Anything in CA?
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Dear hubbahubbahehe and Oh-yeah (God I'll never get used to using usernames),
Do you guys think that berteroi might be an annual? How did it grow and then peter out? It does not form adventitious plants but supposedly the seeds are quite fertile. It normally dries up in streams and dies. New plants grow from the seeds the next spring. I had seven of them in my Brazos bend biotope. Eventually I was down to one that I put in my 75 gallon tank. It ended up taking up 2/3 of the tank before I took it out. Every time I've cultivated berteroi, I used a soil substrate and it grew like crazy. One can always plant it in a pot if you don't have a soil substrate in the tank.
Right now they are growly quickly in my 125.
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Regards,
Steve Pituch
Do you guys think that berteroi might be an annual? How did it grow and then peter out? It does not form adventitious plants but supposedly the seeds are quite fertile. It normally dries up in streams and dies. New plants grow from the seeds the next spring. I had seven of them in my Brazos bend biotope. Eventually I was down to one that I put in my 75 gallon tank. It ended up taking up 2/3 of the tank before I took it out. Every time I've cultivated berteroi, I used a soil substrate and it grew like crazy. One can always plant it in a pot if you don't have a soil substrate in the tank.
Right now they are growly quickly in my 125.
Regards,
Steve Pituch
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302 Posts
Steve, based on your description, I would say, yes. It makes a whole lot of sense to me.
The thing is, it gets way too cold during the winter for these "tropical plants" to survive. i tried raising a whole bunch of aquatic plants in my pond and the only ones that overwintered are duckweed, and myriophyllum parrot's feather... I forget all that i tried but I'll name a few, vallisneria sp's, sagittaria, riccia, vesicularia, ....
The thing is, it gets way too cold during the winter for these "tropical plants" to survive. i tried raising a whole bunch of aquatic plants in my pond and the only ones that overwintered are duckweed, and myriophyllum parrot's feather... I forget all that i tried but I'll name a few, vallisneria sp's, sagittaria, riccia, vesicularia, ....
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Steve I saw your AGA Convention Entry years back in the biotope section and may i just say, great job! You truly have the green thumb.
If you raised those plants from seeds, perhaps you could share with us since oh-yeah has been having trouble and I'm inexperienced.
If you raised those plants from seeds, perhaps you could share with us since oh-yeah has been having trouble and I'm inexperienced.
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542 Posts
Thank you for the compliment.
No, no seeds. For the Brazos Bend biotope I started with small plants in soil in plastic disposable 4 oz cups in the aquarium. Once they started to take I put them in a tank with a soil substrate. I don't think I was dosing much back then. Now I dose my soil substrate tanks along with high light and co2.
I think the key is soil. If you don't have a soil substrate pot the plant in soil. In the wild they grow in extremely stinky muddy gray clay.
I cut the light duration in the present tank from 12 to 10 hours to try to keep the plants from going airborne. I think I will still need to prune a lot of large leaves to keep them under control. I may try to grow one to seed outside. I think if the soil is allowed to dry out a bit they will send up an inflorescence with seeds.
Steve Pituch
No, no seeds. For the Brazos Bend biotope I started with small plants in soil in plastic disposable 4 oz cups in the aquarium. Once they started to take I put them in a tank with a soil substrate. I don't think I was dosing much back then. Now I dose my soil substrate tanks along with high light and co2.
I think the key is soil. If you don't have a soil substrate pot the plant in soil. In the wild they grow in extremely stinky muddy gray clay.
I cut the light duration in the present tank from 12 to 10 hours to try to keep the plants from going airborne. I think I will still need to prune a lot of large leaves to keep them under control. I may try to grow one to seed outside. I think if the soil is allowed to dry out a bit they will send up an inflorescence with seeds.
Steve Pituch
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302 Posts
Sounds like a pretty good theory. I suppose you would have to harvest the seeds, and then wet them suddenly? Do they overwinter(and perhaps require stratification)?
hey Hey, I have seen Echinodorus berteroi so many time when I walk along the creeks groing emersed I didn't even consider growing it submersed. Is there any real prepping of the plants before you put one in a tank that you have found?
Danny
P.s. nonamethefish, this is Dingus from RC
Danny
P.s. nonamethefish, this is Dingus from RC
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542 Posts
Hi Danny,
I think you can put emersed or submerged leafed E. berteroi in a tank with no problem. Well, the problem is that it is very fast growing. Kasselmann says that it will go airborne (even tiny plants) with 12+ hours of light daily. She recommends 10 hours, which is my std regimen. I had shown a picture of one plant that was almost destroyed by snails at:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9232&highlight=#9232
Only one leaf was left and the stem was halfway cut through. The plant went into shock. However, it slowly started to grow new leaves. The leaves are all small straplike submerged ones. So perhaps this plant needs to be shocked in order to stay submerged for a while. I would keep the light down a bit and prune any leaves getting too big. It is a fun plant to try in the aquarium.
Steve Pituch
I think you can put emersed or submerged leafed E. berteroi in a tank with no problem. Well, the problem is that it is very fast growing. Kasselmann says that it will go airborne (even tiny plants) with 12+ hours of light daily. She recommends 10 hours, which is my std regimen. I had shown a picture of one plant that was almost destroyed by snails at:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9232&highlight=#9232
Only one leaf was left and the stem was halfway cut through. The plant went into shock. However, it slowly started to grow new leaves. The leaves are all small straplike submerged ones. So perhaps this plant needs to be shocked in order to stay submerged for a while. I would keep the light down a bit and prune any leaves getting too big. It is a fun plant to try in the aquarium.
Steve Pituch
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