Want the softest carpet in aquascaping? Utricularia graminifolia — UG — forms a fine, bright green lawn with a fluffy texture nothing else matches. It is also a bladderwort, a carnivorous plant, though its traps are microscopic and target single-celled organisms. It is safe with fish and shrimp, including newborn shrimplets.
What You’ll Receive
One Vitro Culture® portion of Utricularia graminifolia
- Sold as a 4-inch sealed bag or a 2.5-inch cup, depending on availability (customer cannot choose).
- Lab-grown in sterile gel/liquid, free from snails, algae, pathogens, and pesticides.
Plant Profile
- Common name — UG, Grass-leaved Bladderwort
- Scientific name — Utricularia graminifolia
- Family — Lentibulariaceae (bladderworts)
- Placement — Foreground carpet
- Mature height — 0.5–1 in
- Growth rate — Fast once established
Care
- Difficulty — Advanced
- Light — High
- CO₂ — Required
- Water — 68–78°F · pH 6.0–7.0. Soft water suits it best
- Substrate — Required. Fine-grain nutrient soil
- Growth habit — Amphibious. Dry start works well
- Propagation — Stolons
Grower’s Notes
- Establishment is the hard part, not maintenance. UG commonly melts in the first two to three weeks while it converts from emersed tissue culture growth. Once it has taken hold it grows quickly and needs little from you. Most losses happen in that first month.
- Stability matters more than any single value. UG reacts badly to swinging CO₂, temperature or hardness — a steady tank beats a heavily dosed one.
- The dry start method is the most reliable route. Plant into damp soil, cover to hold humidity, and let it carpet emersed for four to six weeks before flooding slowly.
- Press small clumps into fine substrate rather than planting deep. UG has no real roots — it anchors with fine stolons, which is also why an established mat can lift in sheets if left untrimmed.
- Carnivorous but harmless. The bladders are a fraction of a millimeter across and catch protozoa and rotifers. Shrimp keepers use UG routinely in breeding tanks.
New to sterile cups? Read our guide on preparing tissue culture plants, or compare options in our Best Carpet Plants guide.
Notes
- Utricularia graminifolia can be a challenging plant for beginners, as it requires stable water parameters, CO₂, and strong lighting for best results. Pictures are for reference only — plants may vary in size, shape, and color depending on growing conditions.
- Never release aquarium plants into natural waterways.
At a glance
- Free shipping on orders of $150 or more (after discounts) within the contiguous United States, by USPS.
- Free thermal protection is included with every shipment, all year round.
- Processing: most orders leave us within 1 to 2 business days. Tracking is emailed when your order ships.
- USPS (2 to 5 business days) ships Monday through Saturday.
- UPS 2nd Day Air® ships Monday through Wednesday. Order by Tuesday at 6:00 AM Pacific Time for same-week delivery.
- UPS Next Day Air® ships Monday through Thursday. Order by Wednesday at 6:00 AM Pacific Time for same-week delivery.
- Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and military addresses ship by USPS at a flat rate shown at checkout.
- Weather holds: during extreme heat or cold we may hold live orders until it's safe to ship.
- We ship within the United States only.
Please bring live plants indoors and unpack them the day they arrive. Every live order is covered by our 24-Hour Live Arrival Guarantee.
The complete rules, including lost packages and address issues, are in our Shipping Policy. If anything conflicts, that policy applies.
Every live order is backed by our 24-Hour Live Arrival Guarantee. If a plant arrives dead, we'll make it right.
How it works
- Tell us within 24 hours of the delivery time on your tracking.
- Send photos of the affected items in their original, unopened packaging, plus a photo of the shipping label, to hello@aquariumplantsfactory.com with your order number.
- We'll make it right with a replacement, store credit or refund for the affected item.
Good to know
- Some melting or yellowing as plants adjust from greenhouse to aquarium life is normal. They regrow from healthy roots and rhizomes.
- Please bring your package indoors and unpack it the day it arrives.
- Free promotional items and shipping charges are not covered.
The complete rules, including what's covered and what voids the guarantee, are in our Returns, Refunds & Live Arrival Guarantee. If anything conflicts, that policy applies.
Please review your state's regulations on restricted plants, as we are committed to not shipping plants that are restricted in your area. Do not release any plants into the wild or waterways, as this can harm local ecosystems by introducing invasive species.
Your cooperation in protecting the environment is appreciated. For continuously updated information, refer to the USDA State Noxious Weed list here.
Thank you for your responsible commitment to environmental preservation.
Customers praised this carpeting plant as "gorgeous" and "healthy" with vibrant color and generous portions. Many noted excellent quality and fast delivery. However, several customers experienced melting issues, particularly when transitioning to established tanks. The plant is challenging to establish and can be finicky, though successful customers appreciated its "hyper-green grassy look."
- This vendor leaves its competitors miles away from a product quality and qty per cost perspective!
- So healthy and perfect!
- This is a beautiful little culture, so compact and healthy!
w
Arrived safely and looks healthy!
E
This is the 3rd time im trying UG. I know it is one of the more difficult carpeting plants since its not really like any of the other grasses. Each time i put it in an established tank it melts very quickly. This most recent time it showed up already melting a bit, perhaps due to shipping. Very finicky, didnt show up as healthy as other plants have. Sad because if you can get it to not melt its a gorgeous plant.
J
I love how vagrant and colorful the plants came! Some molting but thats all on USPS for taking over a week to get here
T
So healthy and perfect!
A
3 days melted.
C
I am dry starting the UG in a UNS P90 and so far so good! No apparent die off, but that’s more reserved for the flooding phase. I will say however that from the many vendors I’ve tried, this vendor leaves its competitors miles away from a product quality and qty per cost perspective!!! Definitely a return customer!!
D
about half of the plants I received from APF experined some form of melting after a few weeks. I float until new roots start appearing, then plant. Unforunately, they are showing signs of melting,
T
Great quality, healthy and beautiful plant!
J
Awesome tissue!!!
g
Fast delivery! Everything looked great! Very green and healthy! Very happy with my purchase and will buy again!
R
I only buy from Aquarium Plants Factory. Reliable High Quality and fast delivery!
L
This is a beautiful little culture, so compact and healthy!
W
The UG is easy to separate and easy to put into my soil. Waiting to see when it’ll take off and start carpeting!
O
Very green, healthy, and priced reasonably.
A
Great shape
Z
First time tried UG, I killed them all. Now I ordered three healthy cups of UG from here, hoping they are not going to die on me this time. The cup is overgrown and The UG grown through the agar to form a bottom layer, so I sort of got two cups worth of UG with only one cu0.
C
Great and healthy!
j
Great products an fast shipping, plants came in very healthy and in big portions! Highly recommended
M
Yes it can be tricky to establish exactly where you want it initially, but I have found that it places itself and finds places to grow in the tank if allowed to float around and "seed" itself. My peat /terrestrial setup was not as successful as direct planting into the tank. It has planted itself in my moss and is already growing bladders. I did add infusoria to the tank to allow for it's carnivorous nature! Love it's hyper-green grassy look.
B
The product arrived as expected in good condition with very strong roots/runners.
J
Like pictured, a full cup stuffed with U.graminifolia. Very healthy. One cup covered a space of about 2"x15", densely packed, in my carnivorous plants terrarium. Shipped promptly and arrived safely from a communicative seller.
B
Order arrived quickly despite being placed right before the holidays. Previously I have found this plant at one of the big box stores and they offered it dirt cheap on-line but with $30 next day shipping! After checking out several stores I located rwo cups that were really iffy. They promptly melted.
So on Christmas Eve I started a search for Madagascar lace plants for some reason and this site showed up. They had two species I was looking for and I had bought from them before and look what else they have. So I placed an order. Order was shipped on the 26th arrived in my mailbox on the 28th.
The cup was a little more overgrown than I would have liked but it looked green and not dying.I left the culture by my light for the night. Sunday evening I decided it was time to get them out of the culture. I got as much of the agar rinsed as I could without tearing the big clump apart. I then separated the big clump into about 20 small clumps. They were planted using the drt start method with Carib Sea Sunset Gol sand as the substrate. Lighting is by a Beamswork planted tank light fixture. Water was from my R/O unit that is running about 20ppm right now.
A week after planting the clumps are showing growth and numerous grass like leaves are starting to appear. In hindsight I could have easily made the clumps I planted smaller. My feeling is you could make a decent foreground planting of a 55 gallon tank with two to three cups.
T
Arrived in beautiful condition but was unable to plant until a week after arrival. Well actually didn't get to plant it as it turned to a brown mush. This is on me not APF as I probably should have planted it the day I received it. Not to mention it is not really a beginner's plant but I took a chance because of the looks. So in order to save these plants in the future I will not be ordering these again. However I will be ordering all my plants from APF as they come looking like the pictures, green and healthy.
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