FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I recently discovered that it is not a moss, but Ultricularia Bisquamata that is growing alongside my scorpioides. I want to cultivate some of it in a seperate pot, but I dont know how... Can someone tell me how to cultivate them? Im really quite peeved at how little information google actually has on this...

U. bisquamata is a pervasive weed. It will seed profusely into nearby pots and is nearly impossible to remove once established in a pot with other plants, so be careful about where you grow it.

The usual method of Utricularia propagation is by taking a chunk of soil (a "plug") with the Utricularia growing in it and planting it in another pot. I've been told that they can even be propagated as easily as pulling a flower stalk out and planting that in the soil of the target pot.

nimbulan wrote:U. bisquamata is a pervasive weed. It will seed profusely into nearby pots and is nearly impossible to remove once established in a pot with other plants, so be careful about where you grow it.

The usual method of Utricularia propagation is by taking a chunk of soil (a "plug") with the Utricularia growing in it and planting it in another pot. I've been told that they can even be propagated as easily as pulling a flower stalk out and planting that in the soil of the target pot.

Wow, thats easy... but honestly, i dont mind it growing in my pots, it looks good and keeps the fungus knat larvae in check for me... I mean, if it's not harmful to my other cp's (it isnt, right?) Then I might as well allow it to grow... But it isnt harmful, right?

It all depends on what you're growing. U. bisquamata will very easily overgrow small plants like seedlings or pygmy Drosera, and if it ever gets into any other pots of similar Utricularia you'll have a completely inseparable mess of stolons.

w03 wrote:It all depends on what you're growing. U. bisquamata will very easily overgrow small plants like seedlings or pygmy Drosera, and if it ever gets into any other pots of similar Utricularia you'll have a completely inseparable mess of stolons.

Ah, I understand. What if you keep the Ultriqularia in check, trim them down and keep them away from the crown of the plant?

Gry wrote:Ah, I understand. What if you keep the Ultriqularia in check, trim them down and keep them away from the crown of the plant?

You can't keep this species in check unfortunately. It will spread regardless of whether you believe it is being contained or not, and it's extremely difficult to eradicate once established. It's either not in your collection, or in your entire collection.

SerMuncherIV wrote:

Gry wrote:Ah, I understand. What if you keep the Ultriqularia in check, trim them down and keep them away from the crown of the plant?

You can't keep this species in check unfortunately. It will spread regardless of whether you believe it is being contained or not, and it's extremely difficult to eradicate once established. It's either not in your collection, or in your entire collection.

Well, my scorpiodes are thriving in it with absolutely no problem. And I have to dissagree with the "entire collection" part. I only have it in one pot only. There must be one way to keep it in check, I mean, its not a super-plant that is impervious to enything and everything.

If I can keep it away from the crown, will it still cause damage? And if so, how?

SerMuncherIV wrote:

Gry wrote:Ah, I understand. What if you keep the Ultriqularia in check, trim them down and keep them away from the crown of the plant?

You can't keep this species in check unfortunately. It will spread regardless of whether you believe it is being contained or not, and it's extremely difficult to eradicate once established. It's either not in your collection, or in your entire collection.

I've managed to keep them in check by avoiding the tray method with any pots that have bisquamata (I beleive you gave me that tip Sermuncher) and tearing out the flower stalks whenever I even suspect one.

I have yet to have it invade another pot, and I plan for it to soon only exist in my D. pulchella's pot (unfortunately) after I repot the other plants growing with it.

ok, I get it, not everyone likes Ultricularia, but that doesn't mean every new comment needs to be "you should not let it invade your other pots"
I got that message like, what, 4 comments ago?

Me original question was answered, but one question that remained unanswered is this: What if I keep Ultricularia in check- keep it away from the crows of my plants and keep it away from low growing plants- is it STILL harmful to my plants? I never asked how to get them out of my collection.

Sorry if I sound a little angry, but that needed to be said.

I don't find it harmful at all. It is present in a couple of my pots but it never spread, even though I would like it to. I highly doubt it could harm any cp if it were kept in check.

Even if it were to spread, I read somewhere ( I think it was CPUK) that one grower got rid of it by simply placing aluminum foil on the surface of pots which would block sunlight and kill the utricularia in less than a week.

I've had nothing but poor experiences with this species. My collection used to be infested with it, and I only got rid of it by repotting everything that was hosting it. The only area it never got into was the Nepenthes pots. The thick masses of stolons make repotting, separating, and rinsing media off smaller plants extremely difficult, unsightly cleistogamous flowers block light and spew seed everywhere, and it's an absolute nightmare if it gets into pots of Drosera seedlings/gemmae. The aluminum foil method above would work with single, larger plants, but it cannot be used with seedlings or group plantings.

Nothing's a weed if you like it, and some growers choose to let this species grow in their collections. Personally though, I would be very wary about trading/buying from anyone who has this stuff growing with the plants they're going to send you.