Aldrovanda vesiculosa
I grew Aldrovanda for a few years around 1978/9, but always had trouble overwintering it. I tried it at
a minimum of 10 deg C, but I think it was too warm, because it broke dormancy in the spring rather weakly
and took a long time to recover its strength.
The picture shows the traps as well as I have seen them. In the real world, it grew in a tank that was
always covered in algae, and the Aldrovanda floated around in the gloom and sulked.
12th April 2007
Well, I finally gave it another try. This is the so called Tropical Red form. I was sent a tiny little
piece, about two rosettes of leaves long, and without a growing point, so I was a little disappointed.
This was as good as it got. A very cold summer meant that it limped along until the end of august, and then
started to fade away rapidly. In the unlikely event that it managed to form a winter turion then it will re-appear next spring
, but I am convinced it has gone. This hopeless effort was the best photo I managed - I kept saying that it woud look better soon!
7th July 2008
This isn't my plant - looking far too healthy for one of my victims! I include the picture (thanks Dennis) because I was so pleased with what could
be done with a hand held compact digital camera!