Question
Hi Jeff,

I bought a dripping system and am currently doing some "tests" for the next 3 weeks before leaving for Mt. Kinabalu ;-o

I was wondering, you once told me that submerging carnivorous plants would not be good as stagnant water that heats up would not retain enough oxygen and plants may die.  

If Sarracenia, Flytraps, etc. are constantly standing in only 2-3 cm water it does not matter, right?    

I know that Flytraps don磘 like being waterlogged and tray should dry out before replenishing, however, with the auto-dripping system I am afraid that I cannot control it.

Would it be a solution maybe to put sand in the tray or some gravels so that it is not fully in water but still enough contact with it to keep soil damp?

This question is interesting to me too since I wonder about Drosophyllum and the dripping system. It is 10 minutes watering each evening. For Drosophyllum I磍l just remove the tray at all so that it get good water once a day but then flows out directly.

Cheers,

JP

Answer
Hi JP,

If the water level is very low on the pots it's fine.  Their roots are not totally submerged, and the soil stays damp, but still has air spaces in it.  It's only when the pots are very deep in the water that you start to have problems.  Also, if you have the drippers on top of the pots and water is flowing through them, this is much more like happens in nature.

Having the Drosophyllum with a dripper, but no tray is perfect.

The only other word of caution I would have is be sure the timing device that turns the water on and off is a very high quality and trusted brand.  I've had several of these things fail over the years.  Avoid any timer made by Raindrip.  I'm not sure what you have available in Germany, but the Orbit brand here in the U. S. has been reliable.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com