I have some Java Ferns with new plantlets sprouting off the leaves of the parent plant. The sproutlets have roots some 2" long. Do I cut the new plant off the old leaf or do I have to wait for it to fall off before I can plant. Any advice on how to effectively propagate these would be very helpful.
How to Propagate Java Ferns
- Thread starter itafx
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Sectoid Command
Aquarium Advice Newbie
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- Nov 9, 2007
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- 6
You can either wait for them to fall off themselves or if you're impatient, just give the new plant a good hard tug and they'll come off.
That sounds like a good thing to try. Have you ever seen it where the last 1/3 or so of the tips of new growth leaves turn translucent? it looks like a darker color of green as if you squished the leaf or froze it, or something like that.
Taelen
Aquarium Advice Freak
That's good to know about tugging the new plant off but I have a related question. On the old, large plant, there are what I would think are the roots, long brown thin structures. Any picture of Java ferns I have seen didn't show these things, does one trim them off and if so to what length?
Are these the main roots of the parent plant or are they from the site where the baby plant was? I know that when planting Java Ferns you're supposed to tie the roots on to a rock or driftwood or some other type of anchor and they are supposed to grow into and around it and anchor the plant.
Smaug21
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
My brother just got done doing a 5 or so trimming and seperating of his java ferns and i can tell you from experience you can do very little wrong.
To give you an example, in my tank now, i have an about 2 inch root that came off one of the plants that is sprouting leaves! so even roots can come back. I've also have a few that got cut a bit (by what i don't remeber) but about 6 little plants spawned from the cuts, so even there you'll
As far as the little plants, you can take them off at any time, but a bit bigger and they seem to grow better, so i tend to leave them on till they have a few 1-1.5 inch leaves on them.
At anyrate, you can't really kill it very easily so go for what you feel like.
To give you an example, in my tank now, i have an about 2 inch root that came off one of the plants that is sprouting leaves! so even roots can come back. I've also have a few that got cut a bit (by what i don't remeber) but about 6 little plants spawned from the cuts, so even there you'll
As far as the little plants, you can take them off at any time, but a bit bigger and they seem to grow better, so i tend to leave them on till they have a few 1-1.5 inch leaves on them.
At anyrate, you can't really kill it very easily so go for what you feel like.
Taelen
Aquarium Advice Freak
I do have them anchored to my driftwood and there's plenty of new leaf growth, my issue is with the little brown "roots" that are 3-4 inches long and seem to be coming from everywhere. I'm all for the natural look, but it does make it seem a bit messy and chaotic.
