Question about Java Fern/ Lace

[Lance M.]

I know they produce spores on the back of the leaves. On terrestial ferns the spores fall off then attach themselves to the ground. In my tank I looked at the Lace Java fern and the spores have developed into miniature fern plants on the back of the leaves. Will these just fall off or what?

 

[Umberle]

There's an article in the Aquarium USA annual about Java ferns and swords in general and it mention them but I don't remember if it said they'd drop off.

 

[malkore]

they don't really drop off, but once they get 4 leaves and some hairy 'roots' you can gently pluck them off and attach them to rock/wood and they'll grow into a whole new plant.
Typically in the wild, the current would be strong enough to pull them off the mother plant once they got big enough.

 

[TankGirl]

Every once in a while I'll find a baby java fern plant floating free, and I usually just let it go and leave it to find it's place in the tank.

 

[Lance M.]

Hmm. There's a lot of them. I'll probably just pull them off and let them grow in the gravel. Then I could separate them and sell em to my lfs, since they don't sell lace java fern.

And how long does it take for them to attach to slate? I tied several pieces to slate about 4 days ago.

 

[TankGirl]

I'd give them a couple of weeks at least. What I do is use cotton thread and by the time the thread falls apart the fern has attached.

I'd imagine the lace variety would be of interest to your LFS, it is to mine as they don't normally carry it and customers are very interested when they do.

 

[Melody]

My expierence is about the same as tank girls, I will find a baby plant just floating around. What I have done in the past is when I get about three tiny leaves and little roots, I bend the leaf over till it is on the gravel and place a small stone on top of it. Just heavy enough to hold the leaf down. After a few weeks the plantlet useally will have detached from the mother plant. Also when they are about that size, (few leaves with roots) you can just kind of rub them off...
also... when moving some items around in my tank I tore a piece of java fern off the mother plant, It had several plantlets starting to form, and I just let it float. The plantlets continued to grow despite of the leaf being torn off the main plant and once they were big enough to root, I plucked them off the main leaf
HTH

 

[Toirtis]

lace java fern.

Are we talking var. 'Windelov'?

 

[Lance M.]

Ya It's the windelov variety. I got it at my lfs I think someone just traded it in cause it was all by itself and attacked to a piece of driftwood. I'm probably gonna let the new plants grow then sell them to the lfs.

 

[Toirtis]

Good idea...I have a few of them...they sell well at auctions, too.

 

[Guest]

And how long does it take for them to attach to slate? I tied several pieces to slate about 4 days ago.

IME, slate is a little tough for any java fern to get a good grip on (unless your slate has a lot of edges or rough spots). My java fern in general likes driftwood or rough textured rocks to attach to. A lot of slate is just too smooth for the roots to grab on to.

 

[Robert H]

You can also just leave them be and allow them to continue to grow and get bushy. What will happen is that you will get a thick, layered like bush with plants growing on top of plants. It really gets quite interesting looking. The parent leaf will eventually disappear and decay as it is taken over by new plants.

I have just crammed java ferns in nooks and crannies and mine have gone months without the roots attaching to wood. I don't think they would ever attach to slate. Nylon thread works great.