Utricularia roundup, February 2016

Everyone knows that Drosera is my favorite genus of carnivorous plants. I mean, it's in the name. The number 2 spot goes back and forth – sometimes it's Pinguicula, but lately I think it's been Utricularia. It's funny, because when I was first first starting out I didn't get Utricularia at all. I had no idea why anyone would bother growing such weird, dumb little plants. Incidentally, I still feel that way about the aquatic species (but don't tell anyone).

Why Utricularia? Well, as with sundews it's a big, sprawling, cosmopolitan genus. There's a huge variety out there to explore, and several different cultivation styles to master. And of course, the flowers are a real treat, whether it's cute little spray from the easy terrestrials, or a more impressive display from larger/touchier species. Of course, the fact that very few people seem to specialize in Utricularia just makes them that much more attractive.

In any case, I decided to check in on my collection today. This collection of Utricularia lateriflora flowers got me started with the pictures.

Such delightful purple flowers.

This is one of my favorite species right now. It flowers pretty freely, and the flowers are adorable – dark purple with a white splotch.

Next door, my Utricularia cornigera is doing very well.

Those are some nice-looking leaves.

I'm glad these have recovered from dying back a few months ago. Based on how I've seen new leaves come up on this one, I feel like it would favor an airy LFS planting in a net pot. Maybe I'll do that once it gets a chance to grow in a bit more.

My other plant from section Orchidioides, Utricularia humboldtii, has put out a new leaf.

I like the venation on those leaves.

This one is pretty slow to make new leaves, but I understand that's pretty normal. I should trim all the dead growth and messy stolons to get a better picture of what it looks like. By the way, this plant has been found at elevations of more than 8000 feet (2500 meters). That's really high!

Nearby, the Utricularia heterosepala flower stalk fell over after I jostled it recently.

Man, it would be awesome if another flower popped too.

I'm seriously impressed with this plant. It's been holding both of the flowers for a while now, and there's no sign of giving up. Really fantastic grower, looking forward to getting more blooms from it.

Utricularia calycifida has a somewhat similar flower, although the bloom stalks typically support only one at a time.

This flower has awesome patterning on it.

This is the first time it's rebloomed since the last big show. I really feel like I should repot this plant into pure LFS. It's been so hard to find time to do serious plant stuff like that lately! Alas.

One of the plants that I've never been able to flower is Utricularia praelonga.

This is one of those plants just just hangs out, waiting to do something.

This oddball utric grows two different kinds of leaves, and is notoriously difficult to flower. I've seen some in bloom in cultivation though, and I'm trying to get some tips. The flowers are supposed to be large and yellow.

Utricularia sandersonii is one that flowers for me, but very weakly. This first pot has had like 2 flowers, and is covered in a really robust moss of some sort that I do not like.

Seriously overgrown pot.

Whereas in this next pot, it's definitely losing the fight to Utricularia subulata.

REALLY seriously overgrown pot.

Not sure what the problem is with this one for me. I know people who can't help but get a big carpet of bunnies. Maybe I should try some in a windowsill.

Speaking of U. subulata, my big, proper bloom is looking so good right now.

U. subulata always breaks your heart.

I wish wish wish it would do this all the time. This is a fantastic flower! Ah well. Maybe the fleeting quality of it makes it more special.

One thing I did recently was break up a few of my well-established plants to share around and propagate. Here's my Utricularia gramnifolia getting started again.

Looking forward to this filling in and blooming again.

The submerged aquatic setup in an undrained pot seems to work pretty well for this plant. I suspect a lot of the terrestrials would like this treatment, actually. Might be fun to try them in teacups, like the Carnivore Girl.

This tray has starts from some of the pots I broke up, as well as a couple new specimens I'm just getting started.

So much promise in these pots!

Clockwise from top left: Utricularia 'Betty's Bay' (a large-flowered form U. bisquamata), Utricularia blanchetii, Utricularia fulva, Utricularia pubescens, Utricularia cornuta, Utricularia livida. I've been flooding this tray to try and jump-start these guys.

Finally, I took a picture of some U. bisquamata among my wide-leaf Drosera capensis.

I love how the flowers all face towards the lights.

It's just too cute. Even though it's a weed, it's a wonderful plant. That's true of both of them, actually. No respect at all!

Incidentally, my Utricularia longifolia is blooming. It's not in my collection right now because I brought it for display at the Pacific Orchid Expo. I'll feature that one later.

I don't understand large Utricularia

I feel like I'm pretty good at growing the small, terrestrial Utricularia. That's sort of like saying you're good at playing Candyland, but bear with me. The larger species though, they are a bit odd.

I've got a couple new leaves coming up on Utricularia humboldtii.

Utric "leaves" are so funny and weird.

This is an odd species that I've been growing for around a year now. It put on a couple of leaves last spring, but since has sort of just been holding steady. Not sure what it needs – maybe more water? Brighter light? Possibly nutrients? No idea. It's found at quite high elevations in Brazil, so cool temperatures are definitely important.

Another member of Section Orchidioides I've been growing for a bit less than a year is Utricularia cornigera, which has also been known as Utricularia reniformis 'Big Sister'.

I hope the additional water helps this guy get back into gear.

I know why this one has been stalled out. It had been sharing a tray with a large Drosera 'Marston Dragon' that had a bunch of Selaginella and ferns that were very thirsty. That tray goes dry all the time, and that is definitely not what this plant wants. I've recently moved it to a much wetter tray that hosts a number of other utrics, so hopefully it'll get better soon.

Last year I had really good success with Utricularia longifolia.

I tend to spill a bit when I'm watering this plant.

It sent up two big flower stalks and had a nice bloom show going on, but it also contracted a nasty case of aphids on the flowers, and that definitely set it back. The yellow and brown leaves are from last year. This year's growth is smaller, but that could be temperature. I should just put this in an enormous pot to see how big it can get hahahah.

Finally, my other plant from Section Foliosa is Utricularia calycifida.

I feel like I should separate this guy out and see how many rosettes there are.

I got a very nice, long bloom show from this guy, but it hasn't sent up any new scapes in a few months. I may try potting it in long-fiber Sphagnum rather than the peat:sand mix that I'm using now. Maybe the warmer weather will kick it into gear too. Fertilizer? Who knows.

Utrics are fun. Very enigmatic plants.

Drosera roseana already making gemmae (plus some Utricularia Sect. Orchidioides)

As I've covered before, I started a bunch of new pygmy sundew species back on December 10th. My Drosera omissa caught me off guard by flowering after 9 weeks – quick turnaround. But now the Drosera roseana have I think topped that feat.

D. roseana is a very pretty sundew, besides being (apparently) really really vigorous.

Gemmae. That's just over 12 weeks to go from being a gemma to producing a healthy crop. That's nuts. There's another plant in this same pot doing the same thing. Pygmy sundews are so cool. If you're not growing pygmies you're just messing around.

Today I also noticed new growth on the two members of Utricularia Sect. Orchidioides that I have in my collection. Here's the Utricularia cornigera I bought at the last BACPS meeting.

This Utric can get very large. I'm excited.

This is the first new leaf it's put up since being in my collection. I'm glad to see that it seems to like my conditions fine.

My Utricularia humboldtii I received from BACPS Newsletter Editor and Utricularia fanatic Tony Gridley.

I'm going to need to trim off some of the old growth soon.

See those two new leaves in the foreground? I didn't treat this plant very well when I first received it. It sat around in a plastic baggie for around a week after the meeting, and then I just potted it up without any concern for humidity or anything. Luckily it seems to have taken it all in stride. Now I have to be careful that I not let it grow too well, since Tony said, and I quote, "If you win the BACPS show with it I'll never speak to you again."

In more springtime news, my recently-acquired Pinguicula laueana is unfurling its first carnivorous leaf of the season.

P. laueana has nice foliage in addition to the striking flowers.

And also it looks like Drosera 'Marston Dragon' is putting out its first serious new leaf post-dormancy.

The Dragon is stirring.

You know I never really appreciated the spring before I started growing plants. Spring is awesome.

I have no photos of the Winter 2015 BACPS meeting

I feel sort of bad having entirely failed to document the Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society meeting yesterday. However, not terribly bad, since the reason I couldn't take any pictures was that I was busy helping run the thing! I managed the raffle (and donated 5 plants, freeing some space under my lights), took part in a panel about cultivation, and somehow wound up being elected Vice President. It was a busy day!

The BACPS has been in sort of a tight spot recently, since a number of board members either died or moved away, leaving the remaining leadership sort of scrambling to keep things together and getting worn out. It's funny, because in the mean time there has been a big increase in interest in carnivorous plants. I think there's a lot of energy out there waiting to be tapped in the Bay Area carnivorous plant community. I'm excited to be able to help out!

I did, of course, acquire some plants. The first (and probably the most exciting?) is this Utricularia cornigera.

This plant can get seriously huge. Gotta get a bigger pot!

U. cornigera has also been known as the Giant or 'Big Sister' form of Utricularia reniformis. It's one of the coolest-looking Utrics out there, with big, upright leaves and totally stunning flowers. I hope I can get it to bloom. This is a seed-grown specimen from California Carnivores.

I was also generously gifted a big bag of Utricularia humboldtii by Tony Gridley, the BACPS newsletter editor and resident Genlisea farmer/Utricularia maniac.

It's nice to get big piles of plants.

I didn't get a chance to pot this up today. That's a chore for first thing tomorrow morning. Guess I'm jumping right into into section Orchidioides!

California Carnivores also had some pygmies for sale, and I picked up a pot of Drosera lasiantha.

Gonna give it a week for more dew, and then the feeding begins.

This is one of the few species I wasn't able to acquire from Drosera Gemmae this year, so it was great to see it for sale. It has a habit very similar to that of Drosera scorpioides, but with (apparently) cooler flowers. Very cute!

I also was gifted a big clump of Sarracenia oreophila by Doris Quick, our now former secretary. It's got like 4 or 5 growth points. I wasn't able to get a picture for this post, since it's dark outside now. That rhizome (and the Sarracenia minor hybrid from the raffle) will have to wait for another post. I'm looking forward to some big old plants come spring though!

During the panel I was talking about the importance of feeding and light, specifically vis à vis so-called "annuals" like Drosera burmannii, and Fernando Rivadavia challenged me to grow Drosera sessilifolia as well as he sees them in habitat. Apparently all the specimens he's seen in cultivation have been tiny and frail-looking, while those in the wild get huge. Challenge accepted!

We've got an early leader!

It's a solid start. Gonna have to feed them more before the April meeting.