holey leaves

[GaspingGurami]

I have never been successful growing red plants. I've tried many times, to maintain those red plants tied to a block of bogwood, but they usually rot and break off.

This time, I got me a pot of L.repens. According to the Tropica website, this plant is "easy" to grow, "makes few demands and grows fast, but the red colour is more intense if the light is good".

So I planted the stalks into the substrate, taking care to space them such that all leaves got the light. 3 weeks passed. The green top side of the leaves have faded, although the undersides seem even brighter red. Added micro and macros, still no improvement. Blasted 36watts x 2 as close as 6 inches away.

Holes started to form in the old leaves. Added more Potassium. What else am I missing? Now the top side of the leaves have lost all their green and are turning orange. Undersides are still deep burgundy red.

I'm currently going thru a crisis after my boo boo in over-dosing KH2PO4. Once I've gotten in sufficient water changes to bring nutrient levels back to a balance, what else do I need to do? Are those holes going to heal back? An uprooted plant showed no root formation, slowly rotting beneath the substrate.

[Sleepy_lancs]

Hi,

L.Repens does sometimes show no roots below the substrate. I will have roots coming out from the leave nodes. Any leaf nodes shows signs of roots?

I wonder whats the size of your tank.

The holes will not heal back. You have to cut them away.

[GaspingGurami]

[quote:0273197f6f="Sleepy_lancs"]Hi,

L.Repens does sometimes show no roots below the substrate. I will have roots coming out from the leave nodes. Any leaf nodes shows signs of roots?

I wonder whats the size of your tank.

The holes will not heal back. You have to cut them away.[/quote:0273197f6f]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

I have a 20litre tank. Yes, there are roots coming out from the nodes above the substrate. However the plant had not shown signs of any growth -- no new leaf, shoot, etc.

How about the topside of the leaves? Are they supposed to be faded greenish brown / orange? I remember the plant had green leaf tops and maroon undersides when I first brought it home. However, the plant was emersed at the LFS. Is green the colour for emersed leaves?

What should I do to stimulate growth? I'm thinking of getting that plant hormone mentioned in one of the threads, soaking this plant in it, trimming off all the old leaves and some of the hanging roots then replanting it. Do you reckon this will stimulate it to grow or promptly kill it?