Red Aldrovanda

[Ifurita]

Just noticed that some of my Aldrovanda strands have turned red! Yay!
Here's a close up of one of them:

Interestingly its only the leaves which have gone red, the rest of the plant is still rather greenish with a slight tinge of orange.

Looks like long term cultivation of these guys is possible after all...a tank of red Aldrovanda...hmm...

[LJ_Tan]

Very cute

It's yellow flower ?

[caseyhoo]

Originally Posted by LJ_Tan

Very cute

It's yellow flower ?

Nope.

Here is their flower
http://www.bestcarnivorousplants.com...ns/flower2.jpg
http://www.drosophyllum.com/Bilder/K...drovanda05.jpg

Ifurita, did you mind to share what is yours growing environment for Aldrovanda?

[Ifurita]

Nothing special about the growing environment, as you can see it shares the container with some Utricularia species and Singapore's conditions should be the same as Malaysia.

I'm growing it outdoors:

Temp: <35-27C all year round.

Light: Bright, indirect light for most of the day, 1-2 hours direct morning sun.

Water: Tap water tops up the container, water should be neutral pH or so.

Other stuff in the water: Mostly Utrics, U. gibba has taken over most of the container with some other species like U. reflexa present, 1-2 plants(non-CPs) seem to be growing up from the bottom, no idea what they are. No fish or bugs, mozzie pellets are used regularly.

Not sure what else to say, aside from adding water once every few days, I largely ignore this container, only noticed the red Aldrovanda a couple of days back. All the Aldrovanda I threw in there was green originally, but that was a year or so ago.

[LJ_Tan]

Originally Posted by caseyhoo

Nope.

Here is their flower
http://www.bestcarnivorousplants.com...ns/flower2.jpg
http://www.drosophyllum.com/Bilder/K...drovanda05.jpg

Ifurita, did you mind to share what is yours growing environment for Aldrovanda?

Originally Posted by Ifurita

Nothing special about the growing environment, as you can see it shares the container with some Utricularia species and Singapore's conditions should be the same as Malaysia.

I'm growing it outdoors:

Temp: <35-27C all year round.

Light: Bright, indirect light for most of the day, 1-2 hours direct morning sun.

Water: Tap water tops up the container, water should be neutral pH or so.

Other stuff in the water: Mostly Utrics, U. gibba has taken over most of the container with some other species like U. reflexa present, 1-2 plants(non-CPs) seem to be growing up from the bottom, no idea what they are. No fish or bugs, mozzie pellets are used regularly.

Not sure what else to say, aside from adding water once every few days, I largely ignore this container, only noticed the red Aldrovanda a couple of days back. All the Aldrovanda I threw in there was green originally, but that was a year or so ago.

This nice and thank for sharing.

[arvin555]

Infurita thanks for sharing, we have almost the same growing conditions, though I have some Horse tails and cattails in my small container as "monocots" companion plants

I too have problem with U Gibba, in fact I hate them being in the same container as the Aldros as they can dominate the whole container, I had to tear them up to trim them off.

Why do you put Mossie Pellets in your container? Is it precaution?

The reason I ask is because I am 100% sure that Aldros can eat Mossie larvae. All my containers that have Aldrovanda, never, ever had Mosquito larvae in it. Aldros also eat waterboatmen beetles very well.

If you are up to it, try not putting any mossie pellets in the water and see if there are mossie larvae that will grow, chances are they will never reach maturity. My containers also do not contain any fish only plants and snails, snails also make good food for aldros. Never have had them flower myself and mine are all green

TTFN
Arvin

[rsivertsen]

Cool! The Australian strains are a LOT easier to grow than the green Japanese strains! Just give them plenty of monocot companion plants so that their roots give off enough CO2 and have the excess nitrogenous waste matter quickly absorbed and assimilated before algae attacks it, and enough zooplankton to supply a steady meal for them, which includes snails that pull out the spent and digested carcasses which also gets hit with algae. You might try to throw in some clay when you get the chance. - Rich

[Ifurita]

Originally Posted by arvin555

Infurita thanks for sharing, we have almost the same growing conditions, though I have some Horse tails and cattails in my small container as "monocots" companion plants

I too have problem with U Gibba, in fact I hate them being in the same container as the Aldros as they can dominate the whole container, I had to tear them up to trim them off.

Why do you put Mossie Pellets in your container? Is it precaution?

The reason I ask is because I am 100% sure that Aldros can eat Mossie larvae. All my containers that have Aldrovanda, never, ever had Mosquito larvae in it. Aldros also eat waterboatmen beetles very well.

If you are up to it, try not putting any mossie pellets in the water and see if there are mossie larvae that will grow, chances are they will never reach maturity. My containers also do not contain any fish only plants and snails, snails also make good food for aldros. Never have had them flower myself and mine are all green

TTFN
Arvin

No luck on my part getting rid of U. gibba. It kept coming back even after removal, so I stopped trying in the end. The mozzie pellets are more for the benefit of the AVA personnel who come to check every now and then. When the see pellets, they get less cranky and won't try to pour the water away even though there aren't any larvae there. My Aldrovanda have not flowered for me before either, but then again, they're fighting for space, so many of the strands aren't too long. Wish I could get cattails to plant, can't seem to find any in any nursery around here. Perhaps you've got a green strain of Aldrovanda instead? That might explain why they're still green.

Originally Posted by rsivertsen

Cool! The Australian strains are a LOT easier to grow than the green Japanese strains! Just give them plenty of monocot companion plants so that their roots give off enough CO2 and have the excess nitrogenous waste matter quickly absorbed and assimilated before algae attacks it, and enough zooplankton to supply a steady meal for them, which includes snails that pull out the spent and digested carcasses which also gets hit with algae. You might try to throw in some clay when you get the chance. - Rich

I've not tried the Japanese strains before, but the strain I've got is relatively easy to keep alive. Giving them companion plants, zooplankton, snails and clay...that's the tricky part. I can't seem to get any of those...and on the rare occasion I can get some zooplankton, I can't seem to keep them alive. Gah.

[arvin555]

Seriously someone from AVA actually goes to your house to "audit" you? Because of what? Because they know you have nepenthes and stuff? Or because they know you have a pond? etc? Sorry luckily we don't have that type of "big brother" where I live, I am curious how they actually manage to find time to visit people's houses like that.

If they see a fish in your pond, will they leave your pond alone?

I just feel that it is a shame that your Aldros are not able to catch natural prey like Mosquito larvae.

Regarding zooplankton, I assume that you are talking about Daphnia or Moina? I'm sure Aldros will love those, but yeah a bit difficult to keep a culture going, mine just crashed I am able to keep them for 4 months at a time, though during rainy season not easy, also stinks coz I feed them rabbit poo.

Anyways if you are able to catch some waterboatmen beetles in your local pond, then you can try to "culture" them as well. Waterboatmen actually just turned up in some of my containers, so I catch some and feed them to my aldro. But as Rich mentioned, Snails, pond snails, ramshorn snails will be good companions and food for your aldrovanda.

Yes I am sure that my aldro did not come from Australia The origin actually is very colorful, it's from Bactrus who got it from Lim or from Rich, if from Lim, then Lim got it from Rich as well So Rich is the great great grand father

[Ifurita]

The AVA will come and check everyone in the whole area, especially if they see plants. They'll also cause all kinds of trouble if not stopped, like emptying pitchers, punching holes in them, etc. They will usually leave fish containers alone tho. Thankfully they can be stopped from emptying out water containers or adding chemicals if you show them mozzie pellets and that they're in use.

I can't seem to keep a culture of any zooplankton alive and obtaining anything other than Daphnia is difficult. Snails can be obtained from an aquarium shop if I'm lucky, but anything else...heh. There certainly isn't a pond anywhere near my area, especially not one which isn't filthy and polluted. I can't remember the last time I saw a waterboatmen outside of captivity.

I think I've got a few strains of Aldro in my container, some turn red and some don't, some grow well and others not so much...