More aldrovanda

More pictures of aldrovanda vesiculosa this one is from girraween lagoon in the northern territory australia.

[chris]

No one here seems to like this plant like we do Matti.Maybe they don't know much about it.

Yeah! post some pictures of your plant(s)!

[mindy]

Got a bit of a reflection on the water but....




I've been growing this one for about five years now

That reflection is Humic acid which the plant needs.

what area dose your form origonate from?

[mindy]

I was told it was from Japan.

[trimen1000]

Hey, do you think it would be possible if you could send me like a cup of water and sediment from your Aldrovanda tank/pond/bottle(or something?

Last time I tried one I gave the plant away because it was failing horribly. I'm thinking it's probably because it didn't have the stuff it needed in the tank.

Go out and cut up some sedge leafs species such as Carex gracilis, C. elata, C. acutiformis will do,they slowley release CO2 and humic acid into the water that the plant needs.
Dry them out till there brown then put them into warm water untill they sink and then put them into a fish tank,peat moss will also work.

Then fill your tank up with tap water (don't use creek water,you don't know what is in it) messure the PH of the water,it needs to be at 7-7.5 for the plant to grow well it also keeps algae down because the PH affects the chemical reactions in algae.
To bring the PH down you can use a PH buffer designed for discus fish,becarful of buffers containing phosphorus as they can cause algae to grow.

Go out and get a few water plants such as salvinia,these will soak up the nutrience left in your water from the PH buffer altho aldrovanda can put up with water with nutrience in it but it grows better with no nutrience.

Get some pond snails ,they eat algae.
You can choose to grow your plant indoors or out doors its your choice,remember that out doors your plant may go dormant in winter by forming turions and they sink to the bottom.
If you grow it indoors you can put an aquerium heater in there and keep the water temp at about 23c year round and it will grow very fast for you!

after you have done all this you can add the plant,no need to wait around for a few weeks like some people say.

See if you can get your hands on the form from girraween lagoon NT its probably the easyest and will thrive in the conditions iv described.
You can PM me and i can give you an email to source it from

[mindy]

Trimen, the easy way to get the water acid enough for Aldrovanda to survive is to take a cup of moss peat. Boil it up in a pan with some rainwater, I never use water from the tap because in the UK we have a lot of lime in our tapwater, rainwater is always best for carnivorous plants anyway. Let the water and peat mixture boil for a few minutes then leave it to cool. Pour the water with the peat into the tank you will be keeping your Aldrovanda in, top it up with more rainwater then leave it to stand for a week. After a week the peat will settle at the bottom and the water should suddenly become crystal clear but it will be a straw yellow colour like weak tea. Then it is ready for the plant to go in. I gently cover the peat with small pebbles before putting the plant in, so that when the tank is topped up as the water evaporates, it doesn't stir up the peat in the bottom of the tank.

You can use some water plants like the ones Matti has suggested to help keep the algae down, but if the water is right it is not that important and you can of course add some water snails, but make sure they are not the sort that will eat your aldrovanda as well. Again I don't bother with the snails because my plants live on the kitchen windowsill and I don't want snails indoors. I change my water every four or five months and start the whole process again, This way I have managed to keep my plants alive and very healthy for five years without any problems. As you can see in my picture the plant is a very healthy green with plenty of traps. It's worth going to the trouble of doing all this, if you don't get the water right, your plants will die within a few months.

[trimen1000]

matti said:

Go out and cut up some sedge leafs species such as Carex gracilis, C. elata, C. acutiformis will do,they slowley release CO2 and humic acid into the water that the plant needs.
Dry them out till there brown then put them into warm water untill they sink and then put them into a fish tank,peat moss will also work.

I think that may be what I missed. Thank you.

I'll post up some pics if I'm successful.

This plant is grown in the conditions i have described and i havn't even had it 2 months,grows about one new whorl a day.
Of corse it is the plant in the first picture

[quogue]

Hey all, One of the other members(Matt Opel) gave me a couple of Aldrovandra strands at the NECPS show last month. It's a tropical strain. I threw it into a tupperware container with distilled water, a little peat with a buncha dried sphagnum at the bottom, of course I gave it a day or two to let the peat settle first, then the sphagnum took another couple of days to settle, then I placed the Waterwheels on top. Looks yellow an ugly, but it works.
They were in my Orchidarium under some Lowland Nepenthes which gave it bright, indirect light. Haven't had a problem with algae and they've been growing like gangbusters brachin an alla that. Nice an green too. I was going to order the dirt & plants from Meadowview, but they've been doing good so far so I'll see how it goes.
I know it's been little over one month since I've had em, but they're definitely growing so far. Now they're in the Lowland grow chamber so we'll see how they do. I'll post pics when I get the chance. Hope they don't pull the incredible disappearing act they're known for...

My form is pretty easy to grow, keep the water temperature around 25c and I had it producing two new whorls a day!

[twoton]

I love aldrovandas - since I learned from Barry Rice's book the other day that they have snap traps, much like VFTs. I'm gonna get me one.

Thanks for starting this thread, Matti!

No worries see if you can get the form from girraween lagoon in the northern terrirory.beware tho they are only as big as your index finger!