Bladderworts - Utricularia

Growing:
Utricularia bisquamata
Utricularia humboldtii
Utricularia longifolia
Utricularia sandersonii
Utricularia subulata

 

Light: I updated my lighting and now use 1 - 40 watt 67,000K / 10,000K Sunpaq bulb and 1 - 15 watt Flora Sun bulb. Old lighting was 1 -15 watt Hagen Aqua-Glo bulb and 1 - 15 watt Cool White bulb for over 2 years for U. sandersonii in my terrarium. Other Utricularia as windowsill plants.

Soil: I grow mine in a mix of peat moss, long fiber sphagnum, and perlie.

Water: Use rainwater, distilled, or reverse osmosis. Many like periodic flooding, in un-drained pots.

Humidity: Utricularia should have humidity no less then 40%.

Climate: The type I grow do not have dormant periods. Some survive winters through seed or tuber production.

 

Bladderworts grow on every continent of the world.

Utricularia produce leaf like appendages, called stolons, which protrude along the soil surface. Bladderworts have no true root system, they do have thin stems capable of photosynthesis and grow to fill whatever region they find themselves in. From these stems is were the trap is attached by a small stalk. The bladder like traps grow underground and usually are the size of a pinhead. A newly discovered species from Australia has bladders approaching a half inch in diameter. Since the traps grow under ground most people grow them for their flowers.
The trap is usually concave, and therefore create a vacuum within the interior of the trap. At the end of the trap is a small opening covered by a door. Around this door there are trigger hairs. When prey touch this trigger hair a suction is created when the door opens and the prey is sucked into the trap. Inside the bladder, gland secrete acids and enzymes which dissolve the prey. Other glands absorb this nutrient fluid.

I saw the picture in the Savage Garden book of how Geoff Wong grew his Genlisea to view the traps and thought I would try it with my Utricularia. Here is how I made out.
I have planted all my terrestrial Utricularia this way now.

I was starting to get some thread algae growing on the traps, so I thought I would make a cover to block out the light for a few weeks and see if the algae would be gone then. It would probably help if I changed the water more then once a month.
I would then uncover the pots and repeat as needed.
I used foam sheets from a craft store, cut to size, and hot glued together.

I posted step by step instructions to make this setup click here.

 

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