Texas Gardening: bog plants, 0 by pbtxlady

pbtxlady wrote:
Oh, man--I am not sure. 25 gallons, maybe? It's in the same size pot that I put a big 5-year-old hibiscus. Maybe you can guesstimate it from the photo below.

The method I read to plant these is to fill them entirely with compost, not soil. Potting soil is too light and will float. (Of course I had to check this out myself and learn the hard way, LOL.) Personally, though, I use the Wal-mart pure clay kitty litter for all my other water plants, so I mixed some of that into the compost. You fill the pot up to about 8 inches from the top. Place the tuber on top of that, and gently cover it with an inch or so of aquarium gravel or pea gravel. Then fill the pot up to the top with water. The gravel will hold both the tuber and the potting medium. Once planted, it's pretty maintenance-free. Once the plant comes out of dormancy, it will keep the water fresh. I just top it off as needed, add mosquito dunks and plant tabs once a month.

In past years, I've had trouble getting this one, Mrs. Perry D. Slocum, to bloom. I don't have a good place for a pot that big that will get enough sun without frying it.