Rob-Rah

You need to leech nutrients from the water. Water hyacinth is good, as are potted plants like typha and carex. Small water snails will east algae, and introductions of daphnia will also help with algae as well as feed the plant. I suggest a variety of flora and fauna. If you can get a balanced ecosystem in a tank then you can grow in full sun without algae.

Thanks!

Am I right in thinking that we can all relabel our plants formerly known as H. sp. 'Ilu Tepui' as H. elongata? That's what Wistuba's website indicates.... Thanks.

Ah, would that it were so easy, Stephen....

A good clone and lots of light I guess. Thanks!

Mine get a winter minimum of just above freezing. I get no die-back, although growth stops. Pic taken today:

My praelonga is in pure live sphagnum sitting in the water tray in a 4" pot all year. It gets cold winters (2C min) and flowers in spring/summer no probs. My calycifidas seem reluctant to flower for me in their peat/sand mix in a shady lowland terrarium (have done so only once). Might need more light.

I am lucky to have been able to get some U. praetermissa. Can anyone with any wisdom suggest any tips for me? It is going to go into my tank with other utrics like endresii, asplundii and quelchii (very humid 10C-25C). Humid and condensing water. Live sphagnum-perlite mix. Semi-shade to diffused bright light. Is this a plant that does the semi-dormant thing on occasion? Thanks anyone! Rob. (Cross-posted on PFT)

I second Tony...

I have also found that highland neps want the cool, wet nights (fog condensing in the air, with temps down well into the low 20s at the most). But that, given them, they are fine with occasional day temps up to 40C, and peaking at a consistent summer max of 35C. Cheers.

I use a labelling machine to make plant tags like in this pic. They are sticky-backed, seem to be waterproof and don't fade:

Hmmm. Sorry folks, but as I am off to university next weekend there will be no-one around to keep a close watch on the seedpods and the seed (if it even forms) won't get collected. Prob have some turions available in the winter though. Watch this space.

I have them in various different tanks and locations. Those in shade (in a tank in the greenhouse under water hyacinth, and in a tank under a bush in the garden) grow fine but are substantially smaller in all their parts than those in sun - as little as half the diameter.

lol I'm a beginner at this plant still. Just posting what works for me. I think previous posts can be found on the "search" here when cultivation has come up before. The articles on http://www.bestcarnivorousplants.com/aldrovanda/index.htm are pretty good too. On re-reading some of the articles on that site, it looks like quite a few of the Australian forms might tolerate a kind of enforced dormancy. I don't grow any of those forms though, so others will have to say. Cheers.

If you are in the UK, I can supply you with a piece of carex panicea (carnation sedge) - pm me. I chose the two species I grow becuase they stay dwarf. I like live plants becuase as their leaves die they fall into the tank replenishing the litter on the bottom for you. Incidentally, with a sedge, typha and water hyacinth poking over the tank top, how will you get the lights that close to the water? I would start with the lights further away and then bring them closer if the plant seems unhappy - you don't want to risk scorching it at 3" as the bulbs can get quite warm... Have you no outdoors you could place the tank? Also, bear in mind that if you plan to give the plant dormancy then it will start to form the winter buds any time from now on (though prob not for a month or two yet).

I can't offer general advice but I do grow it, and I feel quite well - it's currently in full flower... To do each question in turn (according to what I do, which will not be the only right way to do it: Mine get full, direct sun until early afternoon, when they are shaded, by and by, by greenhouse whitewash and a tree. I believe that the plants like lots of light and that the only reason some people shade them more is to halp avoid algae. Therefore I am not convinced that indoor growing would work under such low lights as you suggest. I grow typha minima, carex panicea and water hyacinth with mine. The first two are planted in mesh pots standing on the bottom of the tank. I don't use the water hyancinth to shade the plant, as the Aldro will not grow underneath the hyacinth leaves at all. It is used merely to help extract nitrogen from the water, which cuts down on algal problems. It is kept thinned to only one or two small crowns. 1"-2" peat, thin layer of sand and then 2" (or more) of sedge litter. Sedge litter is dead leaves of sedges (carex species, but also refers to some typha species). It can be purchased at a price, or you can out into the wild and find bullrushes and collect their dead leaves. It should be boiled before use. I have also used dead leaves from other plants, which helps against algae but the plants don't do so well. Sedge releases humic and tannic acids which might not be so abundant from other leaves - just a guess though. I large layer of decomposing litter on the bottom will release CO2 naturally itself (you can see it bubble periodically) and I do not use any injection devices. As long as they are a small species they seem to be quite happy browsing on algae and not easting the plants. The main ways to control algae are to a) optimise the conditions for Aldrovanda and let it outcompete algae, b) use companion plants to leech nutrients, c) introduce microfauna such as daphnia, in large quantities periodically until such time as the algae is no longer a problem, and d) keep a good layer of litter on the bottom which increases acidity as it decomposes and lessens algae. In a healthy tank everything works in equilibirium and algae should not have to be treated. If a tank seems to refuse to settle down into such equilibirum after a few weeks, then the water must be changed and you start again. Yes do it. You boil peat in water and then strain the water into the tank. No fixed proportion. A handful into a suacepan? Who knows what else you may add too? You don't want to have duckweed taking over so don't use pond water I suggest. You can buy daphnia easily from fish shops. The Polish form goes dormant in winter, whereas I don't think the tropical forms do. You could attempt to deprive the Polish one of dormancy, but I don't know if that will work long-term. I have read this too. No idea. I don't use any. No. Companion plants will suck it up for you. As an aside, also, I suggest you do not use a transparent tank. All aqautics do much better in an opaque tank where the light cannot get in through the sides - which is what a pond is like in nature. My tank has about 4" of clear water only before the litter starts - which is very loosely packed for 2" or so before the peat layer on the bottom. However, many people suggest using rather deeper water than this - though mine are very very happy as it is. Cheers!

Lake Dlugie in Eastern Poland. The seed pods are not ripe yet, although they continue to look like they have been pollinated. I am checking them each day and will try to catch them as they begin to be ripe. Will post again if and when I have some seed.

I am slightly bemused by the amount of negativity. As long as a plant is kept away from amateur growers there is no chance of seeing what extremes of conditions it will adapt to. The Wurzburg reports are encouraging in dispelling the idea that it requires constant very hot temperatures at least. A lot of people grow large vines or lianas in amateur setups. Things like aristolochia will grow ti huge lengths ultimately. There are ways around it. Pruning, dwarfing, cuttings, training around hoops, canes many times. The point is "no-body knows" becuase no-one but a couple of botanical gardens attempt it, and then attempt to give optimum conditions. Sure there will be many losses in semi-amateur hands, but trial and error is the touchstone with these things. I remember a couple of decades ago when Heliamphora was regarded as almost prohibitively difficult to grow, and also the mystique surrounding Genlisea when they first materialised as a "new" genus in cultivation. I don't want to suggest that Tryphyophyllum is likely to be as easy as Hoya carnosa, but I don't see a long-term benefit to keep it wrapped up cotton wool becuase then there is no hope for it in cultivation, and therefore probably as a viable part of the planet's biosphere either, considering the treatment of its native habitats. If someone is willing to go and get seeds with a view to private attempts then that's great (provided the experience is shared) - although altruistic in the extreme. Cheers.

Are you sure it's Brooks Hybrid you have? The lids usually mostly cover the traps. In any event, if rain were to get in I imagine the pitcher would fall over with the weight and the water would all run out again anyway. If it's outside and in the rain, just let nature do what it wants. If it's under cover and it's anything except S. purpurea, then don't add extra water. PS - no need to use bold typeface. :-) Cheers.

No. (That is, no it doesn't need addition of water to the pitchers, not no, no-one can tell you) Best wishes.

I am happy to send out seed when it matures. However, I can't guarantee collection of it. The seed heads have bent over and forced themselves face down into the water. I could remove the growing shoots from the water to enable safe collection but this might not be what the plant wants and the seed may not mature properly out of the water. Anyway, just a speculation. If anyone in distant lands would like me to try and save seed for them, let me know. No point for in the EC (as I ought to have a few turions for grabs in winter for the EC). Cheers.

My Aldrovanda which is currently flowering appears to be producing seed heads. They are being thrust into the water. Does anyone know if this is for real? Is Aldrovanda self-pollinating or have some bees crept in and done the job for me? And is it worth keeping the seeds? Cheers.

The flowers don't seem to stay open long. They were closed when I got back today although it was sunny. I wonder if these a open-shut kinda flower like many Drosera?

Yeah, I had a closer exmaination of the stygia this morning before work, they do look more like leafy buds forming (the other aquatic utrics I have don't flower from the shoot tips anyway, but form seperate flowering stems). Oh well. It is one of my dreams to flower this plant! The containers are in the greenhouse on the floor. The greenhouse is covered with whitewash in the summer. The Aldrovanda tank is closest to the door though, and the door is frequently open during the daytime so it gets quite a lot of direct sun until around 2pm. The dimensions are on the link I posted above I think...

This photo was from earlier this year: Actually, looking at that photo, there has been an astonishing amount of growth in the two months or so since it was taken (the tank is the one at the front).