Post by rsivertsen on Aug 1, 2008 17:00:25 GMT -5
I may as well start off this thread with a few basics, and see where it goes.
These are the closest living relatives of the VFT (Dionaea muscipula); they are rootless aquatic plants with an incredibly complex symbiotic relationship with its environment/niche. They are also the only aquatic CP that can capture and digest even the largest stages of mosquito larvae! and actually function as an effective predator in shallow dystrophic pools where even fish and amphibian creatures can't survive.
They grow incredibly fast, much faster than any terrestrial CP, growing up to a linear inch per day, and up to 3 whorls/axils per day, but also divide by branching every few axils, or about 3 to 5 days, which means that they can double their population every week (in optimal conditions)! They seem to branch more in response to the amount of prey that they capture, in combination with the concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the water, which is produced by companion plants, generally large monocot plants that form hummocks or Phragmites beds, where their roots extend directly beneath the Aldrovanda strands in only a few inches deep water.
These plants also absorb the excess nitrogenous matter released by the Aldrovanda, (as they can only utilize a certain amount for their own needs, and release the excess); as anyone who tries to maintain a lawn already knows, these monocot plants are heavy nitrogen feeders, and in response to the extra nutrition, their roots manufacture more CO2 by respiration, which out grasses very quickly, especially in warm water, and directly upward.
They also have a host of creatures that groom the plants for any algae that may attack the strands, such as copepods and small snails, who also pull out the spent prey from the older traps, which otherwise would also become loaded with algae.
They seem to do best in very shallow water, only inches deep (ankle deep) and anything knee deep or more is too deep. The CO2 becomes too dispersed and diluted as the strands are too far away from these roots. The very term "Aldrovanda pond" is misleading. The term "pond" invokes images of at least waist deep water, and an area where one can float a boat; these areas do in fact exist in my Aldrovanda sites, but you won't find any Aldrovanda in these places, except for a few drifting strands that may have broke loose from the peripheral and marginal shallows.
They seem to find themselves around Juncus hummocks, growing through and out of the dense clumps.
The water tests neutral, (pH=7.0) and moderately hard, with a conspicuous presence of clay. They also seem to make a quantum leap in growth after I walk around in my chest waders, and churn up the water to make it as filthy and murky as possible, where I can't even see the Aldrovanda anymore, nearly reduced to a soupy slurry of detritus and silt. This stirs up the creatures that live in the detritus and they climb all over the Aldrovanda, often become part of the menu, and also releases those mineral nutrients as well.
Enjoy. - Rich
These are the closest living relatives of the VFT (Dionaea muscipula); they are rootless aquatic plants with an incredibly complex symbiotic relationship with its environment/niche. They are also the only aquatic CP that can capture and digest even the largest stages of mosquito larvae! and actually function as an effective predator in shallow dystrophic pools where even fish and amphibian creatures can't survive.
They grow incredibly fast, much faster than any terrestrial CP, growing up to a linear inch per day, and up to 3 whorls/axils per day, but also divide by branching every few axils, or about 3 to 5 days, which means that they can double their population every week (in optimal conditions)! They seem to branch more in response to the amount of prey that they capture, in combination with the concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the water, which is produced by companion plants, generally large monocot plants that form hummocks or Phragmites beds, where their roots extend directly beneath the Aldrovanda strands in only a few inches deep water.
These plants also absorb the excess nitrogenous matter released by the Aldrovanda, (as they can only utilize a certain amount for their own needs, and release the excess); as anyone who tries to maintain a lawn already knows, these monocot plants are heavy nitrogen feeders, and in response to the extra nutrition, their roots manufacture more CO2 by respiration, which out grasses very quickly, especially in warm water, and directly upward.
They also have a host of creatures that groom the plants for any algae that may attack the strands, such as copepods and small snails, who also pull out the spent prey from the older traps, which otherwise would also become loaded with algae.
They seem to do best in very shallow water, only inches deep (ankle deep) and anything knee deep or more is too deep. The CO2 becomes too dispersed and diluted as the strands are too far away from these roots. The very term "Aldrovanda pond" is misleading. The term "pond" invokes images of at least waist deep water, and an area where one can float a boat; these areas do in fact exist in my Aldrovanda sites, but you won't find any Aldrovanda in these places, except for a few drifting strands that may have broke loose from the peripheral and marginal shallows.
They seem to find themselves around Juncus hummocks, growing through and out of the dense clumps.
The water tests neutral, (pH=7.0) and moderately hard, with a conspicuous presence of clay. They also seem to make a quantum leap in growth after I walk around in my chest waders, and churn up the water to make it as filthy and murky as possible, where I can't even see the Aldrovanda anymore, nearly reduced to a soupy slurry of detritus and silt. This stirs up the creatures that live in the detritus and they climb all over the Aldrovanda, often become part of the menu, and also releases those mineral nutrients as well.
Enjoy. - Rich
