RifRaf wrote:

Ok....so they ARE suppose to fall of then.

OK OK OK......so these leaflets DON'T just all off normally.

Yes and no ;-) In nature, java ferns are often found above water but wet,
like in the spray from a waterfall. Rain, or something brushing against the
plant, or a strong enough air current would detach them. Underwater, a
change in current, nibbling fish, etc, would detach them. Often plantlets
appear on a deteriorating leaf, which would eventually deteriorate to the
point the plantlet ends up attached to nothing. So yes, they naturally come
off, but no, they don't naturally come off. If you get me. I have never
witnessed a plantlet just spontaneously fly off, but I don't spend THAT
much time staring at the java ferns.... so maybe that happens too.

I find the larger the plantlets get, the less they are firmly attached. If
you don't like them, tug gently. Sometimes this will take the very end of
the leaf off with it, but usually they just let go, if leaves are 2-3
inches. In my tank, the gourami likes to yank on baby java fern plantlets
of all sizes and detaches them without tearing the leaves at all, he seems
to have a system. (BAD gourami, plantlets stuck all over filter intake!)

There's no reason to sit around waiting for them to detach, if you don't
like the look. I happen to like it myself, even the little brown hairy
rootlets all over the place. Want a nice pearl gourami? ;-)

Rebecca
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