Got some ultrics

[TunaSurprise]

I just got three ultrics in the mail, longifolia, gibba, and inflata.

Is there anything important i should know about these? I also recieved the longifolia in kinda sorry looking condition, should i take any big steps to revive it, or will it jump back to it's feet on it's own?

Thanks!
Dave

EDIT: Oops! i accidentally clicked on pings! Can a mod move this to ultrics?

 

[Pyro]

Well the first tip I can give you is that the only "L" in Utricularia does not come after the "U" (i.e. it should be Utric not Ultric)

Seriously though, the longifolia should be fine, these guys are tough and can take pretty serious beatings. Just pot it up and give it good conditoins. The gibba is a sub-affixed plant. Check out Barry Rice's site for a good way to grow it. And the inflata is a true aquatic and can get pretty big so you'll need to account for that. A large wash tub would probably be best as opposed to a glass jar.

 

[rattler]

i have basically no experiance with the aquatics and just recieved U. longifolia about 2 weeks ago. however i recieved my longifolia as basically a mass of rolons, no lolons to be seen. now 2 weeks after planting it in soil there are lolons popping up everywhere.

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

I grew my aquatics with the best success in large OPAQUE dishpans. Anytime I tried to use a transparent container I got algae. Over the surface of the pan I laid some white plastic garbage bags: about 2 layers. I found this seems to simulate the screening effect of algae, with which the plants are usually associated in nature where the balance keep the algae in check (not so for the container gardner, alas). The whole kit and kaboodle was then placed where it got broken sunlight. This seemed to work well, and the planys flourished and flowered for me. The gibba filled the pan in one season. Sadly, my experiments regarding winter hardieness proved conclusively that only U. intermedia and U. macrorhiza are winter hardy here

. BEtter still is to create a mini envoronment with associated aquatic plants included, a good layer of leaves on the bottom and associated microfauna.

I would grow the rolons of your U. longifolia in a tray of water on top of a half inch or so of peat/sand until it gets to producing the lolons. My plants always did best like this after growing out the drain holes.

 

[jimscott]

I plan to initiate a mini-bog, hopefully this week, and want to put my Utrics outside. I have in mind using Sterilte containers, that have holes on all four sides, a la Tamlin.

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

There is a drawback to the holes in the pot thing, and that is the stolons can (and will) make their way where they will. I did the outdoor thing for the last couple of seasons and it is remarkable how much more they plants grow. The trick is in not frying them quickly to a crisp in the increased light, and they are VERY sensitive at first. A half hour in the naked sun and pfffft. With so thin a surface as the above ground parts have, the chloroplasts aren't very deeply buried and they are quickly affected by ultraviolet and are destroyed. You know it has happened when the green looks pale. The good thing is that new growth will happen from beneath the surface, and this will be tougher and can take the increased sunlight. Plants really flower too! I must have had a hundred flowers on U. dichotoma 2 seasons ago from an initial clump the size of an egg.

 

[jimscott]

Thanks for the tip. I noticed the growth and flowering phenomenon. Last April, Copper sent me my very first Utrics. I had no idea what to do with these pinches of green things. I had them all inside. The regular sandersonii did well by the window sill and flowered. The blue version sprea, but that was it. The livida neither spread nor died. It just laid there. I put it outside and sent what I thought was the whole thing to someone who wanted Utrics for a terrarium. Unbeknownst to me, some of it was still in the media. Throughout the summer it spread very well and began to flower. It has been flowering continuously ever since.

I will remember to acclimate them to full sun.