Bladderworts make up the largest genus of Carnivorous Plants with over 200 species. They are found on every continent in a wide range of environments. When you purchase a bladderwort make sure dormancy requirements, if any, are indicated.

Bladderworts are so named because of the way they capture prey. With the exception of the aquatics the magic happens under the media. Some bladders can get up to a 1/4" or so but most are tiny. They have trigger hairs at the end of the bladders. When something triggers them the bladder makes a suction action and sucks them in, seals shut and digests what its caught. Sometimes this can take two or more bites!

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This is what the bladders look like on U. Livida. And this is pretty much as big as they get. The small picture is very close to actual size. Most of the bladders will fall off when transplanted, its normal so don't freak out when it happens. Aquatics are the same way, especially after being shipped.

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Aquatic - These grow in water, not media.

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Semi-Aquatics (Terrestrial) - These grow in water logged conditions and enjoy having the water level above the media level periodically. ie flooded on occasion. The grow "stolens" above the media and have runners with bladders under the media, as pic above shows.

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The #1 problem with aquatic bladderworts is fungus growing in the water. Make sure you change the water frequently, once a month anyway. Should one become over ran with algae remove it and rinse it in clean Ro or bottled water. You are not after perfect, just try and get the bulk of it. Place in a clean container with clean water.

In extreme cases clean what you can and switch water. Watch for new growth and when you have a few inches of clean new growth cut it off and start new plants in clean containers, after rinsing it well.

Water fleas not only feed the bladders but eat algae, plus its fun to watch. Available in the Live Food section. You can use water fleas with the aquatics and add them to the semi-aquatics when flooded. Trumpet snails also safely clean up algae but they create mass amounts of ammonia, so change water often if used. Beware most other snails as they will eat the bladderworts!

Aquatics - Some Aquatic Bladderworts require large volumes of water to survive while others require very little. Utricularia Gibba can survive in as little as a cup of water. Some need small wading pools or bigger. Before you purchase an aquatic bladderwort make sure you know how big of an area it requires to survive. For Aquatics I use RO water made into a peat tea. To make peat tea I boil roughly 1/4 cup of peat moss to a gallon of water for 5 minutes. Let cool and pour mixture into your planting container. You can strain the peat out if you like, I like. You can simply mix the peat in with the water but it tends to float and mold soon afterwords.

I have found that floating some long fiber sphagnum moss in the water and letting the water level rise and fall helps induce flowering in aquatic Bladderworts.

Semi-Aquatics - Most of these need to be kept on the wet side. Keep the water level about mid-way up the pot and flood on occasion.
Some of these can grow along side any other cp though. U. Livida and U. Sandersonii just to name two. Add these to all of your pots to ensure a critter population can not get started in the media. Both can thrive in very dry conditions, for cp's that is. Keep the media moist at all times.
It takes only a couple stolens to create another colony and it spreads fast. There is no better bug infestation prevention available. Plus they cover the media with stolens and it looks great! Not to mention flowering all the time.

Tropical/Seasonal - Water the same as the rest of the carnivores, tray method, except with frequent top watering. For the seasonal bladderworts, if they have a dormancy then let the media dry out to just barely moist. But don't let them dry completely. The bladderworts that have a dormancy and or come from Australia generally like being grown a little cooler, 60 - 80F anyway but able to withstand low 40's. Some of them even tuber!

Light - Most bladderworts can survive in lower lighting but almost all will benefit from bright indirect sunlight for several hours a day. If growing in sunlight be careful the container doesn't get to hot, especially if its a glass one.

You can also grow them under fluorescents. Use a shop light with 2 - 4' "cool white" bulbs suspended 8 - 12 inches above them. For just a pot or two you can use the compact fluorescent light bulbs, 100 watt output/"Daylight" bulbs do fine.

For the Australian bladderworts and Tropical bladderworts in general you should set the light to go on and off with the daylight hours. This will help them keep track of the seasons, which is important.

Aquatic and semi-aquatic bladderworts I generally keep the lights on for 14 hrs a day. You really should adjust the lights for the seasons here too though.

Soil - The type of soil, if any, is determined by the type of Utricularia (Bladderwort) you have.

Terrestrial - 50/50 peat/perlite or 50/50 peat/sand or pure lfsm. Using some sand in the mix is generally best. Generally keep the water level mid way up the pot, flooding on occasion.

Tropical - Equal parts long fiber sphagnum moss/peat/perlite.

Aquatic - Use peat tea as described above or simply add 1 cup of peat per gallon of water they are in.