Riddle me this……. How is your media “well draining” with the plant sitting in water? Doesn’t the excess water naturally fill the open air pockets in the media and decrease oxygen exchange?
by jhay3513
Riddle me this……. How is your media “well draining” with the plant sitting in water? Doesn’t the excess water naturally fill the open air pockets in the media and decrease oxygen exchange?
by jhay3513
3 Comments
Only for the part of the media that is submerged under water. For the above-the-waterline soil, large cavities will still be open air bubbles, small cavities will probably fill due to capillary action.
Interestingly, I used to run my flytraps on the dry side. Started running them wetter (never let the trays dry out, ~1cm water in the tray), and they grew better, even in pure peat.
At least with flytraps, I don’t think they have very metabolically active roots, so the relatively slow rate of oxygen diffusion from outside is sufficient for their needs. They still develop big roots!
https://preview.redd.it/fyp4w5cxjytg1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a0f324c9dd36f053128119d88ac8c3b9a74a8d1
When I build my mini bogs I look at it as “can the water move” rather than “well draining”. Can fresh water infiltrate when introduced? Great, is the media too packed and it runs off the top? Bad
So far I’ve been successful 😁
Man all I gotta say is those are some good looking roots