FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Okay, so living in Arizona, I'm glad I can grow my CP's outside, but watering them everyday is where the problems start. I looked all over and found that people had great success with self-watering planters, so I decided, hey, that's for me! I have a plain planter and want to convert it into something like this:
I'm having problems with what media to put in the water storage part, and I've heard that I should steer clear of PVC for the piping part. Any suggestions on the media and piping type?

Thanks!

Hi~
I would just fill the thing straight with peat, you can add sphagnum at the bottom to hold the water as it compacts slower than peat. That's what I plan to do with my bog as I cannot get huge bails of LFSM though. The PVC is alright, just make sure it can withstand UV as the top(exposed to sun) could wear out, fast. Also, drill holes in the pot at the same height around 4 in. (depends on what plant you want to grow, this is an average for all CPs, but if you are keeping only Sarracenia and Drosera I would do it about 3/2 in. below soil level. Dionaea and other select plants like D. tracyii and S. rosea (S. purpurea subsp. venosa var. burkii), around 5/4 in., I'd just do 4in to accommodate all plants, though.) below soil level so if it floods, so you won't have to worry about the thing flooding to the top uprooting plants and displacing media. I would not put a dividing membrane as when it comes to re potting, the roots would grow through it and you would have a difficult time undoing that. Hope this helped.

Okay, thanks for the help!