My Orchidioides tub

[Tanukimo]

I decided to make a thread for the tub I am using to grow my Orchidioides Utricularia. The first post can be found in the section Orchidioides discussion thread.I started this a little more than a month ago, with Utricularia reniformis and asplundii. Currently in addition to those I have alpina, endresii, geminiloba, nelumbifolia, and praetermissa.

I am using long-fibered sphagnum with some live sphagnum mixed in. When I first got the endresii, it was just a mass of tubers and traps about an inch across. Since then, it has made two tiny leaves.

I was afraid that it would rot in straight LFS, so I wrapped it up in live sphagnum and it looks like it is doing fine. I have also done the same thing with the other species, with the exceptions of nelumbifolia and reniformis. Ideally, the top of the medium would be completely made up of live sphagnum, but I don't have enough so I'm making do with what I have. I have also noticed that some of the LFS has begun to come alive and grow slowly.

Reniformis appears to be doing very well in this tub. I see lots of new growth and it has begun to spread, making many plantlets in the LFS. Many of these have leaves only a few millimeters wide. Surprisingly, most of the new growth is around the pieces of the plant that separated from the main one that I planted throughout the container, and not in the main clump.

You can see some of the plantlets show in this picture:

The praetermissa has also done better than I expected.

The first picture is from when I first got the plant. In the second you can see that the leaf that was unrolling in the first picture has fully developed. The alpina was in a similar situation when I got it with a developing leaf but it looks like that leaf is not going to form, which really surprised me given its reputation as an easy plant.

I didn't have enough live sphagnum to wrap that plant in live sphagnum, although I did wrap a piece of the plant that came off when I planted the first one. I don't know if the leaf in the bottom left corner was already there or not, but I hope it develops properly.

I wasn't sure about the identity of the nelumbifolia (another plant I accidentally split into two while unpacking) I got until I looked at the bladders and saw a couple of leaves developing. The first leaf the plant put out was reniform, so I thought it was reniformis. But looking at pictures I had taken of the leaf before, I realized that it had slowly unfolded, which I have never seen with reniformis.

I found the same thing on the other section of stolon when it put up a leaf:

Also, the bladders are much larger than the bladders on my reniformis (and look remarkably like Utricularia humboldtii bladders to me), so I think I have the real deal. When I got the plant, it had what looked like runners, but I think their development has been aborted.

I'm not sure if the geminiloba has grown. It came growing in a chunk of live sphagnum when I got it, so all I did was wrap some more live sphagnum around it and stick it into the LFS. I hope it doesn't just stay on the live sphagnum that it came in. I noticed a shoot growing up that I thought was either a new leaf or a moss sporophyte, but it turned out to be a Drosera binata leaf, which I am leaving in there for now.

 

[Tanukimo]

Just a really quick update.

First, the "runners" on the nelumbifolia have started to grow!

The one in the middle has gone from facing downwards to facing to the side, and the tallest one on the right has grown to over an inch. I'm not sure how high they were when I first got the plants, but now I'm more curious than ever as to what these things are.

Also, I noticed that a stolon on the geminiloba has begun to grow outward.

If you look really closely at the center of the picture, you should be able to make out a thin stolon. I should probably put some live sphagnum there for it to grow into.

 

[Knuckles]

Very cool
Have you ever had to deal with white moldy stuff on the top layer of sphagnum when growing utrics?

 

[Tanukimo]

Very cool
Have you ever had to deal with white moldy stuff on the top layer of sphagnum when growing utrics?

Thanks! No, I've never had mold on sphagnum before. In one of my Utricularia tubs with peat though this became a problem. It looked like a spider web but was much thicker and I had to manually remove it.

 

[Tanukimo]

A few updates. I am now growing the plants under T5s for 10 hours a day.

Both of the Utricularia alpina are putting up new leaves.

So is the Utricularia praetermissa.

And it has had a lot of stolon growth. I'm rather surprised by it because the layer of live sphagnum is pretty thin. It is nice that it tolerates dead sphagnum as well.

The endresii is doing great! The leaf on the left is about half an inch tall, and it keeps making new leaves.

The old foliage on the geminiloba has mostly died but it has put out a new leaf as well. Not as large as some of the original leaves, but at least it is still alive.

The "nelumbifolia" appears to be nelumbifolia x reniformis, which I am very disappointed by.

No pictures of the reniformis but it is doing well. Unfortunately, the asplundii doesn't appear to have grown so I am thinking of moving it back to its original net pot on a windowsill.

 

[carnigrower01]

I know nelumbifolia puts out reniform type leaves until an adult I think.

Mark

 

[Tanukimo]

I know nelumbifolia puts out reniform type leaves until an adult I think.

Mark

Thanks! I asked about that here.

 

[vivi1316]

Wow that's cool!

 

[Tanukimo]

Well looking at my first photo my tub has come a long way. It has exceeded my expectations. Anyways, some updates:

I have added highland Drosera and Nepenthes to the container, and most of them have done fairly well.
The Utricularia geminiloba and campbelliana that I added didn't survive, but I have added Utricularia nephrophylla, jamesoniana, and cornigera which appear to be doing okay.

Anyways, pictures!

Drosera riparia

Drosera riparia flowers (have been away at school so haven't had a chance to catch them open or try pollinating, unfortunately)

Nepenthes boschiana

Nepenthes fusca

Utricularia nephrophylla (hasn't been as vigorous as I thought it would be)

Utricularia asplundii (I thought it was too wet for it but I think it has recovered)

Utricularia endresii back from dormancy

Drosera roraimae

not sure if this is Drosera communis or viridis (I have had both)

etiolated Utricularia alpina

Utricularia quelchii recovering from shipment (got it six months ago lol)

Nepenthes burkei

Nepenthes izumiae (my most vigorous Nepenthes)

Utricularia praetermissa

Utricularia jamesoniana (produces more stolons than leaves)

Utricularia nelumbifolia x reniformis (still looking for true nelumbifolia)

It looks like some of the long-fibered sphagnum has started to degrade, so I will need to change it. I also need more light for this setup since right now I am sharing one fixture among three different containers.

 

[Tanukimo]

Some more updates. The Utricularia nelumbifolia x reniformis is getting out of control!

Utricularia endresii

Utricularia alpina (there is a second flower stalk in the back)

Utricularia nephrophylla
It has definitely been spreading.

Utricularia jamesoniana
A slow grower but it makes a lot of stolons.

Utricularia praetermissa

flower stalk in center

 

[Tanukimo]

Well to make a long story short, the sphagnum moss started to break down so I was forced to abandon this tub. However, the plants had grown so much that I had to split it into three different tubs. I found out that I had some humboldtii that I had thrown in 2 years ago which I thought I had lost. By the way, I am also using this method to grow highland Nepenthes and Heliamphora, and it has worked out great. The plants are more clearly divided into Nepenthes, Drosera, and Utricularia now, although Utricularia alpina is everywhere. lol

Anyways here are some pictures, beginning with just after the move.

Utricularia humboldtii(!)

Utricularia alpina

Utricularia asplundii

Utricularia nelumbifolia x reniformis

Drosera viridis (looking much better now)

Drosera communis (planted rather haphazardly but they seem to be doing fine)

Drosera riparia

Utricularia nephrophylla

Drosera latifolia (also looking much better now)

Drosera roraimae (most of them didn't make it but I have a few left)

top view of one tub (almost all Utricularia)

Here are some Nepenthes shots. They didn't seem fazed by the degradation of the soil.
Nepenthes izumiae

Nepenthes boschiana

Nepenthes fusca

Nepenthes izumiae
Believe it or not, I don't think this plant has grown since taking this picture. Its siblings (seed-grown) are all pitchering but this one seems to be in suspended animation. And it has been several months)

Nepenthes burkei

top view of the Nepenthes tank

A few months later, grass was growing everywhere. I pulled most of it out but there are still some I need to get.

lots of leap jumps for these Nepenthes

These photos are from Thanksgiving break.

Utricularia asplundii (seems to like these conditions better, haven't seen it make a leaf this big in a while)

Utricularia endresii

Drosera latifolia

 

[Tanukimo]

unidentified Utricularia

Drosera communis looking green

Drosera riparia

Utricularia nephrophylla plus another unidentified Utricularia to the left

a closer view

I believe this is the same species as the previous one (still have no idea what it is though)

Drosera viridis recovered nicely

These pictures are from winter break.

Drosera roraimae

unidentified Utricularia again

second unidentified Utricularia + Drosera communis (might have grown from seed, I'm not sure)

Drosera communis

under the sun

Drosera riparia

under the sun

Utricularia asplundii

Drosera latifolia

under tsun

So this picture is pretty unclear, but one of the unidentified Utricularia has tubers, and you can see one in the middle of the picture.

Drosera viridis

Utricularia nelumbifolia x reniformis

And some more shots of Nepenthes.

Nepenthes izumiae that is not growing

a healthier Nepenthes izumiae

Nepenthes fusca

I love how red this one is, including on the leaves.

Nepenthes boschiana

 

[nimbulan]

Those sundews are looking much better now!

Have you checked the roots on that stalled izumiae? I'm wondering if there's a problem down below that you can't see.

 

[Grey Moss]

I agree. There might be a patch of particularly bad soil below the N. izumae.

 

[Tanukimo]

Some updates.

First, the star of the show! I'm so grateful that I was able to catch this beauty in flower. I won it in the 2014 NASC auction and this is the first time it has flowered for me. There were two different inflorescences. I thought the second one was Utricularia jamesoniana at first.

Utricularia alpina
This plant is really weedy for me. Somehow I have it in all 5 of my highland tubs, and that includes one that I just set up in March. Some stolons must gotten mixed in with the plants that I transplanted. It's also sending up a lot of inflorescences in different tubs, so hopefully there will be a lot of flowers in a month or two.

This is the mother plant.

A new addition, Utricularia quelchii.

Utricularia nelumbifolia x reniformis
This plant had a nice stalk but unfortunately it grew too close to the lights and got fried. I will probably move it to a taller container eventually.

An imitation nelumbifolia leaf. I'm still looking for that species.

Utricularia endresii
I can't believe how far this plant has come. Last year when it came back from dormancy it only have a couple small leaves. After transplanting everything into separate tubs in January, it is now in two containers.

This is the longest leaf. I think it's over three inches long. Maybe there will be flowers next year?

Utricularia praetermissa
The flower stalk on this plant is actually more developed than any of the alpina ones.

Utricularia humboldtii
Since transplanting this plant, it has sent up another paddle-shaped leaf. I was worried about it. It seems to grow pretty slowly.

Utricularia nephrophylla
I forgot to take more pictures of this plant.

Utricularia jamesoniana

unidentified Utricularia

I forgot to take pictures of Utricularia reniformis. Guess it'll have to wait until the next update.

 

[Tanukimo]

The Orchidioides are now spread across 3 tubs except for alpina which seems to have gotten into all of the ones with sphagnum.

Unfortunately the praetermissa flower aborted right when the bud was beginning to swell. Oh well, one of these days I will get it to flower successfully.

Endresii seems to have gone dormant again. I'm excited to see how big its leaves will be next year.

Nephrophylla is finally spreading and I have several clumps of it now.

A few were repotted recently so they still don't look that good.

Jamesoniana seems to be doing well in a more shaded part of the tub.

Haven't seen much new growth from asplundii recently. Maybe it's still recovering from flowering.

I got some nelumbifolia a few months ago at the BACPS show and sale. This is the first leaf it has made in my care.