An earlier thread went a bit off topic in a rather interesting direction. In order to quit hijacking the original thread and still give the topic a chance to be discussed, I'm starting this thread. Original thread found here.
Let the debate continue!
Plantbrain said:I know no one "needs" more than about 2w/gal to grow any plant.........
So why more?
Means you have to prune more, less wiggle room dosing/CO2 etc/higher risk of algae etc.
Purrbox said:I think that a large part of this is that most people don't realize that you can grow the "high light" light plants with less light. We're constantly told that in order to grow a nice low lawn of glosso, etc we have to have 4+w/gal or it will grow up. Of course then some people try to grow it with less light, and it does grow up. Or there that really neat plant that requires high light, and dies if someone tries to grow it with less light.
Now I think the question is, why are you able to grow these plants sucessfully with less light while others are failing. The obvious answer is that light is the easy scapegoat. Perhaps there are other factors that aren't being addressed adequately, or aren't addressed adequetly until that same person ventures into high light. From what I've seen from your posts lately, it appears that CO2 is your chosen scapegoat. Since most people are extremely reluctant to try CO2 until they are forced to do so by venturing into high light, this would make a lot of sense as the missing piece to the puzzle.
So is the answer medium light with CO2 and good nutrient levels? Will this allow us to grow all the plants we might want to try and get the results that we want? If so, then the key is for more people to try it, be sucessful at it, and be vocal about their success. Until we start hearing the same thing from more people the message will keep getting drowned out by the majority and we'll keep following in the footsteps of our peers to the grail of high light.
I'll be the first to admit that I'm still very new at growing aquatic plants. I've got a lot to learn yet. I'm finding some sucess with some plants that could be considered difficult or rare, but I'm also still learning how to grow plants instead of algae. I'm also foolishly trying to do all this learning on extremely small tanks that I wouldn't recommend to anyone else, because I don't have the space for a larger tank. It's a steep learning curve, but I'm making progress and I'm stubborn enough to stick with it to try to get things figured out.
If your theories help me to fill in the holes and learn to grow plants better, great! Unfortunately I still have so many holes still left to fill before my picture is complete.
Jchillin said:I've been growing plants in less than 2wpg for two years.
I would love to have the "grow all plants in 2wpg" addressed in it's own thread. Looks pretty informative.
Let the debate continue!