Bladderworts, genus Utricularia, seemed attractive to me for use in hermetospheres for several reasons. First, they usually live in and are adapted for wet or moist habitats. Second, a lot of species are native to tropical regions with little seasonal differences. Then, they are highly fascinating organisms, able to source nutrients from tiny animals they catch with specialised traps. While their foliage often looks like miniature lawn, some of them produce spectacular flowers. Last, thanks to a large community of collectors of carnivoral plants, a lot of species are well established in culture and thus are easily available from a variety of dealers.
So, for my first own tries with hermetosphreres, it was clear to me that bladderworts should be part of the plant selections. Leaving the substrate surface between plants usually clean from the beginning, I hoped that the bladderworts would spred and, after time, cover the surface with their tiny “lawn” of leaves as an alternative to moss that will usually spread anyway, being introduced intentionally or not. For all tries so far, I used my standard settings. The plants were bought as 2×2 cm squares of “lawn” that I partly wahsed off the original substrate and then placend into the lava substrate in the jar. After almost two years, the experiences are mixed:
- Utricularia parthenopipes (Brazil SE, 27.05 2021): Did very well initially and spreaded as i had hoped; after blooming once however (see picture), it stopped spreading and died.
- Utricularia nana (Brazil SE, 29.05 2021): Spreaded slowly but constantly, did not bloom so far but still seems vital.
- Utricularia flaccida (Brazil SE, 29.05 2021): Spreaded very little, did not bloom and died.
- Utricularia involvens (Myanmar, 29.05 2021): Spreaded towards the rand of the substrate, where the condensed water from the inside glass pane moistures the substrate; does well there, without blooming so far.
- Utricularia minutissima (Myanmar, 20.11 2021): Spreaded very little, did not bloom and died or was overgrown by a creeping fern.
All in all, except U. nana and U. involvens, the bladderworts did not find conditions that let them be well. My assumption is, that they prefer more water in the substrate. My next try will thus be to derive from my standard conditions and establish a jar with stagnant water especially favoring bladderworts (and other plants doing well in these condittions).
Hermetospheres 