Early Emersed Growth Results

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travis simonson

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Dec 19, 2004
Messages
2,073
Location
Englewood, CO
I've been growing just about every scrap of plant that I kick out of my 125G as an emersed growth specimen to see how it does and I've found a few that do well. I'll note that I'm only using a south-facing window (no electric light) and ADA Aqausoil (why not, I had extra) with a peat base and some natural Colorado soil. The plants are (for the most part) doing well, but growing quite slowly. Here are a few top-down pics:

Some Pogostemon helferi "Downoi" that seems to do quite well emersed:

P_helferi_250107_x800.jpg


A pic I liked of H. verticellata creeping through the substrate. H. leucocephala also seems to love emersed growth:

H_verticellata_Overhead_250107_x800.jpg


I've seen some of you having much better luck with emersed growth plants and I was wondering if someone would share the secret as to how to get them to grow quickly. I'm guessing that I need more light and possibly some sort of CO2 method. Halp!!
 
Marry me and make my tank beautiful and I will give you the secrets to emersed growth
 
The plants look very nice Travis ;-)

Are you fertilizing? Hard or Soft Water? any algae issues?

I am trying some Utricularia graminifolia emersed under med/low light. It is a carnivorous plant so I am using RO/DI water and an acidic substrate to simulate bog/marsh conditions. It too has slow growth. I wish to perhaps throw a few drops of micro mix in there, but I am afraid I will create an algae mess. I have used CO2 methods for terrarium plants before, just basic DIY into the terrarium.
 
No ferts, no CO2, just Aquasoil and sunlight. The plants all react very well but grow extremely slowly. When they grow they are nearly perfect specimens and the leaves last 3-5 times longer than their submersed counterparts. I do virtually nothing except mist them every day. Amazing to watch.

I know I'm an amateur when it comes to this so I would love advice :)

Edit: No algae to speak of. Water is Colorado out of the tap; about 6-8KH and GH. pH of about 7. Perfect from what I understand. How would I go about introducing CO2?
 
For CO2 introduction in hydroponics, you need to set up a greenhouse atmosphere and add the CO2 into the greenhouse.

Cover the plants with a clear lid, and pump CO2 into the atmosphere.
 
I'd love to see some picture of the entires setup. Also how are you keeping the humidity up?

You might want to consider some light fertilizing perhaps once a week. From what I gather it's common to add macros directly to the water and then mist the plants with micros.

Here are some other techniques that I've heard people using to get better growth.
1. Improving water circulation through a variety of methods. In a pot setup a water pump may be used to move the water around. You could also devise a way to have water circulated back through the system with misting.
2. Raising the temp with a heater. Especially in this cooler weather a heater is supposed to be a big benefit.

So far my own setup is pretty basic. I'm adding macros to the water and misting with micros, but no heater or water circulation. The Cryptocoryne Willisii is growing very well right now, but the rest are grow rather slowly.
 
Very cool Travis, plants look great. I'm dying to give emersed growth a try. Now that I have some room I just might do it. Sorry I have no advice to offer, I'll be learning along with you. :)
 
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