Mixing Nepenthes and Utricularia?

[KNepenthe]

So I have been wondering for a while why more people don't mix Nepenthes and Utrics? I understand that there are some very weedy utricularias out there that may be very hard to control but in a large nepenthes pot, with the right terrestrial variety, away from any small plants or seedlings that would be overgrown is there any harm in having some flowering ground cover in there? I haven't mixed the two yet but would love to if there are no objections from the CP community...

 

[amphirion]

no true objections with regards to cultivation really. most people just prefer one species of plant per pot.

 

[swords]

I started with a 2" pot of U. longifolia, it's now growing in all my HL nepenthes pots, the 2 ft x 4 ft moss covered floor of the chamber and blooming continuously. Doesn't seem to be affecting the Neps at all. Nice to see big purple flowers everywhere.

 

[Cthulhu138]

I recently got some Nepenthes from Europe and the sphagnum they were in is infested with some kind of epiphytic Utric. Probably longifolia. I personally find it pretty annoying , I'm definitely a one species per pot kind of guy.

 

[RL7836]

Things to consider:
- as was mentioned - many people prefer 1 species per pot. If you want to sell/trade your plant in the future - possible issue.
- Nep root system would make getting tenacious utrics (ie: longifolia, bisquamata, subulata, etc) close to impossible to remove (unlike Heli's or Cephs)
- If you're going to do it, I'd recommend a species that is not super robust so simple pruning would eliminate it (most of the large Orchidioides would probably fit this category - although I have not experimented). If you're set on a small floriforous, weedy species - at least go with one that doesn't self-seed (sandersonii is a good option)

 

[KNepenthe]

Sandersonii is exactly what I was looking into putting in there but how hard would it be to remove if I decided to go back down the line. I know it would be a lot of work and I would have to stay on it for a while but is it even possible?

 

[hcarlton]

It would be very hard to remove completely if you decided it didn't look good there. I have sandersonii Blue, livida, and longifolia growing in select pots of plants, and as I've mananged to get the Blue flowering in the Nepenthes pots and not on its own very often, there might be benefit to growing them together.