Question
I had a cat litter pan that I kept a bunch of small 3" pots with VFT's and Sarracenias sitting in water 1/4 way up the pots.  I wanted to make make a small bog type environment instead of the little pots, more air for the roots, aesthetics, probably cooler for the roots, top water to help flush the roots more often,  etc...  I have a plastic container approx. 2 ft long x 1 ft wide and 1.5 ft deep I thought would work well to give the roots room without sitting in water. I am assuming I would need drain holes, approx. high far up from the bottom should they be?  Is a mix of 1/2 sphagnum and 1/2 orchid mix (consisting of bark, coarse perlite and pumice) with a top layer of sphagnum as a mulch be adequate?  Any other advice?  I thank you very much.

Answer
Hi Dennis,

Your container sounds like it will make a nice mini-bog.  Poke holes about 1/2" from the bottom of the container.

With the soil mix I recommend using equal parts peat moss and perlite or pumice.  I wouldn't use long fiber sphagnum as the main soil media since some plants such as flytraps don't fare as well in it. It also breaks down faster and is more expensive than peat moss.  Orchid mix may contain fertilizer which would be harmful.  The sphagnum top dressing will be good.  Live sphagnum moss would be even better.

The only other advice I would give is to be diligent about watering during hot weather.  Since this won't be sitting in water it could be more prone to drying during very hot weather.


Good Growing!

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