Hemianthus callitrichoides

[baron von bubba]

Originally Posted by 9am53

One tip for new growers of HC: when you prune the rest of your plants don't forget to trim the HC as you might mow a lawn...otherwise they will grow too long, and their buoyancy will uproot them and you will find yourself with floating HC and empty patches in the gravel!

hi, wont this stop it growing? wont removing the leaves mean the plant can no longer use the light properly to do its thing?

also does anyone plant this with the potting wool still attached? thought it may initially stay in place better if that was done, not tried it but i'm gonna give this plant a try soon and was looking for hints! :0)

[Axelrodi202]

I take off about half of the wool. And trimming means removing excessive growth, not getting rid of leaves entirely.

[CrazyPlantLady]

Originally Posted by @marko@

This is a picture of the HC growing in my 2.5 gallon on flourite. It doesnt grow nearly as fast as its relative Hemianthus micranthemoides (baby tears). Also i reccomend you keep some algae eating shrimp in the tanks since its fine structure makes it prone to hair algae and large fish like SAE will just eat the whole plant.

It likes high light and CO2.

I have 3.75wpg and DIY CO2 and dose dry ferts. Without the shrimp, do I have a shot at growing this? I do have Otos in the tank but the other tankmates (Badis badis) make short work of shrimp.

[Homer_Simpson]

While I don't doubt that HC will likely grow faster and spread faster with a combination of high light and c02 injection. Appropriate light is still likely the determining factor of how whether HC will grow or not regardless of co2. See this thread. Jeremy has successfully grown HC in his tanks without c02 and he found appropriate light was the key.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/lo...ighting-2.html

Also, growing HC emersed than submersed using Tom Barr's recommended dry start method may be the way to start this plant if you are looking for a dense algae free and deeply rooted carpet of HC that will not uproot too easily.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/ge...lgae-free.html

[i4x4nMore]

Yes, I did an experiment and set up two identical tanks with a soil substrate and 60 umol/m2/s of light and planted HC. In both tanks, I targeted 10ppm nitrates, 2ppm phosphates, and 0.1ppm Fe via IE dosing. The only difference between the two tanks was the addition of co2 in one of the tanks at 30ppm, and hence the dosing schedule between the two tanks.

The tank with CO2 completely filled in with HC within a month, while the non-co2 tank completely filled in within four months. However, the density and fullness was identical... completely full with no bare patches.

When I plant potted HC that I get from the LFS, I don't bother with the wool and all that... I just snip single stems from the top growth and use long planting tweezers to insert the single sprigs into the substrate about 1.5 inches from each other. This is where having the right granular-sized substrate comes in handy - if the grain size is too big, then the sprigs won't stay in the substrate. After planting, soon the sprigs will start growing roots and then the leaves will "thicken" and the sprig will start progressing as a runner along the substrate. When that happens, then you know you're set! Then you just kick back and watch the beauty unfold...

Also, I agree that adding shrimp really goes a long way to keeping the dense HC clean of debris. Algae was never a big problem in either tank... just a few varieties at start-up; but after a few weeks of consistent dosing and consistent light, the tanks were completely algae free. The HC in the non-co2 tank even pearls in the middle of the day.

.

[CrazyPlantLady]

Originally Posted by i4x4nMore

When I plant potted HC that I get from the LFS, I don't bother with the wool and all that... I just snip single stems from the top growth and use long planting tweezers to insert the single sprigs into the substrate about 1.5 inches from each other.

So I understand, you plant just the snipped stem, it would have no roots at the start?

[i4x4nMore]

Originally Posted by CrazyPlantLady

So I understand, you plant just the snipped stem, it would have no roots at the start?

Correct: The planted single stem has no roots... It will form them in time. But sometimes, as I separate the HC from the wool, I try to keep some roots in tact, but it's not necessary. Glosso can be planted in this way as well.

[CrazyPlantLady]

Thanks! I'm going to give it a try!

[exv152]

I found a tropica video where this guy took the HC out of its basket, then split the plant in half, then cut off the bottom inch & ½ of wool, then cut the plant into ½ inch squares and planted those with tweezers. I did something similar with my HC, but I tried brushing the wool out of the roots with a tooth brush and it seemed to work well. I then took larger portions and planted those, and used some steel mesh to hold the loose bits down...see pic




Its only been two days, but hopefully it'll take.

[Martin]

Actually, the easiest way I found is also rather simple.

Plant HC in small patches, but use a toothpick inserted at an angle through the HC & into the substrate.

[CrazyPlantLady]

Kinda the 'spear and plant' method eh?

[Martin]

exactly.
I works remarkably well.

of course if you have really coarse gravel it wont...