Utricularia reniformis

[tom499]

I've had this plant a few years, growing it in an unheated greenhouse and bringing it inside in the winter to avoid freezing temperatures thinking I was doing it a favour. It grew and grew, but never flowered.

This winter it got forgotten about and took a tough frost. The leaves died, and I rushed it back inside and hoped that it might recover. You can see the old dead leaves still there. 

It looks as though the cold shock was beneficial, as it has given me a fantastic display. It has been growing on a windowsill, hence the rather odd inflorescence shapes.

IMG_3674 by tom_499, on Flickr

IMG_3684 by tom_499, on Flickr

IMG_3678 by tom_499, on Flickr

[Gaz]

Looking good Tom, thanks for sharing.  I might try that approach with my U. longifolia which never fail to disappoint year in year out.

[Oddworld1000]

Great plant Tom. I’d written off growing Utric’s like these as I don’t have a terrarium or grow lights. I’m encouraged to hear your experience and will now try growing this at some stage. 

[Deansgreenarmy]

As OW1000 :) Been off for a google and something else on the list, thanks for that! Dean

[corky]

http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.php?/topic/55273-just-how-hardy-is-utricularia-reniformis/

This thread might be worth a look, I read this thread a couple of years back and decided to get a plant , it has survived freezes if kept pretty dry

[tom499]

Thanks for the link Corky, some interesting stuff there. I think mine being in a large pot of peat and perlite helped insulate the rhizome from the worst of the cold. I'd be tempted to put it something even bigger as the more space it has the happier it seems to be. I kept it just moist through the winter which may also have helped protect it.

It's natural habitat will get fairly cool, but perhaps more importantly quite dry, so maybe withholding water is more important to induce flowering. I certainly wouldn't want to stress the plant in the same way again. It is a shame the garage does not have a window, as I think it might benefit most from a month or so at 5 Celsius with little water.

One sweet day I will have a greenhouse with a minimum 5 Celsius temp and these MacGyver antics won't be necessary..

[gabgabinou]

Wondefull !

[Rob-Rah]

Mine's in a very airy mix and I take mine out of the water trays in October/November and it gets completely dried out for a cold (min 1-2C) but sunny winter until March/April - whenever it tries to start growing and gets put back in the water trays. It flowers well every year well.