Can you help me with Ultriculiaria Graminifolia tips ? :)

[sevenheads]

Hello lovely people of this forum. I ordered this lovely plant(Ultriculiaria Graminifolia) for an aquatic planted tank I've recently set up. I've done a fair amount of reading and I'm confident I know what to expect. Until just recently when I discovered this forum I had no idea what the emergent form of this plant was capable of. The flower is beautiful. It seems like it might be a lot easier to care for as well. I have some questions about how I can establish a portion of what I'm receiving as emergent. I have a 5 gallon aquarium I could use or I could find anything you would recommend. I've seen you guys grow it in a lot of different substrates. I think I have that much covered. Not much else. Any tips , very very welcomed. Thank you!

My main questions are:
1) What sort of artificial lighting would you recommend ?
2) How and what do you use to fertilize ?
3) How in the world do you encourage it to take hold on objects like for example driftwood ? That could be extremely handy.

 

[amphirion]

growing emersed is very easy. a peat/sand media would be best. if the plant came from an aquatic setting, it might be necessary to throw some saran wrap over it to maintain humidity. 1) bright light, power compact, 2) no fertilization.

3) to make it grow on driftwood, you need another plant that can attach itself on to the wood directly, such as mini pellia or java moss. then grow the UG on top of that. the UG will grow on the plant that attaches on to the wood.

 

[sevenheads]

Thank you.

The plant has in fact come from an aquatic setting. Will it ever adapt without the intensified humidity? If so, how could I eventually encourage that ?

I'm so excited about growing it on the driftwood. So many artistic ideas there. And your example looks amazing. Thank you! I'm still not perfectly clear on the process though. Lets say I have java moss there already. Thats very simple. Then what exactly ? Thats where I am confused. Do you actually take clippings and place them on the java moss ? How is it attached to moss exactly ? In your example pic it looks like it might have just creeped up there over time.

 

[amphirion]

Thank you.

The plant has in fact come from an aquatic setting. Will it ever adapt without the intensified humidity? If so, how could I eventually encourage that ?

I'm so excited about growing it on the driftwood. So many artistic ideas there. And your example looks amazing. Thank you! I'm still not perfectly clear on the process though. Lets say I have java moss there already. Thats very simple. Then what exactly ? Thats where I am confused. Do you actually take clippings and place them on the java moss ? How is it attached to moss exactly ? In your example pic it looks like it might have just creeped up there over time.

1) yes, at first you will completely saran wrap to keep humidity in, then slowly, poke holes with a toothpick until you've pretty much have a big gaping whole. your UG should have acclimated by then.

2) that's exactly what I did. after placing java moss on the wood, i would lay UG on top, using fishing wire to keep it there until the UG establishes itself inside the java moss.

 

[sevenheads]

Incredible. Thank you !

 

[sevenheads]

Hi , I have few more questions now that the plant has arrived. It basically came as a small in tact carpet. I'm assuming I will have to break that up into small plugs.

1) how deep do you set the root end.

2) How much/deep should the water be in an emergent setup ?

3) How dry can the plant get before I should be worried ?

4) Is there anything special I do to give this plant a good start ? How long do you suppose I will have to wait before I will notice it has established itself ?

 

[Maiden]

growing emersed is very easy. a peat/sand media would be best. if the plant came from an aquatic setting, it might be necessary to throw some saran wrap over it to maintain humidity. 1) bright light, power compact, 2) no fertilization.

3) to make it grow on driftwood, you need another plant that can attach itself on to the wood directly, such as mini pellia or java moss. then grow the UG on top of that. the UG will grow on the plant that attaches on to the wood.

+1.7

 

[amphirion]

sorry, i didnt see this. i would have responded earlier.

Hi , I have few more questions now that the plant has arrived. It basically came as a small in tact carpet. I'm assuming I will have to break that up into small plugs.

1) how deep do you set the root end.

2) How much/deep should the water be in an emergent setup ?

3) How dry can the plant get before I should be worried ?

4) Is there anything special I do to give this plant a good start ? How long do you suppose I will have to wait before I will notice it has established itself ?

1) so are we not utilizing driftwood attachment but into substrate? UG does not possess roots. it only has modified leaves and stolons which run through the substrate. you can either partially bury (any depth is fine as long as it stays down) it or lay it flat across the substrate and pin it down using wire or some sort of mesh.

2) water should barely cover over the plant. 1 cm of water should be fine.
3) do not let the plant get dry. drying it will set it back considerably as the intrepid growth will shut down and will need to restart from the source node again.
4) aside from what was prescribed above, not really. growth from an emersed setting should manifest within 2-3 weeks. do keep in mind that growth happens exponentially--very slow growth in the beginning, very rapid growth as the plant is mature.