Growing plants emersed: tips and advice

[Feline]

Trying my hand at growing emersed plants to recoup some costs on these pricey plants. I've got a monte carlo container going already and I'm planning to start a plant bin with buce and some other plants from my tanks.

I'm going with a plastic container and 1 inch of fluval stratum to start. I've drilled some holes in the lid for ventilation, can always add more if needed. I've seen people use lava rocks, but is that really a must? If I need to, I can grab some, but if not, I'd rather skip it.

[coltin]

Growing aquatic plants is pretty straightforward. Most aquarium plants are essentially marsh plants, so you can treat them similarly to regular garden plants. I've had success using 20cm plastic pots filled with standard potting mix, and then placing those pots in larger trays - usually around 25-30cm. Every two weeks, I'd add a soluble plant fertilizer and water them from the top. The trays would collect water and fertilizer, and I'd just let them sit in the sun.

If you're looking to grow aquatic plants specifically, you can use small storage containers and place the plants in tiny pots with aquarium gravel. Just add a soluble fertilizer and let them grow. When you're ready to sell, you can simply lift the pot out and send it off - most pots will have 3-4 cuttings. The pots themselves are usually around 1.5-2 inches in diameter and 3 inches high.

Alternatively, you can plant directly into the storage containers. Just add 3-4 inches of aquarium gravel and fertilize every week. You can either pull the plants out or take cuttings to sell - just make sure they're around 8-12 inches long.

As for using a lid, it's really only necessary if you're trying to transition fully submerged plants to emersed plants. In that case, just make sure the container has enough water to cover the plants, and let it evaporate over a few weeks. Once the current leaves are exposed to air, the plants will start growing emersed leaves.

[Feline]

Growing aquatic plants is pretty straightforward. Most aquarium plants are essentially marsh plants, so you can treat them similarly to regular garden plants. I've had success using 20cm plastic pots filled with standard potting mix, and then placing those pots in larger trays - usually around 25-30cm. Every two weeks, I'd add a soluble plant fertilizer and water them from the top. The trays would collect water and fertilizer, and I'd just let them sit in the sun.

If you're looking to grow aquatic plants specifically, you can use small storage containers and place the plants in tiny pots with aquarium gravel. Just add a soluble fertilizer and let them grow. When you're ready to sell, you can simply lift the pot out and send it off - most pots will have 3-4 cuttings. The pots themselves are usually around 1.5-2 inches in diameter and 3 inches high.

Alternatively, you can plant directly into the storage containers. Just add 3-4 inches of aquarium gravel and fertilize every week. You can either pull the plants out or take cuttings to sell - just make sure they're around 8-12 inches long.

As for using a lid, it's really only necessary if you're trying to transition fully submerged plants to emersed plants. In that case, just make sure the container has enough water to cover the plants, and let it evaporate over a few weeks. Once the current leaves are exposed to air, the plants will start growing emersed leaves.

Bucephalandra's a different story though - it's my go-to plant. I was considering ditching the others, but I couldn't bear to part with my buce. I've been watching some videos on growing bucephalandra emersed, and they all seem to recommend using a lid to keep the humidity up, while still allowing for some airflow through vents.

[coltin]

Honestly, I've never had bucephalandra, so I'm not really sure what works best for it.