My U. gibba grows in the water at the bottom of my plastic trays. The U. gibba in turn provides a good medium for Dews, Byblis and epiphytic and terrestrial bladderworts.
Growing medium for utricularia
- Thread starter Lloyd Gordon
- Start date
Is changing the grow medium even necessary? If it is, how does one go about doing it? The "roots" are so delicate, I feel like they would just break off if I were to attempt to change the medium. Or maybe losing the "roots" is OK? When I got the U. sandersonii and u. blanchettii from Brad's Greenhouse both were rootless. It seems he'd just cut them all off and the plant simply grew from the mat on top. It took a couple months to establish but once it did it's done fine.
The plants often slowed down or deteriorated in peat after a while. You just dilute the medium with distilled water and gently separate all the threads. Then you put them in new medium. With LFS you have to tease the utric from the strands of moss. Slow but possible.
Eric
Carnivore
You don't need to repot Utricularia. They have no roots but stolons (thin, whitish growth shoots that grow through the substrate). Once it fills the pot simply divide it in e.g. 4 parts and soon you'll have 4 pots full of thriving Utricularia.
After some time a lot of moss and algae may start to grow on top. Often it is possible to simply cover the whole pot with some fresh substrate or sand and the buried Utric will very soon resurface with new vigour. But it is always a good idea to have a backup in case it does not work out as intended.
It is also possible to make leaf cuttings if you have problems with unwanted species like U.subulata or U.bisquamata: Pick a few leaves of the right species, put them in water in a well lit position and wait until new stolons, traps and leaves sprout from them. Then pot them up. Utricularia grow fast (and exponentially). so they will fill a pot even from a small piece.
After some time a lot of moss and algae may start to grow on top. Often it is possible to simply cover the whole pot with some fresh substrate or sand and the buried Utric will very soon resurface with new vigour. But it is always a good idea to have a backup in case it does not work out as intended.
It is also possible to make leaf cuttings if you have problems with unwanted species like U.subulata or U.bisquamata: Pick a few leaves of the right species, put them in water in a well lit position and wait until new stolons, traps and leaves sprout from them. Then pot them up. Utricularia grow fast (and exponentially). so they will fill a pot even from a small piece.
For U. subulata, don't do anything; just wait for it to show up in your collection.