Pogostemon stellata "Narrow Leaf" and Lobelia card

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

azn_fishy55

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
May 11, 2005
Messages
688
Location
Sunnyvale,California
Ok I started propagating this plant awhile ago but I'd get these ugle brown spots.At that time I thought they were dying so I threw it away.I started propagating again.So far its been a few weeks and I see no signs of damage.This other plant Lobelia cardinalis which has been dropping its lower leaves and they started yellowing.I haven't seen the plants in awhile because of my green water problem do I don't know what is happening,I'll try to change some water tomorrow to see what is happening.I'll test on Saturday when it stables out a bit.
 
which has been dropping its lower leaves and they started yellowing.I haven't seen the plants in awhile because of my green water problem do I don't know what is happening

Lower leaves falling off is indicative of insufficient light.

Green water can typically be relieved by doing a complete blackout.

Do a 30% water change with only the room light on, throw a thick blanket over the tank that completely blocks light out, leave the tank alone for 3-4 days (absolutely no lights during this period). Then remove the blanket, do a 50% water change and check you NO3 and Po4 levels to find out what caused the algae bloom.
 
Well they stopped falling but they are yellowing last time I checked.I don't want to do a black out I prefer the willow branch method.Oh,I need to get a PO4 test kit,that is the only test I need to get right now,what are good brands of test kits.What stumps me is that at AF they were in a lower lighting level that the one I have and there were no sign of damage or such.
 
Can you post your known tank stats and dosing info? Have you made progress in isolating the GW problem?

P. stellata "narrow-leaf" is hard, and you should look for Travis's dosing info and posts about it if you have not already, Also fun to drool at his pics of it :) He grows it better than anyone... here's hoping he posts. I think you will have to tackle the other issues before you can effectively focus on and propogate it. If so, keep it around and leave it alone.

(After 9 months or so of trying different things, I mostly just hope it doesn't stunt, and so far it's always stunted.)
 
~:30 Gallon Planted:~
H.O.T Magnum,Whisper 5-15 HOB,100% ADA AquaSoil Amazonia
DIY CO2(need a new reactor again T_T)
Plants:Echindorus osiris,Eriocaulon setacum,Bacopa sp.,Ceratopteris thaillithrodes,Ludwigia repens,Pogostemon stellata,Riccia flutians,Hemianthus callithrodes,Lobelia cardinalis "small",Myrophyllum simulans
Fish:pair of Apistogramma cacatuoids,3 Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish,4 SAEs,2 Otocinculus Catfish

I used to dose 3 mL of Flourish and Flourish Iron,5 mL of FLourish Potassium and Flourish Excel on sundays and fridays but Excel everday and the rest sundays and fridays.I'll get the parameters tomorrow.
 
What stumps me is that at AF they were in a lower lighting level that the one I have and there were no sign of damage or such.

Most of the time when they are at the store, they haven't been in their tanks long enough to start to have problems.

Also, While a blackout may not be the best for your plants, what timeframe are you looking at for this other method? with green water, a lot of the light doesn't seem to hit the leaves the same (blocked by green water)
 
I did another huge water change,the water is clear and I can see everything now.The Pogostemon stellata finally grew a little root mass so I suppose it is doing good.The Lobelia as a few yellowing leaves,I suppose an Iron defficiency?
 
I started dosing again today,all the plants seem healthy except the Lobelia which had some yellowing leaves.I dosed 3 mL of Flourish,3 capfuls of Excel,3 capfuls of F.Potassium,and 1 capful Flourish.
pH 6.6 everything else is zero but nitrate which is 5 ppm
 
I believe you do not need to dose with Excel if your DIY CO2 is working. Only use it when you are not injecting CO2.
 
I dosed 3 mL of Flourish,3 capfuls of Excel,3 capfuls of F.Potassium,and 1 capful Flourish.

Why Flourish twice? I assume the last one is Flourish Nitrogen?

Excel will still benefit plants, even with Co2. Not sure on the iron deficiency, there are many reasons for yellowing leaves, the fact that they are falling off would lead me to believe it's a macro or light deficiency, tho your dosage of Potassium looks more then sufficient. If you are using Flourish Nitrogen then it is KNO3 and doesn't require potassium (equal levels).. you should be dosing potassium to get it equal to the Nitrate produced by the fish.
 
P. stellata "Narrow-leaf" can be a real pain to grow properly. Sometimes I feel like the plant just doesn't like me: I keep it in perfect conditions with all the light it can handle and it looks great for a while and then, for no reason at all, it stunts. My advice would be to make sure you plant it somewhere it can get plenty of light, all the way to the bottom of the stems. It is a very light-hungry plant and will lose leaves quickly if it does not get enough. The leaves will be much greener if your NO3 levels are 15+ ppm. Bringing NO3 down to 5-10 ppm will starve the plant slightly and cause it to put out much brighter orange, pink, or even red foliage. I wouldn't try this until you get a good handle on your nutrient levels though. It can be tricky to manage without a very good test kit. Good luck :)
 
Okay I got some potassium sulfate,potassium nitrate,and potassium phosphate.So I dosed a few minutes ago and I am gonna test the results tomorrow.When my nitrates were at 5 ppm the P.stellata was a perfect green.I got alot of other plants at the meeting including some more Lobelia cardinalis,I hope they start to do good.I dosed 1/2 a tsp of KNO3,K2SO4,and MgSO4.7H20,a small pinch of KH2PO4 as well as 1/4 tsp of Flourish and a capful of Excel.
 
*Update*
pH:6.4
NH3:0 ppm
NH4:0 ppm
NO3:10 ppm
PO4:.5 ppm
kH:1 dKH
gH:5 dGH
CO2:12 ppm

I newly propagated another side shoot of P.stellata,5 growing P.stellata plants and 1 newly planted side shoot starting with 3 plants from AF.The plant grows pretty slowly,but at this rate I'll be able to fill in the back corner soon.The L.cardinalis is growing good but there is alot of algae from the older ones and the two new ones haven't changed since I put them in.I added a few more plants:6-7 stems of L.ovalis,5-6 of B.japonica,some christmas moss,and the fine leaved cariety of water sprite.I also got some other rare(I think)plants from SFBAAPS and their roots are developing nicely.I am going to dose ferts tomorrow as well as a large water change before that(I am trying out EI).
 
P. Stellata just doesn't grow well for some (I so know that feeling travis). Yellowing leaves could be inadequate light penetration. Common in planted tanks growing in. Greenwater can be a blessing. No other algae grows when it is in a tank and it doesn't affect plants in any way. I would keep using the excel even with DIY Co2. The added carbon will not hurt.
 
*Update*
P.stellata just shoots up for me!The new planted side shoot is shooting up real fast!The first one I propagated just reached the top of the tank a few days ago and they are growing fast!The corner is filling up faster than I expected.But I'll have to tear down this tank June-ish because I am moving T_T.
 
Back
Top Bottom