[xavierj123]

I have some nice Java Fern daughters about 3 months old. They look just about the size to transplant, however I read on this forum, somewhere, that they will release themselves from the mother plant when they are ready to transplant-----on a rock or driftwood somewhere. Is this true? Do I just wait for them to drift free of the mother plant? A couple of the mother leaves looked pretty brown & black so I cut them loose and transplanted a few of the daughter plants ( which look green and great) in a larger tank by placing them in some cracks in the driftwood root. I was just curious about this work of nature.

 

[Zapins]

The baby plants are released from the motherplant when the parent leaf rots away (goes black).

You don't have to wait for the leaf to rot naturally, you can remove the plantlets whenever you want. The babies will survive even if they are very small.

Just tie them onto something in the tank with some thread and they will root into it. Do not bury the roots or this will kill the plants.

 

[xavierj123]

Thanks for the input. When I first purchased the java plant I had no idea what it was or how to plant it -----so I just planted it in the substrate with some other aquatic plants that I purchased. Then I noticed that little black round beads started appearing on the botttom of the leaf. I thought something had attacked my plant so I tried to rub them off. Later I learned in an aquatic plant book that these little black beads produce babie/daughter plants. Hmmmm, live & learn. The new java ferns sure are beautiful.

 

[Zapins]

Yes I love them too. I once planted a 55 gallon with basically all java fern. It was lovely while it lasted.