Nymphaea Zenkeri and Barclaya Longifolia

3072 Views 17 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Tihsho, May 3, 2014

Tihsho

Discussion Starter · Apr 28, 2014

I've kept both species in the past (both red and green of the Zenkeri and only the red Longifolia) and noticed that the Zenkeri grew compact in 20 gallon aquariums till one day it explodes and gets tall with large leaves. As for the Longifolia I've only kept it in 24" deep (minimum) to which it grows around 4-6 inch leaves under high light.

My question is: with CO2, dosing ferts, and moderate to high light will the plant stay more compact?

1 - 18 of 18 Posts

Zapins

· #2 · Apr 28, 2014

Not that I noticed. I grew Barclaya red in high lights/CO2/Ferts and it still got large (12-15" leaves).

On a side note, this species does not take kindly to potassium deficiency. It actually outright killed my plant in the end.

Where did you buy your Barclaya from? I'd love to get a few more of them but they aren't so common.

Algae Beater

· #3 · Apr 29, 2014

Barclayas get huge! Here's a photo of a red in my 57 gallon with leaves that are about 20" tall

Tiger lotus need diligent pruning to prevent floating leaves.

If I'm able to coax some seeds from one of my four Barclayas I will likely make a post about it here

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Zapins

· #4 · Apr 29, 2014

Very nice looking tank. Sometimes older Barclayas will send off baby plants near the bulb which can be grown separately.

They also seem to be eaten by snails...

discuspaul

· #5 · Apr 29, 2014

I've kept several different varieties of Nymphaea over the past few years, and didn't find that the size of tank, water conditions, lighting, or fertilizing, etc., made much difference in how they developed and grew.
My experience has been that Nymphaeas respond quite dramatically to how you trim & prune them. You can keep them quite bushy, low & compact by 'training' them, i.e. immediately cutting off, at the base, any stem that starts pushing for the surface above the others.
Keep doing this each time a stem shoots up toward the surface & it'll 'learn' to stay low & widen out.
If you allow any of the stems to reach the surface, more of them will soon follow, and you end up with a 'leggy' plant whose pads are all at the water's surface.
I have photos if anyone cares to see them.

JMN16150

· #6 · Apr 29, 2014

I want a barclaya T-T

Tihsho

Discussion Starter · #7 · Apr 29, 2014

Zapins said:
Not that I noticed. I grew Barclaya red in high lights/CO2/Ferts and it still got large (12-15" leaves).

On a side note, this species does not take kindly to potassium deficiency. It actually outright killed my plant in the end.

Where did you buy your Barclaya from? I'd love to get a few more of them but they aren't so common.

Luckily I dose ferts regularly. I'll keep potassium in mind if I decide to get another Barclaya.

I originally got the two I had years ago from a trip back home to Oahu. A LFS there had a tank full of bulbs and had some bulbs that they still had not hydrated that I bought.

Right now a LFS I go to has a couple. I'm considering getting one, but in an 8" cube it seems to be a waste/pointless idea. I might get one to grow outside in one of my troughs once the weather is nicer though.

discuspaul said:
I've kept several different varieties of Nymphaea over the past few years, and didn't find that the size of tank, water conditions, lighting, or fertilizing, etc., made much difference in how they developed and grew.
My experience has been that Nymphaeas respond quite dramatically to how you trim & prune them. You can keep them quite bushy, low & compact by 'training' them, i.e. immediately cutting off, at the base, any stem that starts pushing for the surface above the others.
Keep doing this each time a stem shoots up toward the surface & it'll 'learn' to stay low & widen out.
If you allow any of the stems to reach the surface, more of them will soon follow, and you end up with a 'leggy' plant whose pads are all at the water's surface.
I have photos if anyone cares to see them.

I'd love to see the photos. Most of my Nymphaea just shot to the surface. Didn't know you could 'train' the growth. I'll keep this in mind and see if I can find some Nymphaea locally.

discuspaul

· #8 · Apr 29, 2014

Here's a couple of Nymphaeas - a red & a tiger red lotus - both were several months old at the time the photos were taken, and they've been kept small, low & bushing out by continual trim training:
http://s1105.photobucket.com/albums/h357/discuspaul/Sept2011

Tihsho

Discussion Starter · #9 · Apr 29, 2014

discuspaul, how many square inches would you say these are taking up? When I had a Tiger Lotus it had 4-5" leaves and was bushy.

discuspaul

· #10 · Apr 29, 2014

I believe they're approx. 5"-6" tall X the same width - so about 30" square inches.
But they can be maintained to be kept even smaller than that - depends on how vigorous your trimming is.

Tihsho

Discussion Starter · #11 · Apr 29, 2014

It might be worth the experiment. Are there any good sources for bulbs? I'd like to find another red lotus.

discuspaul

· #12 · Apr 29, 2014

Can't help you there. Your LFS's should be able to order them in from their plant suppliers, or tell you where to get them.

Tihsho

Discussion Starter · #13 · Apr 29, 2014

My LFS only had the Barclaya's. Others I went to didn't have anything besides "Betta Bulbs" which are Apontegetons.

discuspaul

· #14 · Apr 29, 2014

Look up ordering aquarium plants on-line - you may find some sources.
Google is a great source for a lot of info.

Tihsho

Discussion Starter · #15 · Apr 29, 2014

discuspaul said:
Look up ordering aquarium plants on-line - you may find some sources.
Google is a great source for a lot of info.

-_- Mainly was asking for a reliable source more so a source... Bulbs can be anything and I'd hate to keep buying things to only find out they are not what I intended to purchase.

Zapins

· #16 · Apr 29, 2014

You should buy some of those barclayas and trade them for the plants you want. They are fairly rare plants.

Tihsho

Discussion Starter · #17 · Apr 29, 2014

Zapins, that's not a bad idea. Either way I see a Barclaya in my future since I'd still like to grow one or two in my trough through the summer.

Tihsho

Discussion Starter · #18 · May 3, 2014

Got a small Nymphaea lotus 'Zenkeri' so we will see how it goes.

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