Growing plants emersed

[jamesmj]

Hi,

Anyone grows their aquatic plants emerse and outdoor under sunlight. May i know your setup?

I thinking of collecting bucephalandras and growing them emerse till i have space for a large tank to put them in (when i got my own house).

[jackychun]

I am currently doing an experiment on planting emersed Rotala Bonsai. Don't know what is the result yet, but it has been lasting for few days. Haha. I am waiting to see if the roots will be developing soon. Hopefully it is OK. The setup is quite simple:

Tools and materials:



Put the Aquasoil in the jar:



Put some water in just to cover the soil and start planting using tweezers:





Cover it with the Clear plastic, poke a hole on it so it can absorb CO2 from the air.



Putting outdoor and just leave it. If you see inside the jar dry, spray water in.



That's it. I am waiting for the fruitful result. Hehe.


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[jamesmj]

Nice illustration with your pictures. It does give me a good idea to start on buceps. gonna try 1 - 3 rhizomes.

Do update your progress.

Thanks bro.

[jackychun]

I have checked the emersed Rotala Bonsai this morning and can see the roots are spreading a bit. That is the good sign and I hope the plants can make it.

In fact, I just leave the jar outdoor without any special attention into it. I even didn't spray water since the Cling Wrap was intact all the time. No algae and fungus so far, too. Good experiment.


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[jamesmj]

That's good news. I was thinking for so much water, im afraid of breeding mosquitos instead. haha.

[jackychun]

That's good news. I was thinking for so much water, im afraid of breeding mosquitos instead. haha.

I just put enough water to cover the soil only. Anyway, I cover it with the Cling Wrap and would not think mosquitos can come in and breed.



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[jackychun]

There are some updates on emersed Rotala Bonsai as of today.
- Roots have been developed very well and I believe this is a very good sign of adaptation.

- There is no algae or mold at all in the jar.
- And new leaves appear more and more. Yay!


So I believe I can make a bigger scale next time after this experiment. Basically, no care or maintenance needed after plant. Just leave it out door and it takes the light from nature, CO2 from air and fertilizer from aquasoil. Basically, same as normal gardening work.


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[jamesmj]

Cool. I'm gonna try that for buceps. Do you "water change"?

[jackychun]

Cool. I'm gonna try that for buceps. Do you "water change"?

Ya. You can try to see how. I believe it would be alright. Just take note to cover Cling Wrap until roots develop more and keep the leave moist during the whole time. I tend to open the wrap after the roots develop further.

So far, I did not change water, just top up a bit to the soil surface.


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[jackychun]

There are some updates for my Emersed Rotala Bonsai.

I removed the Cling Wrap cover about a week ago since the roots had been developed well. Since then, the plants have been growing much faster and now the stalks have come out of the rim. I notice the leaves have darker green compared with the one inside my tank. Very nice and healthy grown. I can try to grow it in larger scale in the future.






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[w3iw3n]

can i check whats the purpose of the cling wrap at the initial stage before the roots are fully developed?

I am trying to setup a terrarium and this might be interesting to me.

[jackychun]

can i check whats the purpose of the cling wrap at the initial stage before the roots are fully developed?

I am trying to setup a terrarium and this might be interesting to me.

Well, cling wrap at initial stage will help to keep the environment moist and might as well help the plant gone through the transition period from submersed to emersed. Once the roots developed well, it can get the water and nutrient directly from the soil and leaves can develop well without moist condition.

Having said that, I am also just doing an experiment and see how it goes. Terrarium concept is also similar, but you would need to keep the bottle/tank close at all time. It is considered as a small ecosystem inside the bottle/tank.


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[chesterchuen]

Nice setup Jacky. Is it possible to transfer the plants into the aquarium after they have grown well?

[jackychun]

Nice setup Jacky. Is it possible to transfer the plants into the aquarium after they have grown well?

Thanks bro.

I think it is very possible. Of course there will be transition period that plants need to adapt to the environment. I might test it later. Similarly, just cut the stalk and plant to the soil in tank.

BTW, I have been doing another experiment for emersed planting of Echinodorus Tenellus 'green' as well. Quite interesting:

This is the photo when I first set up:





About 2 weeks later, the submersed leaves type died off and the new emersed leaves type start to develop very well:







I will wait and see if it can make a dense carpet under emersed condition.

Have a good day, guys!


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[jamesmj]

Thanks bro.

I think it is very possible. Of course there will be transition period that plants need to adapt to the environment. I might test it later. Similarly, just cut the stalk and plant to the soil in tank.

BTW, I have been doing another experiment for emersed planting of Echinodorus Tenellus 'green' as well. Quite interesting:

This is the photo when I first set up:





About 2 weeks later, the submersed leaves type died off and the new emersed leaves type start to develop very well:







I will wait and see if it can make a dense carpet under emersed condition.

Have a good day, guys!


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Nice. Glad that it works. I have been procrasinating on starting it. haha.

[jackychun]

Ya. It is fun to plant these. Just do it one time and leave it in the cling wrapped. No need to do anything. Haha.


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[chesterchuen]

Sounds really good. My Bonsai did not adapt well to the transition. I doubt it's the water condition because the Eleocharis already converting to being submersed. So now planning to grow Bonsai emersed so i can have endless supply to keep replanting hahaha (provided that emersed ones grow well &#128513

[jackychun]

Sounds really good. My Bonsai did not adapt well to the transition. I doubt it's the water condition because the Eleocharis already converting to being submersed. So now planning to grow Bonsai emersed so i can have endless supply to keep replanting hahaha (provided that emersed ones grow well )

Let me know if you need some Rotala Bonsai stalks. I might need to trim some from my tank very soon.


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[Zep]

This thread has given me inspiration to start a simple emersed setup too.

I just bought some garden soil and potting soil from a nursery. Planning to use my old decommed 1ft to try to grow some of my trimmings.

Will post some photographs later on when I start the planting.

[chesterchuen]

Need!! Im left with 1 tiny stalk hahaha. Wonder when that one will kick the bucket also