FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I have recently build a bog and have many small Sarracenia, Drosera, and companion plants but no VFTs yet. I was keeping my plants in several kiddie pools before moving them over to the bog last week. I had purchased one typical VFT just to try. For some unknown reason it turned black and died. I now have a feeling that it may have been shock by the outdoor light and not acclimating it.

My bog groundwater level is controlled by a float valve in an in ground sump. I am not sure how deep I will typically run the water level but the pond liner lining the bog will allow the bog to fill to the brim (soil level) when it rains. My question is, can VFTs take this much water? I have a couple areas I have cut rings from large black pots and set on the surface of the bog and filled with soil to plant a couple lilies in that don't necessarily like to be super soggy like Sarracenia. Do I need to create a slightly raised habitat for the VFT also? Thanks for any suggestions and insight.

VFT's don't like their roots to be sitting in water, so I would do something to avoid that. But you probably hit it on the head that being tossed to the wolves is the likely reading for its decline after growing up in a greenhouse.
However, leave it be, they often die back to the media level when shown tough love, especially when it's hot, but will grow back acclimated to your conditions.

ChefDean wrote: ↑Wed Aug 03, 2022 2:22 am VFT's don't like their roots to be sitting in water, so I would do something to avoid that. But you probably hit it on the head that being tossed to the wolves is the likely reading for its decline after growing up in a greenhouse.
However, leave it be, they often die back to the media level when shown tough love, especially when it's hot, but will grow back acclimated to your conditions.

Thank you so much Dean. I've got a few ideas to elevate them a couple inches above my surface so they don't get too water logged.

Short answer is yes, they can take it for at least a week in warm weather, cold weather is different. I have mine outside in bogs and they get inundated on occasion without damage or any signs of stress. However don't let an inundation continue too long with any of them really, as this stops oxygen from getting to the roots which is damaging and can start anaerobic conditions in your medium.
If you can vary the water level from high to very low, that keeps everything sweet. But yep, generally VFTs do like it drier than Sarrs and Drosera, I have some on 4-6" mounds in the bog.

Cheers
Steve

steve booth wrote: ↑Wed Aug 03, 2022 3:14 pm Short answer is yes, they can take it for at least a week in warm weather, cold weather is different. I have mine outside in bogs and they get inundated on occasion without damage or any signs of stress. However don't let an inundation continue too long with any of them really, as this stops oxygen from getting to the roots which is damaging and can start anaerobic conditions in your medium.
If you can vary the water level from high to very low, that keeps everything sweet. But yep, generally VFTs do like it drier than Sarrs and Drosera, I have some on 4-6" mounds in the bog.

Cheers
Steve

Thank you so much Steve, this is some great info!

In my raised-bed bog garden, I set the drain at 5-6 inches below the surface. That let the flytraps get wet feet, and the Sarracenia sent their roots down into the wet zone. If I wanted to flood the bog, I just put a piece of plastic bag over the drain pipe opening and wrapped a rubber band around it.

MikeB wrote: ↑Thu Aug 04, 2022 1:42 am In my raised-bed bog garden, I set the drain at 5-6 inches below the surface. That let the flytraps get wet feet, and the Sarracenia sent their roots down into the wet zone. If I wanted to flood the bog, I just put a piece of plastic bag over the drain pipe opening and wrapped a rubber band around it.

I have been thinking a lot about a drain for the bog. The bog is lined with a pond liner, so I will have to make a cut in it to install a drain. I believe I have an idea that will be able to drain the bog to 4-6" below surface level but drain relatively slow so that a rain event will let the bog flood for a short amount of time. I do think it is important to put a drain in or the bog could be flooded potentially for months at a time during rainy periods.

Thank you for your ideas!

chrisaggie wrote: ↑Fri Aug 05, 2022 12:05 am I have been thinking a lot about a drain for the bog. The bog is lined with a pond liner, so I will have to make a cut in it to install a drain.

That's what I did with mine. I used a short length of PVC pipe, about 2 inches in diameter. I put a piece of plastic screen mesh over one end and strapped it down with a zip tie; this prevented the soil from washing out through the pipe. I put a plastic gasket around the pipe, slipped the pipe through the barely large enough cut in the liner, put another plastic gasket on the other side, and cinched them together. This gave me a fairly water-tight seal around the drain.

I am still working on how I want to install the drain but am thinking I will install the drain 2-3" below surface level.In order to get the VFTs up a little more I cut out the center (like a donut hole) of some cypress pieces I had. I pushed them into the soil of the bog a little and filled them with 50/50 peat/sand. The soil level in these wood pieces is 2-3" above surface level. I plan to put some VFTs in these to see how they do.

Any thoughts?

I love that look. I really love hardscaping in the bog. I feel it adds dimension to it.

VFTs are planted in cypress planters.