[May]

I planted some mystery aponogeton bulbs a while back and they are growing like crazy. On reading about them, it seems that they only reproduce by seed and not in aquariums. Mine are sending out these long tendrils with what looks like small plants on the end kind of like a parachute plant. What are these things and does anyone know what kind of Aponogeton these are?

 

[pardalisjk]

that appears to be A. ulvaceus. The production of plants on the bloom stalks is normal in some species although from what I have read ulvaceus is'nt one of them. It could be a hybrid. --------------------------------Jim

 

[Cavan Allen]

It's probably A. undulatus. That one does reproduce that way.

 

[HeyPK]

Yup! A. undulatus is the only one in the aquarium trade where the flower stalk is usually co-opted to produce little plantlets. Usually, you don't even get a flower. The little plantlets develop a little round bulb filled with food befoe they drop off.

 

[Aaron]

Actually, there is a story (legend?) of a vivaporous (Is that what its called?) Apon. ulvaceus. Apparently, many years back a plant (ulvaceus) was found in a commercial import with plantlets attached. I am not sure if the plant was found by Dr. Gasser or he just caught wind of it, but to make a long story short, he went to Madagascar to look for it. After collecting hundreds of plants he was able to find one. The plant was supposedly brought back and propagated and spread around a bit. the plant is probably not in the hobby anymore but I guess it did exist. A good friend of mine who has been in the hobby much longer than I told me this story. Any old timers close to Dr. Gasser out there hear of this story?

 

[May]

Thanks, guys for the info!
I haven't fertilized these via substrate at all - just planted the bulbs in pots in plain gravel. Is this a plant that produces offspring when it is stressed, or would it do better if I slipped plant tabs in the pots?