FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I was recently given some U. calyifida seeds and was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to grow U. calycifida from seeds?

What media to use to get the seeds to germinate? The Savage Garden recommends a more airy mixture for these guys something like equal parts orchid bark/perlite/peat/pumice/LFS and that is similar to how the person who gave me these seeds grows his, but its a plant and I don't know if the seeds would do well or if the seeds would just fall through the airy mixture. Maybe if I put a layer of live sphagnum on top of a similar mixture so the seeds can just sit on top.

How much water should I use? Should I keep the soil fairly saturated or just moist?

Should I use bright light until the seeds germinate? I've heard from many people that U. calycifida does better in filtered light.

Opinions on whether I should use a pot with drainage holes or not? Again I've heard mix opinions. I just like hearing many people's experiences. Again, the person that gave me the seeds only waters with 2oz of water every couple days and uses drainage hole and have heard the complete opposite of people growing these in undrained containers and growing well.

I'm assuming with all the varying info. I've already collect that these plants are fairly easy to take care of in many different conditions, once they are grown but I haven't fond much information on germinating them from seeds.

Thanks for the help.

Found this on the ICPS website. Its what I had planned in my head just wanted some reassurance.

Epiphytic Utricularia are usually grown in a very light, well drained soil mix. A typical mix would be one part each long fibered sphagnum, perlite, and pumice. Another common mix is one part each long fibered sphagnum, fine orchid bark, peat, and perlite. Pots with Epiphytic Utricularia may be grown in trays with a cm or less of water but they prefer frequent overhead watering. Like other carnivorous plants, they do require pure water and can be killed by fertilizer in the soil.

The growing mixes for epiphytic Utricularia are too coarse for direct seeding. It is best to put a 1 cm layer of finely chopped long fibered sphagnum and fine perlite over the your preferred planting mix. An alternative is to start the seeds in the sphagnum and fine perlite mix and later transplant the small plants.

Sow seeds of Utricularia on the surface and place the the pot in a plastic bag in a warm location until the seeds germinate. After the seeds germinate, remove the pot from the plastic bag and put the pot to a bright location such as a terrarium. The surface of the planting medium must be kept wet. Mist it with pure water regularly. More seeds may continue to germinate and you may notice they do so soon after you spray them. If you find the soil surface is drying out too quickly, you may leave the pot in the plastic bag.

Still, if anyone has any tips or experience with calycifida seeds I'd love to here about it.

Well I took some orchid mix, possible Schultz I can't remember, and soaked it for two days. After the first soak the ppm of the water was just over 100ppm after the second soak it was well below 50ppm. So I drained off the extra water and gave it one last rinse and filled an empty clear pot with drainage holes I had lying around. I left about a half an inch at the top and chopped up some live sphagnum and packed it over the orchid mix to help keep the seeds from falling through the pot. I used a clear pot just in case I could see the traps of the Utric, plus I like seeing roots. They interest me. I placed a clear water tray over the top to increase humidity then placed it on a window sill. I'll keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get to hot but hopefully in a couple weeks I'll see something promising. I don't grow Utric intentionally so I don't know what to look for when the seeds germinate. Luckily U. calycifida have larger leaves so I think I'll be able to see something.

There were quite a few seeds so I didn't want to many in the small pot so I sprinkled the rest over some more live sphagnum that I have in the bottom of my terrarium I set up for my Nepenthes. Keep your fingers crossed for me. This is a pretty Utric and I hope it germinates and grows well.

Jw, i just got some seeds of this specie as well, and i was wondering how your setup worked and how they are doing now?

Sander wrote:i was wondering how your setup worked

Well I thought my setup would work well but nothing grew. My moss was growing well until I gave up on it after about 6 months so I figured everything was optimal for the seeds to germinate but nothing grew. I also sprinkled seeds on some other live sphagnum in a completely different location and nothing grew from those either. I saw pictures of other people that got the same seeds have success in vitro so I know the seeds were good. I may have done something wrong I don't know. Either waited to long to germinate or stored them wrong I have don't know.

Send a message to Maiden. He was the one that sent the seeds to me and his calycifida looks great. I'm sure he'll have some good advice for you.

Thx mate, i'll send him a message, it has only been a few days, i still have a few seeds store in the fridge if they do not germinate.