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Discuss water requirements, "soil" (growing media) and suitable planting containers

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By Dogstar
Posts:  38
Joined:  Thu May 09, 2013 9:56 pm
#383050
I decided to try an outdoor bog garden. I made a large container lined with pond liner as a kind of raised bed so that I can basically tray water individual pots. I plan on having VFT, Sundews, and Pitchers. So far the soil has been keeping moist well. Has anyone had success with this type of setup? I have seen a few dead flies in the water under the pots. Do you think I will need to clean the liner every so often for things like that?
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By Dogstar
Posts:  38
Joined:  Thu May 09, 2013 9:56 pm
#383055
Yeah I was worried about that too. You think a layer of perlite or white sand on top would help? Or maybe white spray-paint of some kind that won't leach on the liner?
By Venusdogtrap
Posts:  10
Joined:  Tue Jun 01, 2021 2:25 am
#385143
How does everyone fill their bogs with low TDS water? I can't really collect enough rain water for this. Most sources just seem to indicate filling from a hose...is it just assumed that the bog substrate and plants filter this out fairly quickly?
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By NightRaider
Location: 
Posts:  418
Joined:  Mon Jun 07, 2021 4:01 am
#385150
Venusdogtrap wrote:How does everyone fill their bogs with low TDS water? I can't really collect enough rain water for this. Most sources just seem to indicate filling from a hose...is it just assumed that the bog substrate and plants filter this out fairly quickly?
Personally I have a 30 gallon rain barrel hooked to a downspout diverter which lasts me and my 3 containers and indoor rack weeks, but RO systems are also common and can be found for as low as $50 or so on amazon. In any case definitely don't just fill with a hose, since that of course is just asking to kill them unless you're extremely lucky with your tap water.
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By MikeB
Location: 
Posts:  1854
Joined:  Sat Apr 25, 2020 4:13 pm
#385169
Venusdogtrap wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 2:22 am How does everyone fill their bogs with low TDS water? I can't really collect enough rain water for this. Most sources just seem to indicate filling from a hose...is it just assumed that the bog substrate and plants filter this out fairly quickly?
Buy a TDS meter (they sell for $8-$20 on Amazon and eBay) and test your tap water before going this route. You may be one of the lucky few who has usable tap water, but most people don't.
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By Venusdogtrap
Posts:  10
Joined:  Tue Jun 01, 2021 2:25 am
#385482
My tap tds is around 100 which is better than most water it seems but still marginal. I don't have gutters which is the main problem in collection of rainwater...I'll have to figure something out.
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By Panman
Location: 
Posts:  6309
Joined:  Wed Mar 04, 2020 8:41 pm
#385500
You can dilute your tap with distilled to make the distilled go further. That being said, I watered all of my plants with 72ppm water without issue. One of the reasons, I believe, is that they were outside plants and would regularly be flushed with rain water and I would replace the water in the tray when it got really high.
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By steve booth
Posts:  1219
Joined:  Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:15 am
#385607
I have grown VFTs in similar set ups to that, with black pots and trays, outdoors, for thirty odd years with no problems whatsoever, but I am in the UK.
Don't worry about dead flies or algae blooms that happen in the tray too much, just clean out once a month or so.
You can buy RO water, or if you have an AC unit use the water out of that, but please test it with a TDS meter first, the water will be pure but it can pick up detritus from the unit on its way out.
Cheers
Steve
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