"Mini-bog" in a large garden pot
Apr 28, 2021 20:52:39 GMT -5
almightydolla, dpowell, and 6 more like this
Post by jgreen1025 on Apr 28, 2021 20:52:39 GMT -5
Since I live in the West (Los Angeles area) where rainfall is not usually reliable, I've found it easier to grow my plants together in large containers instead of in small individual pots. My thinking is that it uses less water this way than a bunch of little pots on the tray system - plus it hopefully looks better. (My wife owns a landscaping company and frowns on anything that looks junky in our yard, so no re-using plastic yogurt containers for me 
.) In the past I've used wooden half-barrel planters, but since we have a number of large clay pots they are going to become the home of my collection. I just set up my first pot last weekend and thought I'd share the process. Please feel free to comment if you have any thoughts.
I've used these pots for flowers and vegetables in the past (I grew parsnips over the winter in this one) so I scooped out all the potting soil to a depth of about 12" on one side and 13-14" on the other. The pot has a diameter of about 18". Leaving some old dried-out soil in the bottom (about 6") means I don't have to completely fill it with peat and will hopefully make it a little bit lighter if I ever need to move it. Plus it raises the bottom a little in case I ever need to siphon out the water - more on that shortly.
I'm not sure if this was necessary but I put a thin layer of sand on top of the old potting soil - just a quarter inch, just enough to hopefully keep anything from poking a hole in the plastic and create a smooth bottom.
When I've done this in the past I always used peat and sand, probably because the sand was cheaper. Or maybe because one of my books (either Slack or D'Amato) recommends against using perlite because it floats. But I decided to go with perlite this time, again because I really don't want these pots to weigh a ton and perlite is much lighter than sand. I didn't use a specific ratio - I just kinda eye-balled it - and mixed it up in a 5 gallon bucket with some of the precious rainwater I collected a couple of months ago. (Don't worry - that bucket hasn't had salt in it in more than 10 years.) And I strongly recommend using a face mask when doing this; the perlite can be pretty dusty and can be hazardous. When I did this before (about 15-20 years ago) I collected pine needles and ran over them with the lawnmower, then incorporated it into the bottom part of the soil mix. I'm not sure it was necessary or helpful, so I skipped that addition this time. (People look at you kind of funny when you're raking up pine needles in the park.
)
I lined the pot with a trash bag to keep the soil mix from contacting the pot or old potting soil. I would have preferred to use a thicker plastic, but used what I had on hand. I cut a short length of PVC pipe to put on the deeper side. I'm not sure if it's absolutely necessary, but I like the idea that I can siphon out the old funky water if I need to, or if I expect a heavy rain and don't want it to be too waterlogged, or... whatever. I can also water from the bottom this way, and if it's sunny enough I can look down the pipe and see the water level. I put a small pile of pea gravel at the bottom of the pipe in case I ever siphon out the water.
All filled up with soil mix. I probably used a lot more perlite in the lower layers, but didn't want it so obvious at the top. Once it was filled, I added several more gallons of water (probably used about 7-8 gallons total) and let it sit for a few days to settle and fully absorb. Before planting, I trimmed off the excess plastic at the top, just leaving about an inch above the soil level.
Here's my plants (with Fitz the pug being just the right amount of help). As you can see, I really do like to grow all my CPs communally. These are all flavas and were started from seed last year, so they're not quite a year old. I hadn't expected them to be big enough to move outside until next year, but the thread on Max-roids was very helpful and since I started using it in February I've seen faster growth than I expected and had them growing into the top of my grow-box. (I don't actually use Maxsea - I found something in the nursery one day called SeaGrow on sale for $8.00. I compared the label with Maxsea, and it was nearly identical - only missing bloodmeal, I think.) Anyway, not all the seedlings are big enough so I only wanted the biggest and I agonized over getting them out without harming them. In the end, the fact that I was growing them in chopped long-fiber sphagnum made it pretty easy. The weather here has been a little unsettled lately (for LA, anyway) but I didn't want to wait until temperatures were regularly in the 90s to try this, and last weekend was my best chance. Overnight lows have been lower than I would have preferred (low 50s and upper 40s, which is perhaps extreme compared to the pretty steady 70 inside the house), but with some cloudy days and highs around 70, I figured it was my best chance. It's supposed to be low 90s for the next couple of days (before it drops back to 70s and 80s) so I've got a patio umbrella and am keeping a close eye on them. So far they appear to be good, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Fully planted with 12 Sarrs and 1 VFT. They'll probably end up too crowded in a couple of years, but I can worry about dividing them at that point (and when they're dormant). The flytrap is already catching bugs on its own, and I'll probably keep up with the fertilizer until they get big enough to catch flies, but only in the pitchers and not in the soil. Now I just need some native drosera seed to fill in the spaces and it'll look perfect.
I've got 7 more pots this size or bigger, so next year I'll kick out the flowers and turn some of them into mini sarracenia gardens.
.) In the past I've used wooden half-barrel planters, but since we have a number of large clay pots they are going to become the home of my collection. I just set up my first pot last weekend and thought I'd share the process. Please feel free to comment if you have any thoughts. I've used these pots for flowers and vegetables in the past (I grew parsnips over the winter in this one) so I scooped out all the potting soil to a depth of about 12" on one side and 13-14" on the other. The pot has a diameter of about 18". Leaving some old dried-out soil in the bottom (about 6") means I don't have to completely fill it with peat and will hopefully make it a little bit lighter if I ever need to move it. Plus it raises the bottom a little in case I ever need to siphon out the water - more on that shortly.
I'm not sure if this was necessary but I put a thin layer of sand on top of the old potting soil - just a quarter inch, just enough to hopefully keep anything from poking a hole in the plastic and create a smooth bottom.
When I've done this in the past I always used peat and sand, probably because the sand was cheaper. Or maybe because one of my books (either Slack or D'Amato) recommends against using perlite because it floats. But I decided to go with perlite this time, again because I really don't want these pots to weigh a ton and perlite is much lighter than sand. I didn't use a specific ratio - I just kinda eye-balled it - and mixed it up in a 5 gallon bucket with some of the precious rainwater I collected a couple of months ago. (Don't worry - that bucket hasn't had salt in it in more than 10 years.) And I strongly recommend using a face mask when doing this; the perlite can be pretty dusty and can be hazardous. When I did this before (about 15-20 years ago) I collected pine needles and ran over them with the lawnmower, then incorporated it into the bottom part of the soil mix. I'm not sure it was necessary or helpful, so I skipped that addition this time. (People look at you kind of funny when you're raking up pine needles in the park.
)I lined the pot with a trash bag to keep the soil mix from contacting the pot or old potting soil. I would have preferred to use a thicker plastic, but used what I had on hand. I cut a short length of PVC pipe to put on the deeper side. I'm not sure if it's absolutely necessary, but I like the idea that I can siphon out the old funky water if I need to, or if I expect a heavy rain and don't want it to be too waterlogged, or... whatever. I can also water from the bottom this way, and if it's sunny enough I can look down the pipe and see the water level. I put a small pile of pea gravel at the bottom of the pipe in case I ever siphon out the water.
All filled up with soil mix. I probably used a lot more perlite in the lower layers, but didn't want it so obvious at the top. Once it was filled, I added several more gallons of water (probably used about 7-8 gallons total) and let it sit for a few days to settle and fully absorb. Before planting, I trimmed off the excess plastic at the top, just leaving about an inch above the soil level.
Here's my plants (with Fitz the pug being just the right amount of help). As you can see, I really do like to grow all my CPs communally. These are all flavas and were started from seed last year, so they're not quite a year old. I hadn't expected them to be big enough to move outside until next year, but the thread on Max-roids was very helpful and since I started using it in February I've seen faster growth than I expected and had them growing into the top of my grow-box. (I don't actually use Maxsea - I found something in the nursery one day called SeaGrow on sale for $8.00. I compared the label with Maxsea, and it was nearly identical - only missing bloodmeal, I think.) Anyway, not all the seedlings are big enough so I only wanted the biggest and I agonized over getting them out without harming them. In the end, the fact that I was growing them in chopped long-fiber sphagnum made it pretty easy. The weather here has been a little unsettled lately (for LA, anyway) but I didn't want to wait until temperatures were regularly in the 90s to try this, and last weekend was my best chance. Overnight lows have been lower than I would have preferred (low 50s and upper 40s, which is perhaps extreme compared to the pretty steady 70 inside the house), but with some cloudy days and highs around 70, I figured it was my best chance. It's supposed to be low 90s for the next couple of days (before it drops back to 70s and 80s) so I've got a patio umbrella and am keeping a close eye on them. So far they appear to be good, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Fully planted with 12 Sarrs and 1 VFT. They'll probably end up too crowded in a couple of years, but I can worry about dividing them at that point (and when they're dormant). The flytrap is already catching bugs on its own, and I'll probably keep up with the fertilizer until they get big enough to catch flies, but only in the pitchers and not in the soil. Now I just need some native drosera seed to fill in the spaces and it'll look perfect.
I've got 7 more pots this size or bigger, so next year I'll kick out the flowers and turn some of them into mini sarracenia gardens.
Here are images of plant progress on 03/16/2023