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Aquatic Utricularia from seed, any advice?


notostracan

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Hello, I was wondering if anyone has any experience growing aquatic Utricularia (or any other aquatic species) from seed?

 

I received a packet of U.volubilis as a substitute in a seed order and have successfully germinated a few of the seeds in a cup of DI water with some peat and sand at the bottom...now what do I do with them? This is the first fully aquatic plant species I've tried to grow from seed.

 

If they can grow terrestrially, then that sounds like the easy option, but I cant find any reference to this being possible for U.volubilis.  My fear with growing them submersed is of algae smothering them before they reach a suitable size for placing in an aquarium.

 

I have much experience growing aquatic plants (from "high-tech" to Walstad-style), and currently have a CO2 injected planted tank fertilised using "Estimative index" principles, which I'm sure mature specimens of U.volubilis would thrive in - however this tank is full of fish, shrimp, snails, etc. and the tiny plants would just get eaten/lost/overgrown in there at their current size.

 

My current plan is to see how big I can get them in the cup before transferring to a small clear "breeder box" in the planted tank, but if anyone has any other suggestions please let me know! :)

 

 

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I have grown U.Aurea from seed a few times, I use a spag slurry until they are 2-3cm long then move them to a 5-10L tank and use dilute fertiliser to speed things up and a CO2 reactor.

 

Not sure what you mean by "aquatic Utricularia (or any other aquatic species)", but if you mean "other aquatic species" nymphoides and nymphaea are very easy from seed, as are typha and most sedges, similar protocol, slurry then deeper pond, but in the case of the water lily deeper again for most and fertiliser.

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Thanks for the reply, exactly the sort of info I was looking for :). Earlier today I put once of the germinated seeds on some waterlogged peat/sand/sphagnum that's kind of like a slurry, you reply gives me confidence.

 

Yes, I meant species like Nymphoides spp. etc, it's the "slurry" stage I am worried about, as I'm thinking algae growth might overtake the seedlings. Only one way to find out I guess!

Edited by notostracan
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  • 6 years later...

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