Long Hairgrass

[chua]

Hi all,

Recently, I planted long hairgrass in my tank.
After a week, i found that a lot of new hairgrass growing at the tip of the parent hairgrass.

Is it normal?
If it is, how should I go about trimming it as it is quite messy?

Thanks.

[budak]

You can just cut of the top (with the plantlet) and replant it or throw it away. You probably have Eleocharis vivipara or something similar. The usual hairgrass (E. acicularis) doesn't produce plantlets from the tip.

[chua]

Hi Budak,

Thanks for the fast reply.

I bought it from C328. Thought it is long hairgrass. Btw, long hairgrass propagate through runners.

Anyone can share your experience with this plant, Eleocharis vivipara?

[|squee|]

I got some runaway plantlets from Gratiola when I bought plants from them. Now they're propagating =D

I find they propagate from the tip more than through runners.

[Nicky]

Is there a type of long hair grass (10 inches or more) that does not propagate from the tip?
If so, where can I get them?

[shihyong]

Is there a type of long hair grass (10 inches or more) that does not propagate from the tip?
If so, where can I get them?

So is it true that there are 3 types of hairgrass?
1) dwarf (1-3cm)
2) normal (5-10cm)
3) long? (>15cm)

I am keen to get some long one to try too, where can I get?
Thanks.

[StanChung]

dwarf hairgrass is eleocharis parvula, no? some say it's e. acicularis?

my hairgrass grows till 10+cm depending on conditions? unless i've got something else
in bad conditions it's really short...1-3 cm...

quite sure it's e parvula

e acicularis has 'baby tips'...http://www.plantedtank.net/plantprofiles/1001/

included a green neon for size ref...

[chua]

I only know of the dwaf and normal hairgrass.

Never heard of long hairgrass.

So is Eleocharis vivipara the long type?

[Wackytpt]

Eleocharis vivipara are the longest in the family

[budak]

There are supposed to be hundreds of species in the genus Eleocharis. What we have n our tanks could well be any random taxon.

[shihyong]

Thanks for all your reply.
Some information i got from www.tropica.com

1)
Source:
http://www.tropica.com/productcard_1.asp?id=132C
Eleocharis ''parvula'' No. 132C

Family Cyperaceae
Continent Cosmopolitan
Region
Country of origin
Height 3-7 cm
Width 5-10+ cm
Light requirements low-very high
Temperature 10-28 °C
Hardness tolerance very soft-hard
pH tolerance 5,5-8
Growth medium
Demands easy

A low-growing Eleocharis that forms runners close to the parent plant. It is prettiest planted in small bunches quite close to each other, which will gradually form a solid mass of plants. An ideal foreground plant, equally suited to large and small aquariums. Its scientific name is at present uncertain. See also Eleocharis acicularis.

2)
Source:
http://www.tropica.com/productcard_1.asp?id=133
Eleocharis acicularis No. 133


Family Cyperaceae
Continent Cosmopolitan
Region Cosmopolitan
Country of origin
Height 10-15 cm
Width 5+ cm
Light requirements medium-very high
Temperature 15-25 °C
Hardness tolerance very soft-hard
pH tolerance 5-8
Growth medium
Demands medium

Eleocharis acicularis is a low plant that has a grass-like appearance with fine, filamentous leaves when growing conditions are good. One new way of using it is as an anchor to keep a Riccia down. First keep the Riccia down with pebbles, then plant the Eleocharis in the Riccia with tweezers. There are more than 100 Eleocharis species, and they are difficult to distinguish from each other.

[Justikanz]

I had only seen Eleocharis acicularis and E. vivipara on sale so far... Where can we get the E. parvula in Singapore? Can we trim all these hairgrass by simply cutting them to the length that we want?

[Fei Miao]

I had only seen Eleocharis acicularis and E. vivipara on sale so far... Where can we get the E. parvula in Singapore? Can we trim all these hairgrass by simply cutting them to the length that we want?

I've seen Eleocharis parvula from Fu Wu @ jurong east before. You can try calling them to check if they have in stock.

[Waterworld]

From my encounters, hair grass grow to different length under different light condition. Mine bought at the farm, same batch, same tank, under direct light height around 2 inch, shaded/at corners of the tank reaches 3-4 inches in height.

It's true there are many types of hair grass, Amano uses long and short hairgrass right?

Cheers