30 replies to this topic

[Clue]

rsivertsen, on 25th November 2009 - 11:38 AM, said:

I have found that peat mixes almost always seem to promote algae blooms for some reason, and lowers the pH quite a bit. The Aldrovanda does best with some clay and leaf litter with a neutral pH=7.0.

I find that algae is present, but not in long strands. It almost always forms near U. inflata, but never smothers any plants. Our water here is quite hard and alkaline... the peat was put in mostly to buffer the water back to a neutral pH. The outdoor setup has an inch layer of our soil... which coincidentally is adobe clay. That tank is always devoid of algae.

rsivertsen, on 25th November 2009 - 11:38 AM, said:

I should also mention that Aldrovanda has a horrific winter fatality rate, up to 95%...

In the summer, I will probably reintroduce some Aldrovanda from my indoor stock back outdoors. I have a feeling that I won't find any there come spring, but only time will tell.

[rsivertsen]

In that pond, there also happens to be large mats of tubiflex worms dancing in the clay just below the Aldrovanda. They also release CO2 and occasionally get caught in the traps. Aside from Boron, clay can also release trace amounts of Magnesium, Iron and Calcium among other minerals required for these plants. They are originally the Japanese strains, probably a mix of Tokyo and Kyoto forms. Good luck with your next attempt to grow these plants!  - Rich

[Alexander Nijman]

About Aldrovanda in Europe, the Aldrovanda from the Bodensee, near Lindau, have been introduced to a site in Switzerland some 100 years ago. The Aldrovanda are not growing anylonger near that Bodensee so its only because someone introduced it to that pond in Switzerland that strain is still not extinct!

There is a video about Aldrovanda in Switzerland.

Nowadays if you do this your are comitting a crime to the environement or whatever. Those purist and natureconservationist compaire Aldrovanda with weeds like Japanese knotweed, and they say that it also grows in Spain! That was written in a document of the ''IVN in Nieuwkoop''. Those guys clearly do not take the efford to do their homework properly before they start writting their nonsense.  

Its in ''De Haak in Nieuwkoop'' where Aldrovanda was found. If its still present there I do not know.

Alexander

[Fernando Rivadavia]

Quote

I have found that peat mixes almost always seem to promote algae blooms for some reason, and lowers the pH quite a bit. The Aldrovanda does best with some clay and leaf litter with a neutral pH=7.0.

Wow, I was quite surprised to read this!     Neutral pH, huh? I always thought that it had to be acid! Anyway, this gives me more hope that I may be successful cultivating it in my aquarium! ;)


Thanks,
Fernando

[jimscott]

Mine are doing okay in a fishtank with a couple bog plants:





But the ones I have in the Sterilite container in the bog are either buried, escapees, or used by birds for nests:

[Alexander Nijman]

In Nieuwkoop they grow in acid water. Lots of sphagnum grows there along the wateredge. And Drosera rotundifolia. Also 3 Utricularia share the habitad of Aldrovanda. U. vulgaris, U. neglecta and U. minor.

I guess they like it acid, but not to much.

Alexander

[jimscott]

Would pine needles help?

[rsivertsen]

I have Aldrovanda also naturalized in a sphagnum bog with acidic peaty water, and although they grow, they are visibly smaller than the population in the other site where there is an abundance of clay. It seems to grow best in a shallow fresh water marsh rather than a typical sphagnum bog/pond.

This plant is NOT easy to naturalize, and fears of it becoming a feral nuisance weed is grossly overestimated. The fact is that it is going extinct in its natural habitats, including Japan, and we really don't know exactly why. It seems that birds and other creatures may feed on them, especially when they're in dormant turions. I've seen other birds swoop down and scoop up a few for nest building. Turtles will also have a feast on these plants. Several countries have already lost their native populations of this plant.  - Rich

[jimscott]

I'm not sure how happy they are, but the 2" cuttings I received are ~6-8" and branching:





My bog experiment failed. I suspect that the critters found them to their delight. The are untouched in the fishtank, though.

Edited by jimscott, 02 July 2010 - 18:37 PM.

[rob158]

very nice  

[Alexander Nijman]

rsivertsen, on 2nd July 2010 - 16:44 PM, said:

I have Aldrovanda also naturalized in a sphagnum bog with acidic peaty water, and although they grow, they are visibly smaller than the population in the other site where there is an abundance of clay. It seems to grow best in a shallow fresh water marsh rather than a typical sphagnum bog/pond.

This plant is NOT easy to naturalize, and fears of it becoming a feral nuisance weed is grossly overestimated. The fact is that it is going extinct in its natural habitats, including Japan, and we really don't know exactly why. It seems that birds and other creatures may feed on them, especially when they're in dormant turions. I've seen other birds swoop down and scoop up a few for nest building. Turtles will also have a feast on these plants. Several countries have already lost their native populations of this plant.  - Rich

Well extinctions has probably to do with the runof of poluted water from farmland where they use a lot of fertilizer and pesticides. In Europe at least that has been proven very bad for funerables habitads like bogs!

Alexander