Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 9/2/2011

Question
I have always struggled with finding a good care system when we go on trips.  I have a large collection of plants and saw this idea http://www.globalbuckets.org/  My question is do you feel the different types of soil would wick enough moisture for these plants and do you anticipate any concerns with this system for the unique requirements of nepenthes, drosera, and butterworts? I also have one helimphora.  I would like to have a few buckets grouped by soil type/light requirements.

Answer
Thank you for sharing this new product with us.  The method, however, is very similar to self-watering pots that you can purchase commercially.  African violet pots is one example.  However, we generally don't provide information about a particular method or product unless we've actually tried it ourselves.  

The main concern with this particular system is whether you can keep the soil at the right level of dampness.  Nepenthes, Cephalotus and Heliamphora don't like waterlogged soil.  The soil should be damped and allowed to dry slightly between watering.  Same is true for butterworts.  Drosera and Sarracenia, however, can tolerate very wet soil.  Flytraps will be OK to some extent.  

With this type of system, you will need to ammend the soil composition to allow for sufficient aeration and drainage.  Our recommended soil mixes are specifically for the watering methods that we describe in our ebook, DVDs and care sheets.  Without knowing specifically how wet the buckets keep the soil, we don't know the extent to which the soil needs to be amended, or if the soil needs to be amended at all.

Since this is a DIY project, the other issue is how well a grower can implement their instructions.  Commercially produced self-watering systems are generally standardized, so it'll be easier for us to give broad recommendations.  There is also a high level of assumption that the product would work equally well from grower to grower.  The same can't be assumed with DIY projects.  If a bucket keeps the soil too wet or too dry, is it because of the inherent design of the system or because of the manner in which the bucket was constructed?

With that said, please experiment with it!  We do all sorts of experiments with our plants, and before we start any experiment, we always think about potential pros and cons.  During the experiment, we then determine where the potential problems really are.  While I can't say definitely that the bucket will work for you, it's something that is well worth investigating.  Right now we're a bit overloaded with nursery projects, but I bookmarked the website.  I'll see if my employee would like to give it a try at home.  Let us know how it works for you.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin