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Utrics are taking over my pots and they're becoming a nuissance

Yellow Utrics are taking over ALL of my sundew pots. I'll admit that I like the flowers, but they tend to pop up in between some of my favorite South American dews and choke them out. To make things worse, when I pick them out, annoying sticky nectar globs gets all over my hands so I can't get the stalk off of my hand once I uproot it, lol. The nectar goes all the way to the base of the stalk too. There's not much that I can do control them either....except to just pluck out all the flowers when they pop up.

Here are the culprits (not sure what the name is but I know they're a weed for other people to):
Utricularia__front_dew.JPG


Utricularia_dew.JPG
 
They are U.subulata, and yes, they can be a pain. I have some U.bisquamata that were the same way, but I eventually got them under control.
 
that sucks... but pretty flowers! I think I might have read somewhere that yellow flowers are uncommen in utrics? I wouldn't know how to get rid of them though, the only thing I can think of is repot all of your plant that have the utrics in the pots.
 
that sucks... but pretty flowers! I think I might have read somewhere that yellow flowers are uncommen in utrics? I wouldn't know how to get rid of them though, the only thing I can think of is repot all of your plant that have the utrics in the pots.

That, and pull any new ones that show up in the newly repoted plants as soon as you see them.
 
It is really choking out your dews!? Wow, I have added Ultrics to most of my dew and ceph pots with no ill effects. I like the addition of the small flowers!
 
hey if u dont want them. ill take them = )
 
lol. i have the same problem with my U. bisquamata--i've let it bloom once--it's the weedy/ugly/not betty's bay kind. now, i periodically pull out any growing flower stalks so it doesnt contaminate the rest of the collection.
 
Is subulata latin for dandelion?
 
Exo, thanks for the id.

devon- i can't even fathom doing that, lol. I suppose if it gets insanely bad it could attempt that. Soooooo much work though and I'd have to throw out all of the Utricularia-infested media that I spent hours rinsing, etc whinewhinewhine :)

Frilleon- it wasn't a problem until I compacted down the peat and sand in all my pots so that they wouldn't dry out as much while I'm gone at school for months at a time. My mom fills up my trays once a week or whenever she remembers, so I didn't want to take any more risks of any of a pot completely drying up. Now that it is constantly moist, those Utrics just thrive and take over. An example of the issues I have is when 10 flower stalks popped up at once in-between the leaves of my D. neocaledonica, and pretty much smothered it until I came back home and rescued it. It wouldn't be as bad if I was home more often to check on them.

kgrudz- i would have no problem sending you some for shipping costs, ie about a buck- I'll ship some in a small centrifuge tube so that I don't have to use a bubble mailer. Otherwise you can send a sase and I can send you some in May

amph- sounds like a beautiful form of bisquamata lol. wise choice to not let those things take over your nice collection!

Dashman- i wouldn't be suprised lol.
 
  • #11
They never, never, never go away. Even if you give most of them away !!
 
  • #12
Once you have them, you'll probably always have them. Not much you can do about it. If you don't want them to jump pots, just rip up the flowers.

I rather like them myself.
 
  • #13
Once you have them, you'll probably always have them. Not much you can do about it.
Depending on the species you grow & how persistent you are, it is possible to rid yourself of this plague ...

If you don't want them to jump pots, just rip up the flowers.
U. subulata is notorious for producing cleistogamous flowers so you also have to be very aware of any stalk, no matter how moss-like it appears....
 
  • #14
Plant something even more invasive, larger and aggressive: U. livida. :p
 
  • #15
Well overall it sounds fairly hopeless lol.
I'd be more persistant, but I'm away for months at a time and so they have a lot of time to conquer new territory before I'm able to check back on them.

lol brokken, I'll be sure to stay as far away from that species as possible!

Ron- I was wondering what was up with those odd stalks that never opened up into a normal flower. cleistogamous bastards! hope i can say here, it just sounds funny
 
  • #16
As a general rule, if it's a yellow Utricularia and starts to appear in every pot you have, it's U.subulata. They are a pest and many CP growers will not purchase them for this reason. Unfortunately though, they sometimes appear in pots of plants that you receive from other people.
 
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