Aquatic Plant Forum banner

Limnophilia Aromatica

17K views 67 replies 12 participants last post by  4f1hmi 
#1 ·
I find it very strange that the same plant can vary so much in color. I have one bunch of LA that has been in my tank for a couple of monts. I bought it because I wanted a vibrant purple/pink/red contrast to all of the green in my tank. Well after a few weeks I found out that not all LA turnes this color. This specimin is a very robust limey green with 2" or so diameter stems and leafs. This plant is almos all the way to the surface in my 23" tall tank with no variation in leaf color from bottom to top.

Now I recently traded for some of the more "hypercolor" LA. This specimine has been in my tank for a few days and is roughly 5" or so from the substrate and is already showing some redness in the leaves. Along with the redness this plant also differs from the non "hypercolor" in that it is more yellow or not a vibrant green as the othere LA.

I leaned out my nitrates trying to ge the origonal plant to color up to no avail. I think some ppl believe that this plant will only color up with low Nitrates. I am going to prove that this is not true and after only a few days I can see that it will not be hard at all.

Also does anyone know what is the deal with the variance from one plant to another (cavan)???:D

When get home ill post some pics.
 
See less See more
#42 ·
heres a few pics, nothing fancy but some comparisons between bsmith's and my
Limnophila aromatica. Note that the stunting and hair algae are my bad, they
arrived in good condition. Here's the dodgy part - I received 4 stems of it,
labeled green and colorful and they did differ in that way.
After some time in my tank though they look the same.
Dodgy because I dont have a series of pics showing that, which was my plan.

anyway pics :

the first two show top-down of mine vs bsmiths
note that mine appear to be 5 leaves per whorl / bsmiths are 7 or 9
( I should have counted before lights out)




this last one shows a side view.
theres a little color, but also stunting, which I'll get fixed.



I'm going to keep at these for now and let them grow out,
see what happens. I'll bug bsmith for another batch so I can document a proper
sequence as I attempt to color up the stems.

.
 
#43 ·
No need to bug, just wait untill trim time. ;) Let me know what you want to do and when you want to do it.

What are the specifics of your set up and your dosing regeme?

I dont think that the stunting is your fault, I just think that the green aromatica is a smaller variety.

I still cant see any color.
 
#44 ·
I still cant see any color.
there is a bit in the third pic, on the undersides of the leaves.
not much, thats true. but I'll try to bring it out and increase leaf size.

macros are being dosed lightly now, approx 50% EI amounts for a tank this size (its a 40G cube)
temp is back up to the low 70s, water is very soft and GH booster is added to give about 4GH.
substrate is ADA aquasoil which is about 2 years old.
Plants are growing now under an aging fishneedit 150W DE 8000K bulb @8hrs/day,
which I'm going to yank and replace with a 10000K bulb - either fishneedit or coralife.

this weekend, after bulb change - I'll do a 90% water change / clean out the remnants of the hair algae then ramp up macros to about 150% typical EI to make the plants larger. Holler when you are ready for a trim and I'll buy your two types again. 4" tops would be perfect, and I'll make a proper sequence of images showing our three Limnophila aromaticas growing out.
 
#46 ·
I have the same problem as bsmith. I got this LA from one of the APC guys and it was very bright purple when I got it.
It is very bright green now with strong growth.

My 60G has 6 x 65 CFl for 8 hours and 2 x 65 for 12 hours and I dose Seachem fert as per their chart.

I am waiting for you guys conclusion.
 
#47 ·
I've had Aromatica for a really long time and I've never seen it color up throughout in a deep tank with CF lighting. I have it in two tanks right now small substrate (AS) and same dosing. The only difference is the light. Although they both have CF lighting one is a 10G with 110watts on it and one is a 46g with 192watts. The 10g which is only 12" tall is red throughout the 46g which is about 18" tall only has color on toward the top. They would both be considered 'highlight' tanks and although the 10g has 10 wpg I think it's more depth than wpg that makes the difference.

Not the greatest pic, but the plant on the left is in the 46g and the plant on the right is in the 10g.

 
#48 ·
10 Gallon, 10 wpg? Wow
 
#50 · (Edited)
yeah - let me snap a couple shots this morning while the LA is curled up sleeping. easier to get the color on the undersides to show that way. back in a bit.

EDIT: back with pix

there are notes on the image to ID the variants.
you can see a bit of color on the green var. but it does
stand out easily (as less colorful) when compared to the others.

lights on is at around 4pm, I'll get some more shots later as they
open. I replaced the 8000K lamp with a 10000K lamp and
I like the appearance much better. just my eyes maybe, 8K == too green.



the hammered appearance on the leaves usually bothers me when it happens,
I'm still ramping up macros and hope it will go away once I get to a target.
It makes me think stunting when I see it, but I dont think it is - just odd growth
that I can usually get to smooth out.

speaking of odd growth, has anyone ever noticed forked leaves on this sp?
I get it infrequently, but cant find any pics to demonstrate.
 
#51 ·
Nice pics.

So do you still feel that you can coax color out of the less colorful var. to make it look like the others?

I find my Aromatica clamping its leaves at the end/beginning of my photoperiods too. I like it. It makes the colorful aromatic that much more striking with its purple leaf undersides.
 
#52 ·
So do you still feel that you can coax color out of the less colorful var. to make it look like the others?
I dunno, but we'll see over time if they begin to change appearance.
Its possible that I'll end up with 3 Linmophila aromatica variants that are easy to tell apart.
even though I havent done a proper sequence showing green --> color (I still need to do this)
I'm pretty convinced the one Limnophila from bsmith is not a true green, at least not like
rotala sp. 'green' needleleaf and etc. where they just wont show color.

that reminds me, I was going to count leaves per whorl on all three.
This evening at lights on there will be some water changes and I'll take some more pics.
Didnt happen last night, sorry.

I'll dig out my notes and give a more accurate representation of dosing
solution mixture and how much per day of each type, rather than just saying I dose relative to
standard EI by +/- certain %
 
#55 ·
thats a good idea.

I'll get some more pics up this weekend to show where I am with your stems, and hopefully the results will be more solid by then. So far your 'green' variety does still have a noticeably different appearance than your 'colorful' variety.

I'll also get some pics up of the Limnophila aromatica 'broad' - its a different one for certain.
and its not L.repens 'mini', I have the two growing side by side to see differences between the two.
 
#58 ·
yeah yeah, I did slack off bad on this.
in the end my growout was choked with LA and I couldnt tell any of the three types apart.
I think I gave away over 150 stems when I trimmed it out. nice spicy smell in my fishroom when I pulled it up.

I've got the stems of your green you recently sent, I'll clean up a nice open space and have a proper go at this. I have my LA from another tank, and I'll position the LA 'broad' in plain view with L.repens 'mini' to compare those.

I have to agree with the posters who mention high light as a contributor to this one's color - it really does make a difference. I dont like to starve macros in my tanks, but elevated PO4 in relation to NO3 can also squeeze color out of this one and some other sp. and I believe that a GH of at least 4 is needed for good stems - as far as diameter goes. cant prove that though, its just a theory or more of a guess.
 
#60 ·
ok its been over a month and I've been doing a good job of keeping these guys separate.
there is a color difference with these, same tank placement grown side-side.

sideshoots from the original stems of bsmith's variety maintain characteristics and
grow up to look just like the mother. looks like the only way to really get to the
bottom of this is to flower both variants - mine and bsmiths and see
what differences exist there. They are on my list for this summer.

heres a couple shots. first one my LA is on the left. bsmith's on the right.
definitely a color difference, leaves mostly the same but more bumpiness to bsmith's in most cases.
I've been growing these in cramped conditions, since my main focus is to grow out other stems now.
so I dont have a picture of a stand. I suspect I may need a little stand of
both to improve my chances of flowers.



last pic shows the variety from bsmith submerged.
There is consistent color, but not as vibrant as the other type I have.



more this summer when I get some flowers.
 
#62 ·
Limnophilia aromatica 'broad'

I mentioned a variant of L.aromatica many posts back, I received it as L.aromatica 'broad'
its different than typical aromatica in that there are fewer leaves
and they are wider. I've been growing it out for a while and have a larger
stand as I try for flowers. The color behavior is similar to typical L.aromatica
but the stem also takes on a reddish purple color.
when you crush a stem - it has that distinctive L.aromatica smell. mmm...

heres some pics
submerged:





switched to emersed:
arrows point to the stems - bacopa madagascarensis is mixed in



a comparison of the three types I am growing:
the one not labeled is the one I originally kept before getting others

 
#63 ·
Is there any chance that these are in any way related to the different sp. of pogostemon stellatus? They just seem very simalar with the under leave coloration. I know emersed flowering is where its at as far as sp. id. Have you ever grown p.stellatus emersed? If not I have some I could send you.

Also I am now just convinced that there is something lacking in my water that make plants color up. Wether it be from me not dosing or just not present in my tap water. Since I just put a new Cat Aquarium 4x24w t5ho fixture on my tank and color is still not present at levels im happy with.

I think I am going to get some TPN and see if that helps as it seems when I started dosing flourish exclusively, that is when the color started fading from my tank.

Great work as alway A.
 
#64 ·
Is there any chance that these are in any way related to the different sp. of pogostemon stellatus? They just seem very simalar with the under leave coloration. I know emersed flowering is where its at as far as sp. id.
slim chance. but yep, flowers will nail it.
In my head, the smell is the clencher - but thats not a proper ID. ;)

Have you ever grown p.stellatus emersed? If not I have some I could send you.
yes. but not in quite a while. I'm trying for flowers on P.stellatus 'fine' but havent kept P.stellatus 'broad' for a while.
You have that one? Sometimes it is accused of being L.aromatica.

Also I am now just convinced that there is something lacking in my water that make plants color up. Wether it be from me not dosing or just not present in my tap water. Since I just put a new Cat Aquarium 4x24w t5ho fixture on my tank and color is still not present at levels im happy with.

I think I am going to get some TPN and see if that helps as it seems when I started dosing flourish exclusively, that is when the color started fading from my tank.

Great work as alway A.
flourish isnt as good as TMG, but its not so much worse.
some people say all trace mixes are equal..
I cant disprove that but I have a preference.

I wish I could help - maybe this will help. before I work on color I work on leaf shape and
stem size (diameter/strength) and uptake (good grow rate without stunting).
then it'll slurp micros like crazy and color up. I dont have numbers for this..
its by look/feel for what the tank is doing. and I probably couldn't use a test kit proper
if my life depended on it.

I think (cant prove) that many dosing issues are with the combination of all things in
the water column. color is macros and micros - to me good color related to uptake.
and a stem cant color up to potential if its not really really healthy.
Ok it can.. but I dont stunt/starve for color. That hurts yield.
 
#66 ·
Interesting thread guys. My guess would be a different variation of LA. I have grown a lot of these plants before from different sources and all usually turns really red on me. That explains why you were asking me why my limnos are that red. Maybe you can throw in a stem when we do a swap soon. See it for myself .Your green variant looks cool though.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top