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Where are all the Genlisea?

I thought this plant was suppose to be easy to grow and propagate but I can't find any for sell on ebay or at carnivorous nurseries. What gives? Jack
 
They can be maddening. Grow well for awhile, maybe flowering and then mysteriously perish. Or hang on on life support, not doing much. Anything below 50F will kill them. If I remember correctly. Not so sure they like a lot of heat either. I don't know where some of the nurseries get their stock photos, with tons of traps practically pushing the plant out of its pot. One fellow used to be on TF, had many but was a less than reliable trader. If you see plants for sale on 'some form of social media' caveat emptor. Some folks here have or had em' offer something interesting in trade if you can and see what happens. Otherwise, it might have to come from overseas, and that is another whole set of headaches. But keep plugging, you will find some eventually if you keep trying. And be prepared to put up some righteous cash.
 
They are really fickle and difficult to propagate most of the time. At one point I had five species (most of which never thrived) and right now I have two that are just surviving. Compared to Utricularia they barely grow. I think they grow just enough to replace old foliage. When you first get them you might see some vigor and they may grow very well but after a few months for me they either die off or just stop growing enough to notice. Maybe they need new growing medium after a while but I'm not taking chances with mine. I just haven't found conditions where they thrive. Compared to them the average terrestrial Utricularia is a piece of cake.
 
There was a grower who had several plants available on ebay last fall, but I haven't seen any available there since. I've taken to purchasing seeds lately. They just arrived this week, so we'll see how that goes. I figure it's a good, cheap experiment.

As others have mentioned, they can be very tempermental. I have experience with G. flexuosa x lobata, G. pygmaea and G. violacea. I'm pretty sure the G. pygmaea was DOA, it never did much of anything and just perished. The G. violacea is still around, but grows in fits and spurts. Sometimes it looks like it's on death's door, but then it seems to come back. I've tried growing it under several different conditions and it seems to like my highland terrarium the best. It hasn't flowered for me yet. The G. flexuosa x lobata just grew like crazy and started flowering as soon as it entered my collection. It did great until my 3 year old decided to "pick the pretty flower for daddy" and pulled the entire plant out of its container. It never recovered.
 
That hybrid was one I had for awhile that did the best, flowering and sending up new pups from time to time. I think repotting it did it in. The traps are like one or two cells thick according to a book I have, and very easy to damage. But sometimes can make new plants from cuttings. Good luck with the seeds. I hear they are very short lived. So pot em' up fast.
 
My little pot of Genlisea hispidula seems OK with minimal attention. I haven't tried the other species. I'm guessing G. hispidula is the easiest to grow.
 
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