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Bog garden mix


David Manning

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When I get round to planting mine up (ie: when I get enough plants to justify it!) I'll be whacking the rest of my sand reserves in, for good measure. That'll mak it a rough 50/50 blend.

Having checked the CPers' bible, 'The Savage Garden' by Peter d'Amato, the 50/50 mix is his advised ratio, too. No disrespect to those who have got good results from neat peat (OMG rhyme!) though. :)

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What about whacking a load of Perlite in with the peat!!

Right then the stone sink I have is about 9ins. deep. I was going to put a pipe over the outlet sealed with silicone and then drill some holes in the pipe about 3ins. from the top. This should allow drainage and let me see how much water is standing in the sink.

How does that sound ?

Dave

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Drainage is only a problem in winter when it helps to have( for VFT anyway) a damp/ dryer area around the corn, this helps to stop damp off etc..., three inches sound perfect, you could also put in a "hill" this area will be extra dry, this can be an advantage as it offers yet more possible diversity in plant selection, i also have a dip in the bog(down to the water line) where really water loving plants (like utric) can live, though it isnt a necesity, another good idea is putting a standard drained an empty pot sunk in( it should be proprtional to the overall container and is better for the larger bog) so the water can collect, i grow aq. utric in this area, when it becomes overcrowded i take out the extra and put it in the pond, one could also trade it,

after lots of rain and the holes start doing there job it is also an idea to collect the water, a system to do this linked to the holes is an advantage as in the height of summer, that stored water is a lifesaver,

i have been planting the plants in pots and then putting the pots in the bog, this seems to defy the point but it help when making space and swapping plants and chking there condition, one should try to bury the pot beneath the soil level, for aesthetic reasons, if though you are worried in winter about the standing water, a pot can be lifter higher or even sunk lower,

hope some of that help, my bog is where i grow the bulk of my plant reserving the window for tropical plants such as nep. the sarra do amazing outside and eat till their hearts content... if you have some wild flower, even flowering weeds( not dandelion as they inhibit other plants from gorwing chemicly;, and smaller the better so they dont drink too much) these flowers are attractive but also bring in the bacon...

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unfortunatley perlit may become unsightley as it tends to accumulate since it floats, sand works well,

I find that sand also floats to the top. I took off the top layer of my bog and replaced it with pure peat, so I now have a layer of perlite covered with a layer of sand/peat covered with a layer of peat, and I'm attempting to grow spag on that (the floating sand seemed to inhibit it) So far it's working well. Make sure that whatever you decide on you put the mix in wet, dont put it in dry then water it.

good luck

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