FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Here's my idea for a mini bog in a terrarium. I got the idea from those Earth Boxes they sell for planting vegetables. At the bottom of the box is a spacer that a grate rests on with holes, and in the back corner is a tube for watering. There is a hole drilled several inches off the bottom at a line where the grate is. You put the soil on top of the grate, plant your seeds and put a plastic cover over the soil with holes puched in in where the plants are. This keeps the soil from getting saturated in heavy rains, but you pretty much water the plants from the tube, so the water comes in from the bottom of the box and any excess water comes out the hole in the side of the box.

I plan on making something similar for my Exo Terra Terrarium. I have egg crate cut to fit the bottom of the terrarium and I have a four pieces of pvc pipe cut 1.5", one in each corner to raise the crate off the bottom. I then have piece of plastic screen on top of the egg crate. On top of that will be my media for the VFT's. I also have a piece of plastic tube with a hole cut in the bottom that rests on the bottom of the terrarium. That way I can poor water down the tube. I obviously won't have holes cut in the terrarium for overflow, but I will be able to see the water level through the glass.

While the seeds are germinating I can still water the soil to keep it moist, but once the roots start growing I plan on doing all the watering from the tube. I can monitor the humidity and adjust that by closing the doors on the terrarium or putting a plexiglass top on temporarily. I think this would be much easier to maintain moisture in the soil by having it obsorb the water, as opposed to watering from the top where there may be dry spots and it's hard to tell how much water you need so it gets down to the roots. There should be enough space in the screen for any roots to poke through as well.

I can post pictures soon because I have it all done, accept for putting soil in it and seeding. I also have to use some aquarium sealer on the bottom of the inside corners of the terrarium, and come up a few inches, because it doesn't look like it's meant to hold any water, even though the bottom is sealed. The sides just don't look like they are sealed tight enough.

That sound like a good plan,but when they germinate,lower humidity slighly,so the new seedlings don't rot out,but all in all,it sound like a really good idea

That sounds like a great plan. I'd love to see some photographs and best of luck with the set up!

Sounds like a plan

a diagram would be nice