marsilea minuta.

[A Hill]

I'm considering adding this to my Mini M as a background plant. Does anyone know if there is a way to encourage it to push the tall four leaf clover leaves opposed to the thick ground cover?

Thanks,
-Andrew

[OVT]

Usually less light == taller growth as the plant reaches for the light.

[A Hill]

Thats what I thought... and the mini m is in front of a west facing window in AZ... meaning TONS of light. So much for that idea.

-Andrew

[sdylanh]

Double check me on this, but I was under the impression that MM only produces the 4-leaf clover-like growth when grown emersed.

[Kathyy]

Nope they will produce lobes underwater. In my tank sometimes long runners pop 4 lobed fronds out of Staurogyne or C. wendtii that is shading the growing point but they end up growing just tall enough to get into the light.

Outside the fronds float on the water surface unless crowded out of the water.

[AzFishKid]

Originally Posted by sdylanh

Double check me on this, but I was under the impression that MM only produces the 4-leaf clover-like growth when grown emersed.

When i grew MM submerged, it never grew 4-leaf clovers. And i had a huge 36"x8" carpet of it...

[Moody636]

I used to occasionally get 4 leaf stems popping up when I had lower light.

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[FriendsNotFood]

Mine is growing (barely) in almost complete darkness under the driftwood and there's no clovers.

[bababooey]

I've grown large carpets of MM and have never seen 4 lobe leaves in submersed form. Occasionally there will be a 2-3 leaf, but that is very rare and usually only happens when I do the initial planting.

It does grow 4 lobe leaves emersed though...

[chubky]

Originally Posted by OVT

Usually less light == taller growth as the plant reaches for the light.

That's what I've read too

[amberoze]

Marsilea Minuta is a very slow grower even under the most perfect conditions. It will grow slightly taller under low light, but not much. There are actually more than one species of marsilea that can be found growing emersed and submerged. Not all of which grow the classic for leaf clover.

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[Robotguy]

Just as a data point, here's some of my MM that's being shaded by an Anubias:


Wherever it gets unobstructed light it's single lobe.

[Kathyy]

That is what happens with my Marsilea. Mine has fronds about the size of a pencil eraser and is probably not minuta.

It grew so fast it was piling on top of itself so I had a double layer last week. Lower dark green single lobes and taller olive green multiple lobes. Cut it down and will see what happens next!