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Aldrovanda Attempt

I have found a place to get aldrovanda from.. and I REALLY want to try to grow it. I want to know if anyone here has successfully grown it and how they do it. I have gathered SOME information, but it requires materials that are unavailable to me (like sedges). The biggest thing I'm worried about is algae. Last year I tried to grow an aquatic utric and algae took it out in no time at all. So I need a good method for keeping algae at bay. Other information I need is just HOW to keep it alive. I've heard from numerous sources that they're pretty delicate and are finicky about their conditions so I want to try and get it as close to perfect as possible with what I have.

ANY information is appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Well the guy who I'm getting mine from (.. third time around!) says use some clay since it has iron and boron in it. Like... really it sounds crazy but get some clay lol.

My tank is a big rubbermaid storage container, with clay and leaves on the bottom, then peat and LFS (the leaves and LFS is so it will rot and make co2) and then a layer of Profile to keep it nice and tidy. Then I planted reeds and weeds from the lake in it. Add a couple of floaters. I like water hyacinth since water lettuce just melts for me for some reason.
 
Clay? Hmmm.. I wonder if I can dig it up somewhere, I dunno.

What's profile? I've heard the term before but it's not ringing a bell.

I guess I've got a shopping (or collecting) list! And by collecting, I mean like.. the leaves and stuff.

Thanks for all the info!

Out of curiousity, how did they die the other 2 times?
 
Aquatic plant media. It's little inert baked clay pebbles made from Fullers Earth. I think homedepot sells 10 lb. bags for like 6 bucks.

One try was plants from Kimberly, another was from Darwin. On one it was lack of co2 , on the other they just melted.
 
Ah okay, so that's what profile is. I think if Home Depot doesn't have it, I know of a place that will.

They melted? Like.. too hot?

I don't really have any lakes or ponds or something here.. so I think I'm going to just get a random aquatic plant and hope it does the trick. Not much else I can do.

Edit: I ordered my aldrovanda last night, it's a red Australian species. It came with three algae eating snails AND it was cheaper than my first source so I went for it. Which means I need to get my setup..uhh.. set up.. ASAP.
 
I dunno. They just... disintegrated. If you want I can send you some plants next time I'm up at the lake which will be uhhh.. I dunno maybe a week? Otherwise get some plants at HomeDepot like water hyacinth, phalaris grass (neat plant that phalaris!), carex species if they have them, other dicots.

Don't be stingy with the layer of LFS!
 
I knew about the carex, but I haven't found any yet. I don't think Home Depot has aquatic plants but That Fish Place does. I'll try my luck with Home Depot and That Fish Place before anything else.

And yeah I was thinking of using an entire bag on it. :p

I hope Home Depot has their garden department ready finally.
 
Jeeze. I've only grown CP's for a few months and the only hard one I've killed so far is my Heliamphora (I think it's dead, it is officially H. minor var. brown) but I'm not going to toss it out of the pot for a long while because who knows, it may be alive! I bought an Aldrovanda a long while ago, but I told the seller to hold it off until I could get the materials ready. And by that I meant a year or so.

Some people recommend companion plants like Utricularia gibba (I do not like Utricularia, but I'd rather put a carnivorous plant in that I don't like than a dumb tall one that is annoying like a dwarf cattail or typha minima)
 
Well I wouldn't consider it a waste if my aldrovanda doesn't make it... I'll just have a nice little aquatic utric container! And I can always try again. :D
 
  • #10
Indeed. You can't find Aldrovanda much, but when you do, they are usually only a little more or less than 10$ without shipping.
 
  • #11
Yeah I guess they're cheap because there's not a big demand for them.. since it's hard to keep them alive and all.

I ordered a U. gibba to keep the aldro company. :)
 
  • #12
It will be too invasive and unruly.
 
  • #13
Ah.. I'll just have to keep an eye on it then.. or possibly divide it..

Anyways! I just got back from a nice big shopping spree..

First I went to That Fish Place and they had NOTHING but water hyacinths which I am holding off on getting until i'm ready for it. From there I went to Home Depot.. again.. they had NOTHING.. except play sand and fungicide.. so I bought two bags. ^^ Then, dissatisfied with the lack of completion of my shopping list I went to Lowes they had nothing I needed except for an appliance timer which was on clearance for $3! Score! Only problem I've seen with it so far is that it smells funny. So then as a last resort we went to the branch of the place that I work that was right down the road from Lowes and bought like 95% of the stuff on my list. Their garden department is MASSIVE and I could've gotten lost and been eaten by the dreaded garden hose snake, but my mom's sense of direction is better than mine so nothing tragic happened. No one knew what profile was but I did find it, it just wasn't called Profile.. but I'm almost positive it's what I was lookin' for. It says on the back that it's 100% kiln-fired ceramic. The only thing I didn't find on my list.. was clay, sadly, and I have no idea where I could find it. So... I guess I'll have to do without. I hope it's not THAT important. So tomorrow I'll put everything together and collect some leaves from somewhere.. Oh, do the leaves have to be dead? The container I got is 48.8 quarts and it's about.. 6-8 inches high and at least 2 and a half feet long. I'm hoping that's good enough. I made sure to get one that's longer than it is deep.

I was so disappointed with Home Depot.. they didn't even have Sphagnum Peat Moss. Lowes had this gigantic Cobra Lily. I swear the head of that pitcher was easily a good inch-inch and a half across. So tempting.. but I resisted and just hoped that it wasn't a T/C mutant and mine will get that big eventually.

I also got some stuff to start a little bog bowl. Since my sarrs don't seem to like the winter too much. So yeah, I'm a happy happy CPer right now. I'm one of the only people that can turn something like shopping for plant stuff into an evening's adventure, lol.

Clint, did you get your new aldrovanda yet or are you still waiting? If you got it, how's it going?

Ah.. one more question.. On this little poster thing above the water hyacinths it says "for algae prevention" how do they prevent algae? Just cuz of shade or what? They're not really that big.

I lied, the fungicide I got at Home Depot was the kind you had in that pic of that utric you posted in the trading post. I had no idea what else to get and I saw that and I was like "Oh Clint uses that, it must be ok to use!" so I got it.. do you dilute it when you use it?
 
  • #14
I lied, the fungicide I got at Home Depot was the kind you had in that pic of that utric you posted in the trading post. I had no idea what else to get and I saw that and I was like "Oh Clint uses that, it must be ok to use!" so I got it.. do you dilute it when you use it?

I told you! He does product placements! I guess you earned a buck today, Clint!

xvart.
 
  • #15
Well, really 1.12 but who's penny pinching? I'm Schultz rich baby.

It's fine to use. It's just neem oil. I like the smell of it. Not that I sit around huffing fungicide or anything but it has a neat smell to it. I don't dilute it, and the only plant I've had that was bothered by it was D. adelae, but come on, everything pisses off D. adelae. It's so melodramatic. Like a goth kid on his birthday.

I used dead leaves and since I live in GA, I just got a few cups of clay out of the yard. If you want to pay shipping I guess I can send you some clay in a flat-rate box if you want. What a strange offer.


I'm still waiting for my Aldrovanda. It should be here in the month sometime. I'll post pics when it arrives. It's temperate and since it was growing outside in a private pond the unseasonable temperatures have set it back.

I'm getting Aldrovanda sent to me from this pond if you care to see the pics. They are REALLY neat pics, since it's like in NJ. No one better pester this man for plants or introducing a species, I mean it. It's private and 100% legal.

http://icps.proboards105.com/index.cgi?board=aldrovanda&action=display&thread=1175287959

The hyacinths do give shade but it's the feathery roots that suck up excess nutrients and out compete algae. They even use hyacinths in sewage treatment plants. Mine were killed in the great freez of '07. I need more.
 
  • #16
Hmmm I wonder if I should get 2 of them then? And that sucks that they can't deal with freezing... I'm gonna have to bring the whole thing inside in the winter. T-T

And those are definately some neat pics! It's neat that aldrovanda can live up here. I'm right above NJ so the climate is pretty much the same.

So you have clay in your yard, eh? I wonder if I do.. I've dug a few holes in my time but.. I doubt I've seen any red clay.. If it's THAT important then I'll have to take up your offer.. this has turned into quite an investment so I wouldn't want to leave out one part and everything go to waste cuz of that one thing.

Alright cool so that fungicide is okay.. it won't bug seedlings either will it? Lol.. "It's so melodramatic. Like a goth kid on his birthday." xD
 
  • #17
If they are temperate they will form turions and sink.

Georgia is nothing but red clay and if you want it let me know. It won't hurt seedlings, not IME. The fungicide I mean. The clay would.
 
  • #18
I think I'll take my chances with no clay this time. If I regret it.. oh well, but the aldrovanda will get here before the clay does. So that doesn't seem to be an acceptable course of action.

Would it matter if I used live leaves? This may sound stupid but there's like.. no dead leaves around my house, I s'pose I could kill some myself but as for finding any already dead.. not gonna happen. My house is always a little windy since I live on a hill and I only have like 3 trees in my yard as it is. So.. not so many leaves.. except in the fall.
 
  • #19
I dunno. You can try it.
 
  • #20
...I'll just murder some leaves then.
 
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