I want to make something - any advice?

[SilconDNA]

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?

[Guest paul y]

any plastic plant pot with plenty of drainage holes filled with peat and perlite in a tray of rain water in full sun is all you need to accommodate the plants. the list of plants you could grow in it is a big one, go to any of the major nurseries and ask them about there outdoor collection, from personal experience any plants from ian salter and Dianne and nigel hc are exemplary quality.

join the cps and get on the open days for lots of help advice and cheap plants.

[Alexis]

I'd avoid the pond marginal idea. It can work, but they're not aquatics.

Pinguicula grandiflora and Drosera rotundifolia are natives.

Also try darlingtonia and sarracenia purpurea ssp. purpurea.

[SilconDNA]

I'd avoid the pond marginal idea. It can work, but they're not aquatics.

Ok, but as most aquatic baskets are over 12cm deep so the plants would be above water, but would get a supply of water from the pond. Would this work?

 

How do I grow bladderworts, and what space and depth do they need?

 

Also, what size containers can I fit things in? If I did the pond idea, what could I fit in a 20cm basket and a 30cm one? What size container could fit everything if I did the container idea?

 

Also, i know tap water is bad for CPs, but I have some stuff that removes nutrients from tap water to make it fine for use in ponds, will this work for CPs?

[SoLongFairWell]

Do you have fish in your pond? If so, the water would be too nutrient rich (nitrates, ammonia and nitrite [hope you don't have ammonia or nitrites]).  The water conditioner you have is not suitable for CPs.  If you can't get rainwater then you could get RO water form an aquarium shop who sells it, or buy an RO unit but that will eat your whole budget, or you can go down a dearer route and use distilled water. Don't use bottled water.  

[Guest paul y]

im no expert on cps in a pond but I certainly know about ponds, a couple of decomposing frogs is all it takes to send the "nutrient" content rocketing.

keep things simple to start, like I said above good quality plastic pots, trays, peat and perlite in full sun is all you need to begin with.

go to your local garden centre, they will almost certainly run a pot recycling scheme and happily let you take some for free, peat and perlite can be bought from the same nursery you order your plants from and a good selection of plants will come under your £50 budget.

also the sales and wants section on this forum is a good place to ask for some suitable plants

regards paul

[billynomates666]

As far as the pitcher plants go, any purpurea or its hybrids, a lot of which are colourful and tall, do well as do oreophila, flava and darlingtonia, but if the plants are to be outside in a smallish thermal mass pot all year, avoid psittacina and purp venosa as they suffer from the cold, it doesnt kill them if covered but they take a while to recover in spring, leucophylla are also a bit iffy over winters that are harsher than the one we just had.

I too would avoid the pond idea, unless you are confident of your water quality, as in the early days I did just that and sure enough they died, took some of them a couple of years but they looked poor, twisted and in pain and eventually did die. The container bog sounds like a good option, then you could put in whatever you wanted, especially if you can afford it some winter shelter. VFTs in my bog survive quite well all year round but tend to get crowded out by the taller more energetic plants.

 

Cheers and good luck

Steve