Growing tips ????

[Nicole]

Hi

I was lucky enough to receive a small piece of Aldrovanda as a bonus for a purchase with a grower. Unfortunately, I am having a hard time finding any cultivation information.

Right now I have the plant in a small bowl full of water. I know that there has to be more for me to do to keep this plant alive, I just can't find any information

Anyone have any tips ??

Thanks

[matti]

G'day Nicole.

oo.. here we go.


Ok, a couple of things you need to remember about this plant.

Likes:
co2 (carbon dioxide)
boron (found in clay or boracic acid)
acid waters, however this is not a rule as many growers and myself have grown it in alkaline waters, I will elaborate further later on.

Dislikes:
Tadpoles
Algae
poor growing conditions

The plant is fairly fastidious in it's requirements compared to other species of aquatic Carnivorous plant.

I think were most growers go wrong with this plant is they can't supply the correct micro-elements (boron) or do not set up the habitat and give the water time to equilibrate.

My method is I grow my plants in white polystyrene boxes, the kind you can get at a supermarket, I put in the mix in this order,clay,peat moss,sand,sedge litter (carex species, or eleocharis), water ect.

I use lily pads,salvinia molesta,carex species, as live plants in the habitat, the reason I do this is because the living plants soak up nutrients such as nitrogen that can cause algal blooms in your tank, they also provide the correct balance of oxygen for snails and fungi (The fungi break down the peat moss and sedge litter to produce co2 that the plant needs) and what ever Else uses oxygen in the environment.

Another way to counteract algae is to lower your Ph to 6.0-7.2 from memory, wile this will not kill algae it dose grow considerably slower wile at the same time buggering up it's chemical reactions used to photosynthesis and grow. ;D

Talk to other growers and try to find a species of snail that will not eat your Aldrovanda, snails are important natural way to counteract algae.

I have never really found Aldrovanda to be fussy on light however it dose need to photosynthesis, I have grown it outdoors in full sun and in shaded positions, in strong light the leafs will be small (small plant) with large traps, in shady positions you will get larger leafs (wider plant) with smaller traps, if you grow any of the Australian or Hungarian forms you will notice they will turn deep red in full sun (produce anthocynins).

Some growers use co2 generators but to tell the truth I don't bother because my set up is large enough to cater for over 100 plants per box (and it dose).

Quality of water, well I used to use half rainwater/half creek water with great results, my soil contained high amounts of clay and iron (Fe), I have not had any problems with town water since I moved, I just manually added clay in the first layer to avoid the dreaded boron deficiency.

Anything I missed out on? there is alot to go on and it is 12am here, to early to think scientifically. feel free to ask. You can also try the Aldrovanda project at www.bestcarnivorousplants.com/aldrovanda/


Sorry for any spelling errors, My country dose not teach spelling or grammar in secondary school. ;D

[matti]

Just a photo of a healthy Aldrovanda with four apices.

[Nicole]

Ta muchly Matti

[Clint]

I have a question about clay. Well... what? Lol. Over here in the US, Georgia is nothing but clay, but would it have Boron like the Australian (at least your particular) clay does?

[rsivertsen]

Just', I've mentioned this presence of clay to several people in the Czech Rep. who are far more familiar with Aldrovanda than I, and they have confirmed that the best sites also have a significant presence of clay, which is a source of both Boron and Iron. In this site of mine, Iron often forms a blue film on the surface of the water, and similarly, several sites in the NJ Pine Barrens; it makes it very difficult to take clear photos with this blue film, and looks very much like an oil spill! But the plants love it!

[Clint]

Blue film, that's interesting. Is all clay good? I mean does it all have boron? Our clay here in GA is red/orange. I guess that means it's got a high iron content?

And as for iron, this'll sound dumb but could you throw an iron nail in the water and let it rust? Lol. Or I imagine Flourite substrate would be good.

Oh and please call me Clint

[rsivertsen]

Hey Clint, Iron exists in the wild in two natural oxidations states: Fe+2 and Fe+3, one is useless, and I don't remember which, but if there is a blue film that floats on the surface, it's the good form. That's all that I remember from college. Clays vary in chemistry, and most do have boron. Curiously, clay and mica are two inorganic molecules that can replicate themselves!

[esgalha]

Is it possible to add fertilezer?
I have a Micro nutrient fertilezer that I use for the plants in my fishtanks and it has Boron, iron, copper and many others.

I would like to try to propagate Aldrovanda in my fishtanks, but I'm afraid that the nitrogen and phosphates in the water kill the plant.

For now I have my aldrovanda in a small tank with water and peat only.

[Clint]

I know someone who grew it by the handful and flowered it in a planted tank.

Phosphate and nitrate should be kept in a 10/1 ratio by the way. For planted aquaria that is.

[SilverKiento]

Any ideas if vermiculite could be used as a replacement for clay? I may be misunderstanding this (I'm not geologist) but wiki says it is a clay..

"Vermiculite is a 2:1 clay, meaning it has 2 tetrahedral sheets for every one octahedral sheet. It has a medium shrink-swell capacity and is considered a limited-expansion clay. Vermiculite has a high cation exchange capacity at 100-150 meq/100g. Vermiculite clays are weathered micas in which the K+ ions between the molecular sheets are replaced by Mg2+ and Fe2+ cations."

Think it has boron and iron in it? And also.. think it would sink?

[rsivertsen]

Hey, it might work! But the MOST important factor in getting Aldrovanda to grow well is not the chemistry, but the BIOLOGY of the water!

They are a constituent member of a complex symbiotic community involving monocot plants, (whose roots produce a constant supply of CO2 from respiration, while absorbing the nitrogenous matter released by the Aldrovanda) along with snails copepods, daphnia, mosquito larvae, (they are the ONLY aquatic carnivorous plant that can capture and digest even the largest stages of mosquito larvae), and the entire zooplanktonic community, on which it feeds; and they really do need to feed!

They are rootless plants, and the only way they get their nourishment is from their carnivory. Snails pull out the old carcasses of the captured and digested prey, which otherwise becomes moldy, and loaded with algae. Copepods and snails both groom the strands of filamentous algae, while getting trapped in the Aldrovanda traps. They also seem to grow best in areas with decaying leaf litter of Juncus, Carex, Phragmites and Typha leaves.

[SilverKiento]

So far I've got copepods (possibly daphnia), snails (Malaysian Trumpet Snails), algae, and a source of CO2. Monday I'm gonna pick up a Water Hyacinth to suck up the leftovers and then hope that I'll get my aldrovanda next week. I doubt I'll add any vermiculite.. though it could help.. Maybe just a little to see if it sinks.

[rsivertsen]

Good luck SilverKiento! Where in Penn do you live?I happen to live about an hour away from East Stroudsburg where my son attends Univerity; perhaps I can show you the Aldrovanda pond so that you can get an idea how they grow; PM me if you're interested.
-Rich