Have any of you ponders seen these yet?

Check these floating islands out-
http://www.cobraplant.com/8-carnivorous-plant-store.html

I wanted to buy one of each but settled on the 12". I think these are really neat. I actually bought mine to provide more "attractive" cover for my pond babies from the heron. If these really look as good as they do in the photos when they're planted, I may go back and buy two more because then they'll not only be attractive... but functional too. I'm always looking for ways to give my fish and frogs a little bit of protection from heron. I have a love hate relationship with heron.

I bought a floating plant container from www.drsfostersmith.com this past spring. I like it but it keeps floating toward my skimmer, so I have to put it behind larger plants, or tie it off. It does succeed in scaring away the birds especially when the wind is blowing.
Sheila FWTX

those are neat! i would like to get several. i have a 35 ft. stream to the pond. do you think i can put one in the stream? i don't know anything about carnivorous plants. love the ones in the floater. do you know what they are and if they will grow in ohio? belinda

There is a forum that was started on them recently. I don't have any, but they sure look interesting. http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/redmeatoffthebone/all/
Sheila FWTX

Hey Sheila, good going! Your site has a 7" deep 20" x 7" for $44.99. The one I bought was 5" deep and had a 12" pot but the outer dimension was about 18" round. I like that size and I broke down and ordered 2 more about an hour ago. I think it will look neat having a trio yet on the other hand, I now want the big floating plant island your site has for a much larger pond I have so I'm book marking your site. That was a great size and I like the added extra depth.

Belinda, I don't think a stream is a good idea. But on the other hand if you have kids... I could see them taking your planter up to the top of the stream and sending GI Joe or Barbie rafting down ;) Just kidding but I don't think a stream would be a great place for one of these. Yes, carnivorous plants have incredibly shallow root systems because well... because they are carnivorous and and get their nutrients from insects and spiders and such. About all the roots to carnivorous plants do is take up moisture and keep them grounded so they don't uproot in winds.

Anyway, there's a new forum here called Carnivorous Plants which hsfrank2005 posted a link to. You might want to ask your questions over there but I can give you a quick low down. All of the plants in the photos at that site are hardy in your zone save Darlingtonia californica which may be one of the plants photographed in a floating planter. The first photo looks to be an assortment of carnivorous plants which actually might include Darlingtonia californica (the more upright bearded species to the left), Sarracenia psittacina, and something else that is way too small for me to even take a stab at and I truly can't see well enough to get good IDs for you so you might want to just call Sarracenia Northwest up on the phone and tell them their photos are too darn small! The second photo is Sarracenia purpurea and it could be ssp purpurea or ssp venosa, again... I can't tell you for sure as I'd need to feel it to be able to tell you the difference anyway. The third photo is another one that could be a bunch of different things but it is a Sarracenia complex of some sort and I'll guess it could be S. 'Red Bug' or possibly S. 'Cobra Nest' but who knows from an image that size. The last photo looks an awful lot like S. Lady Bug' or maybe S. Doodle Bug'. Beats me as those photos are all so darn tiny it is really difficult to tell what is what. Maybe the people over in the Carnivorous Plant Forum can see better than me and could try to identify them for you.

Most carnivorous plants like a lot of humidity. I think floating them in a pond would be ideal because the relative humidity around the plant from the water would be phenomenal. Downside might be that you'd need to water the plants frequently when they are actively growing as you couldn't ever let them dry out and you won't have a drip tray filled with water to wick up in one of those floating islands. I think they'll be fine and I guess I'll get to try it out this coming spring.

Other than that; Sarracenia, Drosera, Venus Fly Traps, and a host of other temperate species of carnivorous plants that are native to the United States are really very easy to grow outside year round in a zone 5 down to about an 8 or 9 if they are planted in the ground in an appropriate environment such as a mini bog which is really very simple to create and maintain.

"you won't have a drip tray filled with water to wick up in one of those floating islands."

Why couldn't you just hang the wick over the side? Now, now. Be patient, I was considering ordering a couple of the floating pots and thought I wouldn't have to worry about watering. What "else" am I ignorant of?

Actually, I was somewhat concerned about how to water so that is why I bought the 12" floating island pot as opposed to one of the smaller floating islands. I can stick a 2.5" round pot twenty five cent pot in the center and place potting medium around it and plant in a circle around the center hole. I can water the plants in the floating island from the well I will have created using the little pot in the center which you'll never see. I would also be able to fill up the well to the rim with water and leave it be. I do that now with a few trays I have that don't have drip trays. I'd go out and take photos for you of how I do this but those plants are all under about a foot of snow right now.

I don't know why you couldn't just hang a wick over the side. Great idea actually. Never thought of it and I'd try it for any type of a plant that wasn't a bog/carnivorous plant that wouldn't fry out its little brains if it dried out completely. I am somewhat lazy and most of my carnivorous plants are grown in actual bogs or pots with big drip trays that I make sure are filled every morning. After I make sure the drip trays are all full, I call it a day. I think the little pot within a pot will work for me for the floating islands if I want to plant them with carnivorous plants but I think your idea would work for other types of plants. The more I think of it, the better I actually like the idea. What would you use to wick up the water into the medium? Do you think a regular old piece of cotton rope would work? You know the type they sell for clothes lines and I think some jump ropes are still made of cotton too and I'm sure I've got one of those laying around here that will never be used. I certainly would have no reservations chopping up jump rope into little pieces to try out your idea.

Yardage stores sell different size cording/rope by the yard. I figured what I would need would probably just cost pennies.

Gosh it has been a long time since I sewed. I guess gardening took over. I have some left over cording that I was going to use for a few throw pillows for a couch. I'm set. Thanks for activating my memory cells.

I'd love to see photos of what you've already done. Darn snow!

Oh gosh, I haven't sewed anything in probably around 10 years and even back then I was already out of my garment construction phase and had moved into coordinated window coverings, textile accessories such as throw pillows, and quilts. I have never planted a floating island before with anything. This will be my first time using them. The first one I ordered hasn't even been delivered yet.

I have one tray of Sarracenia purpurea planted in an oil pan with a center well out in the garage where the temps are in the 30's right now. I can easily go and take a photo to illustrate the center well type deal. Sort of a self watering type deal not so dissimilar to AV pots.

Here's the oil pan tray of S. pupurea. I know it is difficult to see but there is a 3" pot smack dab in the center recessed down into the potting medium. It had been my intent to do the same thing with the floating islands.

Thanks! I think I get the idea. Hmmm, I have some thick pieces of foam I was saving for a hypertufa project. I could cut some holes in them for pots, spray with Fusion plastic paint and maybe make floating islands for free! Free is good! LOL Did you use wicks from your center pot, drill holes in the side of it or what? Oh great! I've just added another project to my ever growing list.

I have no experience working with Fusion plastic paints. Tell me about them please. My ponds have native herps, odonata nymphs, and native fish in them and they are very susceptible to contaminants so I get really nervous with anything I do not understand. I know that all foams are not created equal so to speak and that some do release harmful chemicals. I do know that you couldn't plant carnivorous plants into anything hypertufa because over time ickies and nasties will leach into the potting medium and will most assuredly kill them. Plastic pots are best for CPs.

As far as my center well in that oil pan, it cost me all of probably 25 cents. It is a regular little dark green pot complete with drain holes at the bottom so I didn't have to drill holes or stick a red hot poker into the bottom to create any type of openings. The potting medium I used for those Sarrs was about 1 part rinsed sand to 3 parts Canadian Sphagnum Peat so there was truly no need to do anything to get the water to wick up into the surrounding medium.

Thanks again Equilibrium. I use plain old styrofoam. I checked it out here at DG and it turns out to be safe with fish, etc. I put sheets over my pond after I took the plants out for the winter so my goldfish still had hiding places. Fusion is sort of new but I've used it on several plastic items and it works as advertised. You can buy it in every paint dept. I've been to. I got mine at WalMart. It bonds to plastic (I haven't tried it on styrofoam yet, I am ass-u-suming I'm afraid. Supposed to be enviromentally friendly. I do wash off the item(s) after they dry before using them just to be extra careful.

I can't find a materials data safety sheet on line for Krylon Fusion. So far all I could find was that Krylon's Eco Guard was MIR compliant making it relatively safe but I don't think that would cut it with plastics.

I suppose sooner or later I should contact the manufacturer and come right out and ask them if it is safe enough to be used in a pond. Unfortunately, I am somewhat in my sluggish mode with the holidays around the corner.

Expandable polystyrene is pretty safe. I use it in ponds.

You've got me wondering. I won't use it on styrofoam until I check it out further. I did spray it on a PVC frame I made to hold up the net I put over the pond to keep out leaves. No ill effects. The pond is half frozen but the fish are swimming happily around. If it ever warms up enough, removing the net is another item on the list. LOL

Your fish are still moving around! Wow, mine are down at the bottom in suspended animation and have been for a while. Oh what a difference two zones makes.

How cold is it there? The last two nights here have been 22* and 24* then all the way up to 42* and 43* in the day. The pond is frozen 1/2" in some places but where the fountain is it's still open. There are some pretty effects in the morning. Jack Frost fer shur!

Well, I can't see the outside thermometer until day breaks but it has been around -15 to -7 for about a week right when I wake up. Normally we are only sinking to 10-15 during the night with day time highs of around 20 to 30ish. We've got great snow cover which will protect and insulate the plants this year which is great. Winter droughts can be more devastating to plants than summer droughts and unless you live in an area like this, you might not know that. I think we've got at least a foot of snow on the ground right now maybe a tad bit more.

Hello all, I just picked up this thread. I had one of the medium size floating planters from Foster & Smith in the pond this summer. I used it for parrot feather and it was pretty good looking. It kept the parrot feather in one nice clump. I used aquatic potting soil and lined the pots with nylon screen so the soil didn't spill out. I loved it untill the koi started using it for tag. They just loved pushing and pulling it around. It never dumped but it did get sent under the waterfall once. Next year I will choose other plants and/or tether it somehow, maybe to a rock on the bottom. My water pond temps at three feet are 41 ( heaters/deicers are working hard). The koi are hugging the bottom. It is 24 out now and has not been above freezing for more days than I care to remember and it is only mid December!!! We have 9 inches of snow on the ground. The Wall Street Journal (12/09)edition had an interesting article on predicting winter weather based on October snow cover in Siberia. A Dr. Cohen has accurately based his prediction on this rather than the conventional El Nino/El Nina model and has been accurate every time when the coventional model wasn't. His prediction for this winter "The western two thirds of the U.S. will be warmer than normal, while the eastern third (especially around the eastern Great Lakes ) will get the icebox treatment". Oh I hope this guy's wrong this year.

Well, so far he's wrong for the Northwest. It's not supposed to be this cold this early I'm told. I moved from near Lake Tahoe and I'm feeling downright nostalgic right now. I guess it's the humidity. I'm used to the dry cold. At least I haven't had to shovel show.

Hey Snapple, good idea with the rock on the bottom to tether the floating ring.

Equilibrium, I haven't watered my floating plant, because the pot I used was one with drainage holes. I used a scrap of shade cloth and aquatic soil. It made it through our super hot, no rain summer here.

Weather now......It's been below freezing all week! My fish are mostly on the bottom, but still coming up and moving around ever now and then. They would eat if I fed them, but I know better. They were all fat and sassy before this hit. We had just set a record November high of 90 before we set a record low two weeks later of 15!!! It has been hard on my garden plants that were blooming and happy.:-(( Guess I will not know until Spring if they survived the roller coaster temperature effect.
Sheila
Edited to add: Here is the Krylon Fusion paint colors & links to their MSDS sheets. Let me know if you think they are safe for the pond.
http://www.krylon.com/main/product_template.cfm?levelid=5&sub_levelid=10&productid=1751&content=product_details

This message was edited Dec 11, 2005 7:45 AM

I am glad you brought these up. I have a favorite store I like to go to that sells lotus, fish, pond supplies, aquatic plants, etc. They have these floating islands already filled with plants and I want you to know they sell for up to $90! None of the plants in them are really expensive, just canna, elephant ears, a few types of hibiscus and such. I have some flat foam sheeting for insulation and considered making my own. I totally forgot about them. LOL

I do keep a trough of plants for veggie filtration and it does a great job! I can disconnect the intake hose at the back and drain the yucky water and hose it fresh water from the top and hook it back up. I am always experimenting with new ways to put the plants in. I have done pots of gravel, wire racking and the like. Last year I was feeling crazy and I took a thick sheet of styrofoam from a package and drilled holes through it with a spade bit. I sprayed off the loose material then poked plants through the holes and it did great! The plants were a bit floppy at first but as soon as the roots took off, the weight kept them upright. I could then lift the styro, spray off the roots and float it back in the trough. I'll probably experiment with similar ways to grow aquatics and moisture lovers come spring. :)

I can't find a pic from when I first did it but this was a bit later. I could stick any water loving plant in here, even straight from the mail and they suffered no wilting.

Based on the experiment above, I would say if your pot has any bottom holes that allow the pond water (which is supposedly full of nutrients) into your pot, you would have no need to water or do much other maintenance. You can see these ears and Hibiscus acestosella are very happy. They easily reached 3' tall in here within a short time and never blinked. They shot sprouts out beneath and on top of the stryro giving me lots of free plants.

Badseed, terrific! That's even simpler than what I had planned. Oh come Spring! Hurry, hurry. BTW, I contacted Krylon customer service re Fusion but no answer yet.

Hey hsfrank, that link is not a materials data safety sheet.

This is an example of a materials data safety sheet-
http://www.town.falmouth.ma.us/cranberry/Orthene%2075%20S%20WSP%20MSDS.pdf#search='materials%20data%20safety%20sheet%20orthene'

We need to know what the materials used are in order to look them up and Krylon is not listing them for Fusion at that website.

I've actually rooted plants using a piece of styrofoam that I cut holes in and floated on water. Works great!

The pH of a pond would not negatively impact most plants, but it would mess with many carnivorous plants to the extent that you'd have issues getting them to stay alive. Those Sarrs like acid, lots of acid. The other concern with carnivorous plants is that they do not like nutrients at all. They come from nutrient deficient environments and one of the fastest ways to kill a carnivorous plant would be to fertilize it with anything. One of the reasons why so many people kill Venus Fly Traps is because they use tap water. Most tap water has high PPMs (dissolved solids). The PPMs of pond water would blow tap water.... literlally out of the water. I have a meter and have tested pond water in my ponds. PPM for my tap is around 228. Rain water is about 1/20th of most tap (includes water from wells) water which is why watering CPs with rain water is a totally viable alternative to purchasing bottled RO or distilled water. PPM for some of my ponds is around 800 to over 1000. That is well beyond the acceptable level for most CPs. Great for "normal" plants that uptake nutrients traditionally through their roots but a killer to CPs that have evolved quite differently in that their nutrient uptake is basically via the ingestation of prey. Just something to consider.

Something I did in the past that I forgot about was to float a basic old stryofoam wreath base in a pond and I nestled a small aquatic basket in it. It's been a few years but I recall planting something around the edge that would grow over the edge and trail into the water to cover up the white of the styrofoam. I think the plant I chose was Lizard's Tail but for the life of me I can't remember what I planted around the bottom.

I guess this gives me a more clear picture on why you think so many of the carnivorous plants would do so well in my rain water holes. :) Many of the Alocasia also do best when not watered with tap water. I hope to have my well or wells in working order by the time the heat of summer sets in and I also plan to take advantage of my low lying areas.

I don't know how many downspouts you have on your new home but you might want to consider diverting a few of them them into any type of a water collection device. People use pickle barrels and anything else they can get their hands on from stock tanks to swimming pools. As a gift last year, I received actual rain barrels with spigots about 18" from the ground. I love my rain barrels but having something specifically designed as a rain barrel is truly not necessary.

I just got back from taking the boys sledding and I noticed a house that was using some sort of an old heating oil tank that looked to have been cut off at the top then inserted in the ground. It sort of looked like an old torpedo stuck in the ground with the tip cut off. I'd never noticed it before today. Probably because when I was on top of the hill I had the vantage and could look down into some people's yards. Anyway, I've seen people saw those in half and use those for pig roasters but never for rain water collection so anything goes as far as I am concerned.

Well water really has to be tested before you use it. I've seen some well water that was perfectly acceptable to use and some that had dissolved solids that were as high or higher than municipal water. It all depends. It could go either way by you. Farmers use a lot of chemicals and then there are the Canada Geese and Deer. Their feces do leach into water supplies. It's going to depend on too many variables and best to take your water to be tested to get an idea of the ppm you are dealing with or buy a little hand held meter for around $50. Rain water around here is anywhere from 10-11ppm up to 20-22 ppm which is totally acceptable. Most rain water is perfectly acceptable.

Yes Badseed, you just hit upon why I think your new property is so awesome. You have a whole new world opening up to you and you didn't even know it. You'll be able to grow many species that others dream of growing.