Plants??

[tony_540]

Also how long till I see growth on the java fern?

 

[Old Scales]

Once a plant like swords gets to putting on leaves quickly you can keep it just about any size you want by trimming. It's just up to the aquarist as to how much. IMO by the time a leaf gets to 8-10", it's helped the plant produce enough energy for the next leaves. OS.

Edit: Jave ferns grow pretty slow but are dependable.

 

[tony_540]

Okay but how will I be able to make more plants out of the sword I have?

 

[tony_540]

And what do I use to keep them healthy?

 

[Tparkening]

The sword will send out runner plants. They will basically grow around the main plant. You can trim them out and replant if you desire.

Good luck Tony! Have fun propagating those babies.

 

[tony_540]

Thank you! But two more questions.... 1) how long until I start to see these runner plants? 2) what should I add to the tank to make them grow? I already add co2 and I have to buy root tabs for the swords, but if the leaf zone good? Supposibly that is good for the leaves and will make them green. If you can answer these I will appreciate it (I'm a noob at this and hope to become better)

 

[Tparkening]

Patience is necessary for the planted hobby. Do not worry about it so much. Ask questions when your plant leaves are yellow or something does not seem like it is going "right" and we will help steer you to a solution.

 

[tony_540]

Well my java fern came with a little dark spot so idk what that is

 

[tony_540]

here is a picture

 

[tony_540]

this too

 

[tony_540]

this is my amazon sword

 

[tony_540]

the leaf also came a bit cut

 

[Tparkening]

It all looks really healthy bud nothing to worry about. The java fern looks really nice.

 

[tony_540]

Okay thank you!

 

[Coursair]

Plus many plants are grown out of the water and need time to adjust to being fully immersed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tony_540]

Ohhh alright I see, thanks!

 

[Alan79]

I have found stem plants are very helpful for providing new plants quickly.
Stem plants.
Ludwigia repens- Grows nice brown leaves with pink under the leaves in enough light. They will just be darkish green under lower light
Sunset hygrophila- Has nice vein patterns on the leaves with ultra light green leaves that will redden up with higher light. I supposedly have low light but manage to get some pink tips from this plant.
Pennywort- Has nicely colored light green leaves round in shape. It will also respond well to trimming and replanting of the tips. Moneywort is a similar plant.
These are just three stem plants i have that suit low light, grow quickly and can be trimmed at the tip and the tips replanted. When you trim the tips of most stem plants they will often send out two new tips from the joints between the leaf and stem but i would read up on the variety to make sure. You may also want to try water sprite or water wisteria which look similar and have strane oddly shaped leaves but each type will reproduce differently. I have tried growing neither but have read that they will reproduce incredibly quickly and tend to overtake a tank. These two plants may also hog the nutrients that other plants need which might not be ideal.

Rosette plants
Dwarf chain sword will also adapt quickly to many conditions and when it gets established (2-7 weeks) it sends out runners that will grow many plantlets along the runner. They will eventually get to a point where you need to throw it away or sell new plants.
Crypts- I have four varieties. Brown Wendtii (has grown tall quickly and has gone a nice brown for me in low light), Lucens (seems to have stayed short but spread out into bushy groupings which may include a lot of runners I have not pulled it up to check), Red undulata (slowest growing for me and also seems to have gotten bushy before trying to grow tall), Balansae (Only new but grows tall fairly quickly. Crypts are great plants and no doubt i will add more variety over time but they are slow growing and will also require root tabs. If you want plants that can be split quickly then crypts might not be ideal at this time.
Vllisneria- Might grow too tall for both the 3g and 10g but also propagates by runners. I was given one bit of Vallisneria that is healthy but has not sent out runners so far. I'm not sure if this is due to my conditions or if the plant just takes a while to expand, either way it was just added because i was given a sample so i'll see if i can grow enough to make it a feature of it eventually.
Anubias- There are loads of Anubias varieties and they are all slow growing, but when they expand enough you can trim off a section of the tip that has roots and a rhizome formed and it will give you a healthy second plant. The great thing about Anubias is that it can be tied to rocks or driftwood and the roots will attach and form an attractive latticework to cover the rock/wood over time.

 

[tony_540]

Okay, the Anubias, would I have to add anything to make it grow? Because I started to use liquid API CO2 booster, and I hear the leaf zone is good for the plants as well, and i don't know how many watts my light is, because it is an LED light with 16 bulbs, do you know how I could check and if that is good for the plants?

 

[Alan79]

Anubias is one of the easiest plants to grow. As long as you keep the green Rhizome above the soil it will be fine if you bury it it makes the plant start to rot. It looks like a root but is darker green in color. The roots and rhizome can be tied to rocks etc with rubber bands or with cotton.

 

[tony_540]

Oh okay, I wouldn't have to add anything to the water?