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Hi all, so I know I've posted lots of pictures today but these are the last few! I got a vegtrug the other week and decided to try to turn it into a bit of a bog garden. I've watched YouTube videos and seen lots of pictures and have started to give it a go so fingers crossed I'm doing it right. The liner of the vegtrug lets a lot of water out so I lined the bottom so that the bottom inch collects water, I then used a drinks bottle with the bottom cut of to create a 'pipe' that I can water into so that it's kind of like watering into a saucer at the bottom. I've filled the container with a mix of coco peat, perlite and a bit of vermiculite. My plan is to add a layer of sphagnum moss on top, add the plants then fill in any gaps with some live moss. I really hope this is going to be ok for the plants! Note: this isn't where the vegtrug will be placed when finished! It just allows me to work on it while my son is playing! I'm not planning on having too many plants in this one. I'm hoping on adding a sarracenia or two, maybe a Venus fly trap, a cobra Lilly or maybe a sundew. I'm not really too set on what plants, I like to just add the first couple then work from there. Now I just need to get my hands on some live sphagnum moss!

Hi all First post here! Couldn't find an answer to this anywhere so thought I'd ask opinions here. I am presently building a raised bog garden after having had a few tub/ planter style ones on the edge of a pond. My question is specifically around mulching over winter if I were to grow some of the more borderline hardiness plants in it (VFTs, Sarracenia psittacina etc.). I get a regular meat delivery and this is packaged with an insulating product called Woolcool (https://www.woolcool.com/food/whats-being-said/) and I was hoping someone might be able to tell if this would work to cover the bog? Its basically long sheets of natural wool in a biodegradable plastic liner. The sheets of wool can be removed from the plastic too if pure wool would be a better option. I was thinking of keeping it slightly raised above the plants using a frame of some sort to give some airflow but for it to keep the worst of the frost etc. off? Any thoughts welcome and thanks for any advice! Ben

I've got a very small ceramic container with a 25cm diameter and depth of 8cm, hoping to make an outside mini bog garden with 2 or 3 Sarracenia and lots of moss. Is it possible to make a pot bog garden with no drainage holes or will this be too anaerobic for the roots and submerge them too much? I was thinking of using Purpurea and Flava, but are there varieties that cope better with being more submerged in water? Also is it best to line the bottom with stones? I'm very new to carnivorous plants so any advice would be much appreciated!

Dear all, I would like to share with you a pictorial of this ‘self-sufficient’ watering table I recently constructed. I was looking for a solution to avoid having to continuously water my (mainly) Sarraceniaceae collection and especially during holidays etc. I came up with a design for a setup which collects rainwater in a reservoir and automatically pumps it to the highest watering table above the reservoirs with a solar powered pump in a continuous cycle. This is the original design (sorry, this part is in Dutch): Because I grow my plants on the balcony (I live in Amsterdam and unfortunately don’t have the luxury of a ‘real’ garden) I first had to find a way to collect the rainwater. Our rain pipe is square and there aren’t any pre-made rain water collectors available for square pipes (only for round pipes). That meant I had to make and weld one myself from zinc metal. Next I had to make a hole in the side of the rain pipe and slide in the adapter. To make the cross-over between pipe and adapter inside the pipe as smooth as possible I overlapped the edges with aluminum isolation tape (which is normally used to attach reflective isolation foil behind radiators etc.). Aluminum isolation tape is thin, strong and relatively resistant against corrosion. I also use it to cover the outside of plastic containers when they are in full sun. This reflects the sunlight and keeps the pot and roots cool. I left the top of the adapter open so in case we get a Dutch ‘flooding’ shower the excess water can find a way out and doesn’t take down the adapter or cause other kind of damage. I made a ‘safety valve’ cover from aluminum which just slides in and isn’t attached permanently. If need be it will just ‘pop’ out so the excess water can escape. Because the rain pipe is on the shady end of my balcony and the plants are on the sunny (other) side of the balcony I had to put in quite a lot of length of rain pipe (40 mm) to get it all the way to the other side of the balcony (to make the pipes as less visible as possible I hid it behind the plant pots which sit on the outer wall) I used two reservoirs which contain 2x 150 litres = 300 liters of rainwater. The watering tables themselves contain another 100 liters (= 400 liters in total) and offer a little over 2 square meters of growing space). I hope 400 liters of water will proof to be enough during longer hot periods without rain, if not I will have to put in another one or two reservoirs. I believe I once read somewhere that one Sarracenia can use up to a liter of water per day on hot days. Any growers who have experience or can confirm this? I connected both reservoirs with a standard ‘rainwater butt connector’ as low to the ground as possible. I wanted to filter both the water collected from the roof (it could contain leaves and dirt etc.) and the water which comes back from the watering table above to avoid damage to the solar pump. First I covered the reservoirs with thick polystyrene isolation boards (to reduce evaporation). I then made a square hole to fit in a basket which is normally used for pond plants. I lined this with a filtering cloth used for aquarium pumps. In future I can just take this out, rinse it and put it back. I covered the basket with the cut out lid and made a round hole for the rain pipe. To catch the water which will be running back from the watering table above I connected an extra pipe to the diagonal rain pipe going down. In this the hose from the watering table above will be inserted. (You may notice I made an mistake here, because the parts were already glued together I couldn’t correct it anymore and had to fit in the additional second (correct) one later on after discovering my error) On the left I inserted a vertical rain pipe all the way to the bottom into the reservoir which at a later stage will function as a water level indicator. The first water table from Zinc has been placed on top. The size of both tables is 175 x 61 x 20 cm. To pump up the water I use a solar pump which is normally used for garden fountains (Esotec, Napoli). To prevent damage this pump will automatically shut itself of as soon as the water level is too low. Not all solar pumps have this essential feature. This pump also has enough power to pump up the water to the required height (not all pumps do). I connected a piece of garden hose (13 mm) and placed it in the left reservoir; this to ensure the maximum possible water flow between the reservoirs and to avoid stagnating water. The pump has suction cups to prevent the pump from drifting and to secure it to the bottom. The other end of the hose is connected to a bronze connector (normally used to connect a garden hose to a watertap) I then placed the second supporting structure to carry the lowest water table. Behind the doors it’s possible to store, pots, potting medium, plantlabels etc. These are three close-up pictures of the standard 32mm plumbing connectors I used. These are glued to one end of a standard ‘rainwater butt connector’. In order to tell how much water the reservoirs contain I made a water level indicator. This is a simple wine cork to which I attached multiple drinking straws (which are very light and strong). On top I glued a colored bead. As soon as the bead is the same height as the top of the pipe I know I need to temporary water my plants until the next rainfall. I will replace the cork every year as I suspect it will eventually become waterlogged Here you see the solar panel itself. It’s of a decent (not too big) size and can be placed in an angle with a support on the back (inclusive). A few days after completion the first rain fell (10mm) and I could finally test it. The reservoirs were full to the brim and once the sun came out the pump came into action and filled both water tables quite rapidly. To my opinion it was flowing a bit too fast (600 liters per hour is the maximum capability of this pump) so I had to find a way to reduce the flow. First I shaded just one side of the solar panel. The pump simply wouldn’t work so I had to come up with another way. I then wrapped the solar panel twice in green agricultural sun filtering material. This worked very well and not only is the flow optimal now it also ‘hides’ the solar panel and makes it less visible (you can see the water flowing on the background). I have been using this system for over a month now and I am quite pleased with it. I can enjoy growing them without having to worry about having to water them on hot days (especially when on holiday). An extra ‘bonus’ is the sound of trickling water which has a bit of ‘Zen’ feeling to it. I haven’t fully used all the new growing space (I haven’t got enough plants yet to fill the space). To reduce evaporation on hot days as much as possible I use the same white polystyrene isolation boards. Over time I’m sure both water tables will be full with plants. The container with green agricultural sun filtering material on top contains a few Cephalotus plants and one Heliamphora nutans (which all survived the frosts (-5 degrees Celsius) this winter). The plants showed on the picture are still in dormant state. In summer I will post a picture with plants in optimum condition. In the coming months I will keep a close eye on it and see whether the system will continue to work well. I suspect the sun will warm up the zinc metal in full frontal view quite a bit and over time slowly warm up the water. If this is the case I will cover the sides with reflective isolation foil (normally used behind radiators etc.) If there are any other adjustments required I will report it in this forum. I hope you have enjoyed this pictorial and wishing you happy CP growing this season. Reinier

This is my FIRST proper attempt at growing carnivorous plants outdoors. I have spent years with them on the windowsills and i finally decided it would be nice to try and create one outdoors which i have put off ever since my expensive cobra lily died the second it went outside (I now believe this was because he was in the full sun!) The Sarracenia traps were already brown in their pots and due to the size they grew, decided these must be first to go outside, along the troth i have also added in another type of Sarracenia and also a Venus Fly Trap and a Sundew which wasn't 'thriving' indoors. My only problem is i don't have a tray beneath this trough so i am relying on memory to keep the soil very moist each day, luckily the location of this there is plenty of sun, and when it does rain it gets nice coverage. Before planting i mixed some of the 'E-coco Carnivorous Plant Fertilizer' which is made from worms or something and mixed with water. Day 1

Ok, so I have recently decided that I want to get some CPs for my garden, but I'm not sure what format I want them in, and would like some of your help in choosing. My wife hates houseplants so they must be hardy enough to stay outside year-round, and I don't have a greenhouse. Our soil has a ph of over 8.3 and drains faster than a hose can water it, so I can't put them in the ground. Because of this, I think I either want a mini bog garden in a pot, or carnivorous plants in the margins of my small pond (I have space for 2 15-20cm aquatic baskets in full sun (1 12cm deep and 1 4cm deep), plus a little shaded space on the other side of my 7 square foot pond) I definitely want at least 1 sundew which I would like to be native, but I would like a VFT and some pitcher plants as well, and possibly bladderworts for a small part of my pond. However, whatever I get, I don't want to have to water everything too regularly (which is why I like the pond marginal idea), and it has to be relatively cheap (I would be very reluctant to spend over £50, and £70 is my limit). I want my plants to be for watching them catch insect and looking interesting, not for being some rare 1-of-a-kind species imported from russia. So, to summarise, I want 1 or more native sundews with a VFT and pitcher plants of some sort in either a container bog garden or in 1 or 2 15-20cm pond baskets as marginals, possibly alongside bladderworts in the pond, all ideally for under £50. Can you give me any reccommendations? Is my budget reasonable? Where should I look to find the plants?

Hi all, I have observed and read your bog garden entries with interest. I have a small collection of hardy saracennia that I grow on the south facing windowsill of a barely heated conservatory (gets down to around 3 degrees C in winter). Over years, my plants looked less vigorous and I was advised to leave them out for at least 6 weeks in winter for a really sharp chill to allow them to be properly dormant. This does seem to work and I now leave them from around November to March! Hence, they can spend weeks under snow, albeit on raised staging. Therefore, I have decided to try and plant them out permanently (Essex is not too cold) and have bought a watertight old top-loading washing machine drum (i think it's aluminium). It is bell shaped so I thought I might bury it in the ground (partly for appearance, but also insulation and stability). I would really like advice on two matters: firstly, is the aluminium likely to have an adverse effect on the plants: and secondly, presumably i will need to drill some holes so that it doesn't become a complete sump (it is around 50 cm deep and diammeter)? Where should I drill these? Should they be at a level around half way down the container, or should I drill some in the bottom too? thanks Mel

I've made a pond from a large Belfast sink. I've made part of it a bog garden but most of it is a pond. I want a utricularia (aquatic) any recommendations. (where do I get them?)