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Utricularia quelchii

Well I have a start of U. quelchii in hand. I was wondering if you can tell me how not to kill it!

My thoughts are to have in in a mix of sphaguun, pumice, and pine bark. I am sterilizing the whole lot in the microwave. Then I will rewet and rinse the mix with sterile rain water until I get a low PPM reading. I plan on making holes in the bottom (and sides too if you think this would help)of this little food container, line the bottom with some bark chips and larger bits of pumice, and sort of mound the rest so that there is plenty of air pockets. The whole will sit in tray water in the cool basement. I'll give it a misting early in the day.

My questions are how bright should the conditions be, and which do you feel is more critical: high humidity (how high) or good air circulation? My basement is always damp and cool. When people say dry dormancy, does this mean bone dry? The plant has no tubers, so my impression is to just keep it slightly less moist during dormancy, allowing the top of the sphagnum to dry slightly.

I am more nervous about this plant than any I have ever grown. It has been the holy grail for me for years. I will be devestated if I lose it!

If you had it and lost it, I would like to hear what you think went wrong in your culture of it.
 
Hey, Congrats! I havent had this before, so I cant help much, but I do wish you the best of luck!
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Cole
 
William,

I grow my quelchii under the same conditions as my alpina. My media is abouty equal parts LFS, orchid bark and perlite with some clay pellets mixed in and topdressed with live sphag. I have it in a 4" mesh pot and top water every couple days. The pot itself sits in one of my domed flats and is on a small styrofoam block so it is never in the water but occasionally the water level in the tray is high enough that the water just contacts the pot. The dome keeps the humidity at about 50-70% and I have it rigged so that a cool air humidifier blows a 'breeze; through it. At night I place some ice bottles in the air flow to give a temp drop but this is mostly because Atlanta is bloody hot now
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Day temps are up to the low 80s, night temps are probably in the upper 60s. I do not believe this plant truly goes dormant but will just slow growth like alpina, during that time you might want to cutt back on watering some, it will form tubers with time so it can handle that.
 
I have neglected mine for the past 6-7 years and only water it once every 6 months or so (keeping the medium just moist). I have it in pure long fibered sphagnum and I would say it is growing very well, though it has not yet flowered. The plant is grown under lights in the basement where the tems are never far over 68 deg. f. In the winter, the temps are rarely above 60.

Hope you enjoy the plant and let me know what the secret is to get this thing to flower.
 
Hi!

I own two clones of U. quelchi and I'm growing both of them in pure living sphagnum in my "highland-terrarium".
The person from whom I got my first clone had grown his plants in his greenhouse in sphagnum with relativ low humidity and lots of sun. Leafes had been shorter, redisgh and more sturdy than the leafes on my plant. This plant also flowered.

U. quelchii does not seem to be so tricky...
(at leat to grow leafes, mybe it's more tricky to get it to flower?)

Martin
 
Thanks for the encouragement Martin! The 2 leaves attached to my plant quickly browned off. I have reduced humidity and moisture levels and will have to just feel it out. It's hard to say if it was my conditions or travel shock that was responsible. All the stolons and tuber are fine, so I guess only time will tell with this. I imagine the hardest part is getting it established.
 
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