FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Here is my experiment of growing VFTs with no drainage at all. I'm just being mindful of how wet the peat is. So far so good. It's been over a month and no ill effects yet.

looks good so far! good luck! )

how much water have you been giving it? what time of day do you water it?
do you water everytime the bowl runs out?
thx

It depends on the weather as to how much water I give it. If it's raining, I don't bother. If it's been cloudy, it usually works out to be every second day. If it's sunny, then once a day in the morning. I press the peat with my finger to see how wet it is. If I get nothing sticking to my finger and no moisture, I flood the top and let it seep in. If I get a little bit, I do half the above. If I get quite a bit (because it rained at night) I don't bother.

The other indicator is how much the peat has shrunk. As it dries, it shrinks. This causes a gap between the peat and the pot. If it's quite evident, I flood it and it seems to be ok. The flooding seems to work as the peat level is quite high in the pot. So this ensures I can't add too much water at a time.

There is no "running out of water". It's all just how wet the peat is. I never have it soggy wet and I never have it bone dry. It's always in between.

Looks good Adam.
How large is the pot itself as it is hard to judge in the picture?
It looks like it is large enough to absorb the water and that evaporation and the normal drying of the medium is doing the trick of drainage for you!
Nice group of plants.
Peace!
E.S.

It's actually small. no more than 5 inches in diameter and probably the same height. I'll measure when I get home.

I agree, it would be a lot easier if it was a larger pot.

nice. Is that a glazed pot?

yup.. thought I would put it to good use.

Looks good Adam. Are those the seedlings that you started under lights last winter?

Pretty nice, I might want to make another one like that in the future.

I am glad you are doing this experiment, Adam.

FYI. I just bought a ceramice / glass type dril bit. and drilled a drainage hole in my first glazed pot for vfts. I put my new dentate from Steve in it. I picked that cultivar because it is more common than other types. Happy growing

Do you mean no drainage as in nothing like perlite or silica sand? That's the way my friend grows his and it's been healthy so far.

how does your friend keeps from getting algae

Actually the seeds im growing is using the same system. . .but i think im going to drill holes in soon tho. But i mean the seed really arent being affected by anyhthing

The mix is 1:1:3 of sand:perlite:peat. There is no holes in the bottom of the pot. So if you flood it, you'll need to wait for the water to evaporate through the surface.