Growing Guide: Utricularia reniformis

Utricularia reniformis 'Enfant Terrible'

Before my post of photos of the collection from May, I received a few messages asking how I grew my Utricularia reniformis so well (and I received some afterwards, too). Since I've been on a bit of a terrestrial Utric. kick lately, I figured I'd share some growing ideas for U. reniformis.

I actually grow a couple clones of U. reniformis (one is unlabeled and one is 'Enfant Terrible'). I've found 'Enfant Terrible' to be a remarkably easy plant. As you can sort-of tell from the above photo, I grow it in a net pot, in long-fiber sphagnum. Honestly, I think it would probably prefer live sphagnum, but I just don't have enough of that to go around.

The 'Enfant Terrible' I leave tucked in the corner of my (increasingly lowland) Nepenthes tank. It gets 10 hours of T5 light in the summer, and 8 in winter. Humidity is very high, near 100%, and it sits in a thin film of water, like everything else in that tank.

The unnamed clone has not done as much. Like my Utricularia 'Jitka' it currently resides in a "death cube." I actually received it as a single piece of stolon, and it subsequently grew a single leaf for me. Once I make some room, it will be transferred to the Nep tank as well, as I think it will do better there than it has been doing.

Here's a handy tip sheet from my experiences:

Media: I use long-fiber sphagnum, but I'm sure the plants would prefer living sphagnum.
Moisture: I keep this plant in a tropical environment - high humidity + some standing water. That seems to be preferential, though I'm not sure that it would like a high water table, as the clone I have in a high water table environment has not had the explosive growth of 'Enfant Terrible.'
Feeding: Maxsea Grow 16-16-16 Water Soluble Seaweed Plant Food Fertilizer applied foliarly is fantastic! I honestly don't think I'd see such explosive growth without it. Comparatively, the plant with more fertilizer grows much more than the other plant.
Temperature: I've found U. reniformis to like a humid Nepenthes environment, so it lives among the Nepenthes year round.
Dormancy: There's no real dormancy period for U. reniformis, so that isn't a major concern.
Propagation: Technically, the tiny, tiny seeds can be sewn, but they have a very short shelf-life, so, if not sewn immediately, they probably aren't viable. And, frankly, those seeds are nearly impossible to see. Many are smaller than Drosera seeds! My recommendation for propagation is to let the plant grow and then divide it, making sure to always take at least one leaf with a bit of stolon. It's always easier to start off with a growing chunk than seeds anyway.