Plant Profile: Utricularia longifolia

This is part of a series of posts describing my experiences with different species, their culture requirements, and photos of their growth in my collection. The full series can be read here, or by species at the Series page

If I were forced right now to rank all of my plants by how much I love them, Utricularia longifolia probably wouldn't be on top, but it would be a near-run thing. Consider this picture from a couple days ago.

U. longifolia flower, 4-21-2016, after nearly 8 weeks open.

See that flower in the middle? The one that's starting to wilt? It opened on the 27th of February. That means it's been open for 8 weeks. Take that orchids! And this is from a plant that probably couldn't be easier.

I got my U. longifolia during my first trip to California Carnivores, the time when I tried to buy a bunch of Damon's collection pots by accident. I think he fetched it smooth over my embarrassment. Sweet guy!

U. longifolia, 7-22-2014. Just getting started!

U. longifolia is extremely low-maintenance in my conditions. Early on I had to move it to its own little tray because it kept sending out stolons toward other pots. That actually proved to be a pretty good move, since it let me give the plant a nice flood/dry cycle.

U. longifolia, 1-26-2015. Long leaf! This is almost ready to bloom.

Lots of people have asked me for advice with U. longifolia, but I can't say anything definitive since I haven't tried growing it in different ways. Here's the basics: it's 18 inches and a bit offset from my lights, so not very intense light, though it is good light; in my garage, where temperatures tend toward the 50s and 60s, occasionally getting cooler in the winter, and ranging into the upper 70s during the hottest days of summer; planted in long fiber Sphagnum moss, I water its tray every 10 days or so. The water level almost always drops way down before I water it, though the moss never really dries out. I water to the very top, nearly flooding the pot. The secret to U. longifolia culture is probably buried somewhere in that description, but I don't know what is the important bit.

After 7 months or so of that treatment, I was rewarded with my first flower stalk.

U. longifolia flower spike, 2-19-2015. I was so excited.

Much like many popular species of orchid, the scape takes several weeks to develop. This first year I only had 2 scapes, and they got hit with aphids, so it was a bit of a let down, though the first few flowers were nice. This year I got 6 flower stalks.

U. longifolia in full bloom, 3-20-2016.

At the peak of the bloom there were 14 open flowers. It was amazing! The two largest stalks look like they'll have 6 or 7 buds in the full course of the bloom, while the smaller ones have 2-3. It seems like the peak of the bloom lasts 2 or 3 weeks, while the full bloom cycle will probably be around 3 months. Not bad at all!

One funny thing about confining my plant to its own little tray/pot is what happens below the pot. It's a bit nuts.

U. longifolia, 4-21-2016. About 18 months of stolon development.

You can see the trap development right on the bottom there, and the density of stolons is nuts. This plant would probably like a LOT more space. A part of me is considering getting it into a big pot and seeing what happens. I'll let it finish blooming first, but I might need to mess around with it come summer.

Seriously, U. longifolia is a great plant. I've heard of being growing them in windowsills just fine, in greenhouses, under lights, and outside. If you find any, give it a shot! Maybe I'll try and divide mine up into a few pots to trade/sell. We'll see!

U. longifolia flower detail, 3-27-2016.

The Breakdown

• media: Long-fiber Sphagnum seems to work well.
• light: Modest light is fine. Probably gets longer leaves in dimmer light.
• water: Seems to like periodic flood/dry cycles. I achieve this through the careful method of being terrible at watering on time.
• temperature: Avoid frosts. Probably prefers cooler temperatures, but I bet it would be fine growing warmer as well.
• feeding: Probably foliar feeding with something like MaxSea would work, but I've never done it.
• propagation: Divisions are the way. Be careful keeping it near other pots, because the stolons will aggressively colonize its neighbors.
• flowers: Starts blooming for me in the late winter/early spring.

Flowers in spring!

I've come to appreciate the effect of seasons on my growing environment more lately. I used to think that the fact that I grow under lights in my garage meant that my plants didn't really experience seasonality, considering the fairly stable temperatures and light quality. However, I'm starting to see that, for example, there is a distinct uptick in flowering into the spring. Let's look at it!

My Drosera felix is putting up a second flower stalk.

Look at the little fuzzles.

This plant has a special place in my heart. It's small and unassuming, but it's just such a trooper, and there's something so adorable about it. I've gotten some seed from the first stalk too!

Pinguicula 'Pirouette' is blooming for the first time.

This is such an elegant plant.

I love ping flowers. This one looks so demure as it's getting ready to bloom.

I've also gotten my first flower on Drosera mannii.

Don't mind all the Utricularia bisquamata.

It looks like I've missed the first couple blooms, but I'll have to keep an eye out for it because apparently D. mannii has blooms bigger than the plants themselves.

Got a Drosera oblanceolata flower stalk!

I like how smooth the flower stalk is. That's not super common in Drosera.

I got this plant in winter, but I think the warmer temperatures are benefiting it a lot. It's looking better than it has since I got it. Nice plant!

Drosera collinsiae is starting to bloom again.

Finally we've got dew on this guy.

I'm almost tempted to trim the flower stalk, since this is the best the plant has looked in months and I don't want it to decline. However, I really want seed, so I think I'll let it go. The last flower stalk aborted.

New flower stalk on Drosera 'Emerald's Envy'!

The plant this stalk is coming from is just doing great.

This particular plant has never flowered before, and it looks like a good one. Gonna get some good seed off this one.

Drosera aliciae is trying to flower again.

Come on D. aliciae, we believe in you.

This plant really struggles. It's aborted the last 3 or 4 flower stalks it's attempted. I can't say why. Here's hoping this one takes.

Now comes to the bit of the post where I do some real bragging. First up, look at this Utricularia longifolia.

So many flowers!

You see that flower in the center of the photo? That flower opened on February 27th. We're closing in on two months for that one flower. There are 14 flowers open on this plant now, and it'll probably be in bloom for at least another couple months. There are a lot of plants I love, but U. longifolia is one I actually admire. It's just an exquisite plant.

Finally, look at this.

I'm really really excited.

See that brown growth there? That's a flower stalk. A flower stalk on Utricularia praelonga. This plant is known for rarely flowering in cultivation, and no one really knows why. Go ahead and do an image search, there are very few photos of it. I am so stoked on this. This is the most exciting thing since my winter-growing sundews woke up. More photos to come!

Spring is great.

New camera!

Yesterday I got a new phone, which is to say I got a new camera. I actually got this phone specifically for the camera, because my old phone really struggled to focus on close-up objects. This one does it beautifully! To celebrate, I've created a post of flowers – just the sort of thing I would really struggle to photograph with my old device. Here's to more closeups in the future!

Drosera callistos with the lovely orange and black.

I love the adorable dots on Drosera helodes.

The focus ended up being on the upcoming bud on this Drosera sessilifolia.

So much for cutting the flower stalk off my Drosera spiralis.

I had to bend this Drosera natalensis stalk away from the lights to get a picture. Lovely!

Utricularia heterosepala is a very nice, creamy pink color.

Utricularia lateriflora is a wonderful species. So glad I got it!

What more can I say about Utricularia longifolia?

Byblis liniflora always looks so unearthly.

I think Pinguicula laueana × emarginata has one of the prettiest flowers in the genus.

Pinguicula gigantea is so cheeky.

Pinguicula 'Aphrodite' and Pinguicula emarginata are just hanging out together.

Whew! That's a lot of flowers!

Outdoor plants indoors

My outdoor growing areas are a real mess. I haven't had the heart to document it all yet (although that's coming soon), but I lost a lot of Sarracenia and other things last year to bad weather and poor planning. I'm working on making my outdoor growing space nicer, but in the mean time indoor growing seems to be just the thing. I've got a few outdoor plants growing indoors under lights for the time being, until I can get my stuff arranged better.

This Drosophyllum lusitanicum from my friend Anne is still small enough that it fits in the tray.

I love when these get big. Fingers crossed!

D. lusitanicum smells of honey! It's really lovely. I hope to have a nice big bush eventually. I'll need to pot it up before then though.

Pinguicula lusitanica seems to be doing fine.

Not sure pure LFS is the best mix for these guys.

Those little babies look very funny. This is a very annual species. I collected some seed last time – I should sow those on another pot. This would be a great component of an outdoor mixed bog.

It's about time to pot up the antho-free Sarracenia leucophylla seedlings that Anne and I went in on together last year.

I wonder if I'll get mature pitchers this year with a fresh pot-up.

It's a bit hard to tell, but these have put on some size in the last year. I bet if we were to give them room they could get some serious growth on. That would be great!


My Dionaea 'B-52' leaf pulls are looking really fantastic.

I'm not much of a flytrap guy, but this is a show-stopper.

I lost the mother plant, so I'm really glad I have these. Once my outdoor growing area gets settled in I'll take these out there and give them individual pots. This is a truly superior clone. Look at the contrast in color in the foremost trap! Total swoon over here.

Finally, it's not an outdoor plant, but I have to show off my Utricularia longifolia again.

I have a crush on U. longifolia.

It's currently got 7 open flowers, and another due to open tomorrow or the day after. The oldest flower has been open for 3 weeks! It's survived me carrying the plant through a sort of windy rainy day to show off to some friends. This is definitely an orchid-like bloom cycle right here. I'm so stoked on it!

Plants in full regalia

Look at this Utricularia longifolia.

Three flowers and more on the way!

Just look at it.

I'm very proud.

I promised U. longifolia in my last post, and here it is. I love this plant!

Seeing this bloom show (which is far from over, by the way!) had me poking around the collection looking for plants are are in a similar state of full display. Most plants don't look their best 100% of the time, but these ones at least are currently looking spectacular.

Pinguicula 'Aphrodite' has a couple of cute blooms on it.

Hey there little guys!

Insanely, I have several friends who claim to not particularly care for this ping cultivar. How can you resist that little plant! It's much too adorable.

This large Drosera prolifera is doing very well, especially considering that I've had to separate out a couple of plants from this pot recently.

I think any pot of D. prolifera will inevitably end up a clump if it's happy.

The plants don't quite have the color they did in the middle of winter when things were quite chilly in the garage, but they're still looking pretty fabulous.

The plant that really caught my eye today, and which inspired this post (besides the U. longifolia) was definitely my beloved Drosera ×Dork's Pink.

Be still my heart.

This is just incredible. Based on a rough estimate, I'd guess there are upwards of 50 active traps on this plant, perfectly arranged in this beautiful pink spiral.

Nearby, my Byblis liniflora seems frozen in time as this unspeakably delicate assembly of dew.

This is still the plant that most people notice when they visit my collection.

I keep trying to find a good similie for it. Sort of like a stand of tiny, sticky trees. Or a city skyline. Such a good plant.

One plant I don't mention much, but of which I am very proud, is this Dionaea muscipula 'Justina Davis'.

Penny for scale. Those are big traps!

This is a nice, mature rhizome, as you can see by the trap size. So far it seems to be doing pretty well under my lights. I hope it gets enough of a dormancy in the garage.

Finally, this pot contains my original Drosera capensis, which is to say, my first ever carnivorous plant. I planted it into a large pot, which was a huge mistake, but really, who can resist a mass of D. capensis?

It's a jungle in there.

Someday soon I'll probably take this out and divide it all up, but for now it's sorta fun seeing it losing its mind. Looking good there, D. capensis!

Flowers and pygmies

A new flower has popped up in the collection. This is Utricularia heterosepala, a new utric I picked up from California Carnivores recently.

Such a lovely flower.

It's a pretty good-sized flower, around the size of Utricularia calycifida. It's pale pink and white, and quite handsome. I love getting new utrics.

In other flower news, there are 4 flower stalks coming up on my Utricularia longifolia.

U. longifolia is the best.

It's a bit hard to see, but this is going to be quite a bloom show. The tallest stalk is almost ready to pop, while the others have a bit more growing in to do. I love this plant! Once the flowers are done I think I'm gonna break it up a bit – keep a small pot inside, and then stick something very large outside, like in a 2 gallon pot or something silly like that.

I've got a pot of Drosera helodes × pulchella that is absolutely losing its mind with flowers right now.

I don't know what to do when they get like this.

Pygmy crosses are nuts. This is too much.

A funny thing is going on with my one Drosera grievei that produced gemmae.

Very cute plant!

It looks a bit crested. You occasionally see fasciation in carnivorous plants, and I feel like I've heard about it in pygmies, but this is the first I've seen (if that is what's going on). Glad to have gemmae at least!

I just missed the second Drosera felix flower.

It's much too precious.

It's still really pretty, how delicately the petals are folded. I should feed this guy.

Finally, my Drosera spiralis has started to bloom again.

Always stoked to see this guy flowering.

I just fed one of its older leaves, which may have prompted it to start flowering. I'm a bit torn – I love D. spiralis flowers, but I don't want it to sap energy from the plant before the show. Maybe I'll compromise and take flower stalk cuttings in a couple weeks.

What I've been up to lately (hint: selling gemmae)

For the last couple weeks my pygmies have been producing lots and lots of gemmae. Last year I threw a lot of gemmae out, so this year I determined to do better. I've shared some with friends, and I've also sold a lot of gemmae, mostly via Facebook. Here's what I shipped out this morning!

Lots of stuff headed to the post office.

This is a non-trivial amount of work! Last year I learned that gemmae that have been harvested and packetized have an extremely short shelf life, so now I harvest per order. I put on a podcast and it's nice, but it takes time. I don't mind though, because I really like spreading different plants around. It's sort of an insurance policy – inevitably I'm going to lose some plants, and if more people are growing them it will be easier for me to get them back later.

Freshly-harvested pygmies look funny.

Drosera leucoblasta with gemmae (and recently-harvested).

I've still got a good amount of gemmae left, including Drosera leucoblasta, Drosera sargentii, Drosera paleacea, Drosera callistos, and Drosera helodes, among others. If you'd like to get some, email me at sundews.etc@gmail.com. I've been charging $5 per pack, with $3 for basic shipping, and various options for cold weather. Let me know!

Besides pygmies and gemmae (and pygmies and gemmae and pygmies and gemmae), I've been spending a fair amount of time thinking about utrics lately. My Utricularia longifolia is blooming again!

Blooming U. longifolia. No aphids this time!

I guess this is just the time of year for it. Last year it I first noticed the bloom in mid-February. My clump is a bit more mature now. I should have taken a picture of the bottom of the pot – it's a solid mass of stolons and traps. It's pretty funny. Maybe this year I'll pot this up into a much larger pot – I've been threatening to do that for a while. I gave a chunk to my friend Anne, who will be growing it outside. Interested to see how it does!

I haven't killed my Utricularia cornigera! That's exciting!

Brand new leaf! I'm very happy.

As I've mentioned before, this pot had gotten much too dry and had lost all it foliage. However, it still had a big fat stolon, which I buried in the pot once I moved it to a wetter tray. Looks like we've got life now! I should fertilize this a bit once it grows in.

At the recent BACPS meeting I picked up a new tuberous sundew, the delightfully-named Drosera zigzagia.

One of the best specific epithets in the genus.

I've gotten a new burst of confidence re: tuberous Drosera since my Drosera ramellosa came back from dormancy. Gotta get all the tubers I can now.

Something more to add to my confidence in growing the summer-dormant species is the fact that Drosera cistiflora is back as well.

Arise! Awaken!

There was a little dried out nob on the pot where the old stem had been, and when I flicked it away I exposed this bit of stem to the lights, so it's growing! Now I really really want to get it to flower for me. That would be a real feather in the cap! We'll see.