Microsorum pteropus 'narrow leave' and Bolbitis

[dagger13]

i know both species are low light plant but the thing is i have them currently on my wood near the light with 4x36w pl with watere temp 27-28 degrees. but im wondering whether im giving them too much light as ive experience them 'burning' out on me but i need to think bout the foreground plant as well such as HG or glosso which im thinking as my foreground. please enlighten me on this. thank you

[naturalmystic]

Hi dagger13,

If your ferns are attached to the wood, why not move them to the back of the tank? And if your lighting system is adjustable, why not move them to the front?
I am not sure of your tank size though but if the wpg is too much, you can always reduce the lighting.

[dagger13]

oh its a standard 3x1.5x1.5 feet tank. guess ill just have to adjust the placing of ferns and bolbitis in the tank though it would be tricky as its a partition tank actually.

[StanChung]

Burning is a myth. The new leaves will come out nicer than those in the shade. If they blacken, just trim. They're just old leaves IMO. Something like how a crypt adapts to new environment.

This is from my 3 years and three tanks full of bolbitis and microsorums. One of the few plants that burn are mini pelia in bright light.

[dagger13]

thanks stan, this is the enquiry ive been looking for ill try my luck with bolbitis again.

Burning is a myth. The new leaves will come out nicer than those in the shade. If they blacken, just trim. They're just old leaves IMO. Something like how a crypt adapts to new environment.

This is from my 3 years and three tanks full of bolbitis and microsorums. One of the few plants that burn are mini pelia in bright light.

[Verminator]

If what StanChung say is is true then with my narrow leaf java fern i could trim about 20 odd leaves of 7(ish) ryhzomes and be left with perhaps 4 leaves in total. But what your saying is new leaves will grow from the bare ryhzome?

Please enlighten me on this. No one has responded in nearly 24 hours on my thread on this exact matter. A response in either by anyone for that matter would greatly be appreciated. Thanks.

[Panut]

Hi verminator,

In my experience of using bolbitis, normally when i take the plant back from the LFS the leaves aren't nice. i will pluck every single whole leaf off from the rhizome, tie it to something(wood or whatever) and let it regrow again. It works, and it will work.

cheers,

[StanChung]

If what StanChung say is is true then with my narrow leaf java fern i could trim about 20 odd leaves of 7(ish) ryhzomes and be left with perhaps 4 leaves in total. But what your saying is new leaves will grow from the bare ryhzome?

Please enlighten me on this. No one has responded in nearly 24 hours on my thread on this exact matter. A response in either by anyone for that matter would greatly be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi Verminator,

I may have missed that thread-Ferns like Bolbitis, you can remove the old and larger leaves can take it if the rhizomes are healthy.

As for Microsorums- Not a good idea to trim all the leaves for planting of Microsorums as IME a 50/50 chance of disappearing! Trim all the black ones and those with baby plantlets. With the leaves you can start a terrarium/nursery as baby plants can grow from the leaves in a humid environment.

For both, take care not to damage the roots. They don't look like much but cutting it would reduce their nutrient uptake considerably. I cut them to stunt the leaves[I don't want huge ferns!] Reducing dosing usually results in algae. Hope this helps.

[Shadow]

bro Stan, does cutting the root will stunt Bolbitis as well?

[Panut]

No it won't. i cut the roots when i re-tie or before i tie. Especially the black ones..

[StanChung]

Hi Robert, it does on mine because I can grow it beyond 2ft leaf length. I now keep the slightly smaller species-about 1.5ft leaf length. They look good when they're young and small but once they're large, I resort to cutting their roots and sometimes mutilating them a bit to promote more shoots and keep them small.

[Shadow]

Just wondering, if I cut the leaf in the middle (refer to picture below, cut at red mark) will the whole thing rot?

[dagger13]

thats a good question regarding the bolbitis, robert. do we have to cut it at the joint of the leave stem and the rizome. or can we cut it at any area of the stem.

[StanChung]

Cut it close to the rhizome. I usually can't see where to cut so I just pick out the black leaf, follow it down with my hand to where stem meets rhizome and snap it with my bare finger nails! If it's too tough I would take out the ADA tool for cutting thick stems and try not to miss. LOL.

[Panut]

Cut it close to the rhizome. I usually can't see where to cut so I just pick out the black leaf, follow it down with my hand to where stem meets rhizome and snap it with my bare finger nails! If it's too tough I would take out the ADA tool for cutting thick stems and try not to miss. LOL.

Hi verminator,

In my experience of using bolbitis, normally when i take the plant back from the LFS the leaves aren't nice. i will pluck every single whole leaf off from the rhizome, tie it to something(wood or whatever) and let it regrow again. It works, and it will work.

cheers,

follow the leaf down with my hand to where stem meets rhizome and snap it with my bare finger. Thats what i do too. works. cutting in the middle will result in the leaf rotting if i am not wrong. Haven't experienced this though, but from the anatomy it should.

cheers