Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata Pantanal - Problems

[Bobby24]

Hi All,

My Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata Pantanal, is growing prolifically, and I have even propagated the plant from 2 stems I now have about 11 plants, a couple of them even grew shoots from the bottom stems that I cut off (where I replanted the top), I have to do another trimming soon which will double these plants in my tank and I may have to cut off a few.

The problem I having with these plants is the bottom leaves of the plant i.e. the ones below the pink top are not as green as I would like them to be they are a bit pale also the tips of these leaves also have curling, can anyone tell me what is the deficiency or what could be wrong here? I am dosing both micro and macro ferts, the tank is CO2 injected via a pressurized system. All the other plants are doing fine and are very healthy, it is just this one that has this problem.

Much appreciate the help.

Bobby

[jgb77]

Pantanal leaves can bend like you are describing from issues with CO2, traces or K in my experience.
If you have a solid dosing regimen, CO2 is the most likely.
This picture is the best I've found showing healthy vs. defficient Pantanal. This picture is not mine,it belongs to mrkookm and was found on this site:

What and how much are you dosing for traces and K and also how is your CO2 distributed, what size tank etc.?
John

[ThatGuyWithTheFish]

Also, what lights do you have? And really any stem plant will have problem with its bottom leaves.

[Bobby24]

Thanks guys, I have recently uped the CO2 injection into the tank to 3.5 to 4 BPS using a max-mix reactor, my HC are doing real good after that, so I think the CO2 might not be the issue. The lighting is sufficient I think, I have a 30 gal tank with 4 T5 x 14 watts and N LED strip 1A/24V. a bit difficult to calcualte, but looking at how the other plants are doing, lighting might not be a problem.

I will up the dosing of K and Trace and see what happens.

If anyone can think of anything else, please let me know.

Thanks All.

[plantbrain]

It's a very weedy plant, so it will use and need more CO2/ferts than many species.

And you cannot add too much light for this, but the CO2/ferts balance might become rather tough if you add more and more light.

[ThatGuyWithTheFish]

BPS really tells nothing as to how much CO2 is in your tank, only how fast it is being injected. To really know if you have enough, invest in a drop checker, unless you already have one. Nilocg sells them here for $15.

And most red plants need more light and CO2 than even HC.

[Bobby24]

Thanks all, The drop checker is almost yellow by late noon.