Reverse french drain?
Reverse french drain?
I'm planning for a 6'x2'x2' naturalistic vivarium for a bullsnake and had this idea. I plan on planting blue grama clusters (with cages around roots) and maybe a few other sturdy semi-arid plants.
To maintain a moisture gradient in the soil (play sand and top soil mix) I had the idea to do a reverse french drain. Basically I'd have a PVC port that ran from the top of the enclosure to several PVC fingers with holes drilled in them at the bottom. Gravel will be placed over the fingers, then a mesh barrier over the gravel, then soil. Whenever The bottom layer of substrate start to dry out, I can simply pour water down the port at the top of the enclosure. There will also be a drainage port at the bottom. In my mind, this keeps to top layers dry while the bottom layers can wick moisture up in a natural way.
Has anyone done something like this before? is it a bad idea?