Plant of the Day: Utricularia gibba

[@deandavis8165]

Nice! That's how I keep my Aldrovandra, too- tub of muck, a couple bog plants, watch 'em grow!

[@OleanderSmoothie]

I've never tried my hand at growing any utricularia but they are so fascinating! They're not as big or showy as some of the other carnivorous plants but still very strange and wonderful!

[@Tommyr]

Another easy Utric is livida! Prolific bloomer, fast spreader!

[@California_Carnivores]

Livida is so beautiful!

[@sedumzz3289]

Yay! A utricularia video!

[@sunshinecarnivores1919]

Have you ever gotten any seeds from this Utricularia species?

[@thebassoonman2020]

Just wondering, why did utricularia gibba and the related species all become carnivorous? The swamp muck is probably highly nutritious because it’s mostly plant material. Just wondering!

[@MrTheWaterbear]

They mostly originate in acidic and very low-nutrient lakes or swamp systems. That may very well have been where they developed. It could also have been alpine ponds… I don’t really know for sure :P All I know is that they frequently and easily get spread on the feet of wading birds and ducks, and are surprisingly happy to grow at many different nutrient levels.

[@sedumzz3289]

They could have evolved from the terrestrial ones? The terrestrials live in very boggy areas so that might’ve been the “start” of these utricularia?

[@California_Carnivores]

There is no fossil record for carnivorous plants and so theories about evolution are speculative at best. Because bladderworts are highly evolved and have very complicated mechanisms people are still trying to figure out how and why they do things. Gibba will grow in lots of different water qualities but most of the other aquatics and aldrovanda do require very pure water and specialized conditions.

[@dakotahsimonson631]

Hey can I use maxsea on these?

[@daemonium6449]

What's inside the container? Just peatmoss? I'm preparing a tank for my gibba that's arriving in a few days

[@California_Carnivores]

There’s a little peat moss at the bottom, about an inch, mixed with sand. And the rest is water

[@ikoyDaPnoy]

Does this die if the water evaporates and is just wet soil?

[@California_Carnivores]

It can tolerate a brief period of mucky soil/watery soil but it’s not great for it long term

[@MrTheWaterbear]

I harvested some U. gibba from a random pond at a plantation in Louisiana, and transported it all the way with me back to Denmark. Sadly, a sample I harvested in Miyajima, Japan, never made it. But I love the little gibba, and even though I grow it in just a very small amount of peat in some water, it still does alright :)

[@dakotahsimonson631]

Want to grow more of these

[@evanbarclay2382]

i have a back yard pond with some rock crevases would this do good there

[@California_Carnivores]

Potentially, it could!

[@plantman1626]

How are terrestrial Bladderworts carnivorous? How do they eat bugs

[@California_Carnivores]

They have bladders in the soil that catch microscopic prey!

[@randomthings92497]

Uhmmm how does your muck start? Ahah i have some but they end up being encapsulated by algae :(

[@California_Carnivores]

We put some peat moss at the bottom of any container we are growing gibba in. Algae does often grow but we haven’t had it overtake the gibba as it reproduces so aggressively. It may be a balance of light; finding just the right amount of light for the gibba but slowing down the algae

[@randomthings92497]

@@California_Carnivores thank you 🥰

[@treyb2919]

@@California_Carnivores how do you get the peat to sink? I’ve been soaking it and mixing it and it’s pretty much all wet but still floating.

[@daemonium6449]

Did you figure it out? My peat moss is just floating too but probably needs a few days to settle is my guess

[@dakotahsimonson631]

😍