Question
Hi Jeff and Jacob

  I have come to the conclusion that the drainage holes in my outdoor bogs are too low and that unless I constantly water, my plants do not get enough water to truly thrive. That being the case I will have to dig up all the plants, seal the current holes and drill new ones. The question I have is when would be the best time to do this. Clearly while the plants are dormant, but should I do this in late fall (late november), and give them all winter to settle back in, or early spring (Late March) before they have had a chance to come out of dormancy ?

Which leads me to my second question. Next spring my first bog will be in it's fourth year. I seem to remember you saying that every few years the growing medium in a bog should be changed. Since I do have to dig up all the plants, should I be prepared to put in new soil mix in my first bog.

Finally, I have recently hear of something called Hypertufa. basically it is a way of creating artificial rock planters using combination of portland cement, peat and perlite. I was wondering if you thought this type of planter would be good for carnivorous plants.

Growing lots of temperate CP outdoors
90 miles north of NYC

Thanks
Nicole  

Answer
Hi Nicole,

When to redo your bog may just depend on your weather.  I would lean towards the spring replanting just because the plants recover from the disturbance quickly then.  I'm guessing you have to time it so that the bog garden isn't frozen solid.  This is also a good time to replace the media since you'll be emptying it out anyway.

I have a fellow vendor at the Portland Saturday Market that sells hypertufa planters she makes herself.  I like them, but the Portland cement binder worries me some.  It contains a certain amount of Calcium hydroxide (caustic lime) which is very alkaline.  Once cured it could be  fine, but I've never experimented with it.  My recommendation is to try something inexpensive such as a Venus flytrap in one and see how it does.  A flytrap would be a good guinea pig since they tend to be the fussiest about soil and minerals.  If it lives, then other plants would be fine.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com