in Tennessee and not around my plants for about two months out of the summer, these ideas could be very useful to me and other people in similar situations.
 
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