hairy java fern

[dragonfisher33]

my java ferns are growing, in the wrong area i think. they get brown strings underneath the leave. i know that they're the new roots but i don't see these new roots getting bigger. i was wondering if i can cut the roots out as they are right now and hope that eventually they will grow big. the other concern i have is that when i bought them, they were as big as they re now, but without the brown hairs, could it be my lighting that's causing the growing of new roots but not the growth of the actual plants?





close-up


the light that I'm using, there's two of them

 

[armymp327]

those are the baby plants, that the plant produces. its normal, but they do grow pretty slow but if you leave them you start to see leaves grow out from those roots and a small rhizome start to appear, you can then detach them and tie them to something else, and you will have a new plant

also im not sure but it looks like you have the java ferns in the substrate, they need to be tied to something (with fishing line or cotton thread) so the that rhizome (thick green part that the stem and leaves grow out from) is above the substrate otherwise it will rot.

 

[dragonfisher33]

actually i cut of one of the leaves that has the baby root and attached to a piece of rock. but the same thing happened, instead of growing bigger, the root gave "birth" to another baby root. sigh..........

 

[armymp327]

that is what the plant does, java ferns grow very slow, ive had 2 in my tank for 2 months with dry ferts, high light, and pressurized co2 and while everything else has quadrupled in size twice over since i bought them, my java ferns have barley doubled.

 

[dragonfisher33]

that is what the plant does, java ferns grow very slow, ive had 2 in my tank for 2 months with dry ferts, high light, and pressurized co2 and while everything else has quadrupled in size twice over since i bought them, my java ferns have barley doubled.

yes, i understand that the java ferns are slow growing plants. my main concern is that the ratio of new baby roots to overall leaf growth from the mother plant was so dramatic. there's new baby root coming out of the newly clipped java fern even though the leaves remain so small. I have ludwigia and wisteria as well, they grow very well in my DIY CO2 tank and i was just hoping that the java fern concern that i have is shared by other members of the planted tank.

 

[armymp327]

Well I've have not removed any of my baby plants from the mothers yet so I can't say but between my 2 java plants I have about 20 baby plants on the tips of their leaves

 

[MC1973]

That's good, it means your tank parameters are great.
You can snip off the leaf, but usually I leave it on until the leaf completely rots, usually that's around the time when the baby plant will be ready.