14 replies to this topic

[rsivertsen]

This is a very good start! Aldrovanda also requires some detritus and minerals along with a healthy population of zooplankton from small snails, to copepods and rotofers. Aldrovanda doesn't need the water to be clean and pure, in fact the best Aldrovanda I've seen were growing in a disgusting slurry of suspended clay and detritus just a few inches deep where the population density of those creature is the highest and the CO2 is also pretty high due to the close proximity to the roots of those companion plants. Large ornamental grasses should also work well as they also have extensive roots that have a strong ability to absorb and assimilate nitrogenous matter and give off CO2 to respiration. Good luck with whatever Aldrovanda you attempt to grow in this small pot.  - Rich

[rsivertsen]

Hey Mark,

You can grow Aldrovanda in a pot this size, at least for a while. The problem is that once they have ideal conditions, they will grow and multiply VERY rapidly, exponentially, in fact, and will double their numbers every 5 to 7 days. Lubomir Adamec has published this a few times, saying "... aquatic CPs such as Utrics and Aldrovanda grow much faster than terrestrial CPs." They can grow one to three new axils per day, and produce two or three new growths every week. A few plants can grow to millions in a few months! Yes, they do sink when they've produced "hardened" dormant turions for the winter. They also have a very high winter fatality rate, up to 95% is actually normal!

In my pond, less than 20 turions that emerged from winter dormancy in April grew into this by August.  - Rich

Edited by rsivertsen, 24 November 2009 - 17:19 PM.

[Lavindil]

Hi Mark. Aldrovanda red temperate from Hungary  are red and I think it will survive in your winter.

PS: I never heard about Aldrovanda and Equisetum, please post your results.

[Alexander Nijman]

In Nieuwkoop here in the Low Countries they are also growing like crazy I have heard! But the water there is very clean. Other plants growing there for example are Utricularia vulgaris, U. australis and U. minor. Water is acid with some sphagnum along the edges. And Drosera rotundifolia.

Alexander

[Daniel G]

Is there any way to "Convert" A pond with fish in, to an adrovanda pond?

[gardenofeden]

you could try:
take out the fish
replace water with rainwater
plant extensively with marginals including sedges, rushes to soak up nutrients
leave it a year to settle and once water is crystal clear add Aldrovanda

[Daniel G]

Well, the pond is at least 3 foot deep, maybe four foot, so marginals may be a problem. The water here isn't a problem, but the pond is filled with leaf litter and silt at the bottom, is that a problem?

Could i start off converting while that fish are still inside?
Also, seeing as i have been watering my plants for months with tap water, so would it be ok to fill it with that?

Thanks!

[jimscott]

Whoa.... I thought Aldrovanda is supposed to be in dirty pond water.

[Daniel G]

That's what i've been thinking, still, started emptying pond, not sure if i can get to bottom by bucketting it out.
Someone stop me pretty quick, before i get conditions wrong.

[nepenthes99]

I grow my aldrovanda in a small outdoor pond with goldfish in it. the plants are very hardy. I dont think the water quality or sun matters at all in their cultivation.

[gardenofeden]

the main issue with Aldrovanda is algae.  Sure it will grow in nutrient-rich water, and would probably prefer to do so, but in the majority of cases it will be outcompeted by algae which will smother the plants and block out light.  Natural situations where you might have moderately nutrient rich water, warm temperatures, bright sunlight etc all plants including marginals and other aquatics and Aldrovanda will grow very quickly and none will get the upper hand.  In a small garden pond situation, where the typical pond is high nutrient with low proportions of aquatic and marginal plants then algae will dominate and Aldrovanda will never succeed.  Fish will exacerbate the problem, as the extra nutrients from fish can switch a pond from a clean water macrophyte dominated system to a dirty, algal dominated system where the lack of light getting into the water prevents good growth of aquatics and the water quality never improves.... this situation can be seen at many intensively managed fishing lakes.  If you're lucky, and have a well-balanced pond with clean water and the right proportions of aquatics and marginals, you may well be able to grow Aldrovanda, but you need to get that well-balanced pond first.  It does not mean that fish are completely incompatible, but it is easier to establish a pond with the right balance if you start with low-nutrient water and a high proportion of plants which mean that algae have a very low chance of dominating.

[Alexander Nijman]

Aldrovanda is very picky about the waterquality! Otherwise it would not be that rare in the wild!

Alexander