I am slowly making the transition from plastic plants to real plants,
getting generally one plant a week!!

so far I have some bacopa, some elodea, and some straight and twisted
vallis. All is growing well, although I think I will need some more light
for the vallis!

This weekend I was after some sort of foreground plant, the LFS down the
road from me had some Nana in, but it was very expensive (£3 for one little
bit with about three leaves) So I went in search of some tenullus. my next
LFS had some - or it came in a tenulus, but it was really tall, I always
thought that tenullus kind of flopped over, but this was standing up
straight, the woman also said that it was a lot taller than what she has had
in before. So I decided to leave the tenullus for a bit, see if I can get it
from somewhere else.

What she did have was a different variety of small plant - it was labelled
as water hedge I think (or water something). it had lanceolate leafs, about
four on each side, one above each other, it seemed to grow from a few
bulbous roots and the leaf colour was a mid-green with a thin almost white
outline along the edge.

She advised me that it was not a true aquatic plant and so probably wouldn't
do well in my aquarium, but it was only £1 for three, so I figured, give
them a try! (When I got them home I'd actually got four - bonus).

I was wondering if there was anything I could do to improve my chances of
keeping these plants as now they are planted they look really beautiful?

Thanks

Stu

In article , "Stuart Mueller"
writes:


What she did have was a different variety of small plant - it was labelled
as water hedge I think (or water something). it had lanceolate leafs, about
four on each side, one above each other, it seemed to grow from a few
bulbous roots and the leaf colour was a mid-green with a thin almost white
outline along the edge.


I would guess that a correct answer would depend on the actual species of plant
you came home with. A google search turned up Didiplis diandra as the
scientific name for the Water Hedge. If this is your plant, you are probably
ok...see the following link for a pictu

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/stats..._plants4b.html

Note: I found the same species referred to as Water purslane in the Barron's
guide to aquarium fish. The specs from this book: "6 inches; 20 mg/L CO2,
2-15 dCH, pH 6-7.8, 72-82 deg F; medium light. Good solitary plant for small
tanks."

Also found on Phyl's website at trueaquariumplants.com with the following
comment: "This plant is tolerant of a wide range of water conditions and does
well in crowded tanks. Discus love this plant and it can tolerate the higher
temperatures required."

If this does not look like your plant, well, you might need to give more
details to help someone more knowledgeable about plants to guess what it is, or
you can browse through some plant pics to see if you come across something that
looks like yours.

Good luck!


Erica
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/mitoem/mitoem/index.htm

My local shop sells dracaena as an aquarium plant although, as Leigh points
out, it is not.

I once had one in one of my tanks and it did last for several months. Note
that if you prune leaves off as they (inevitably) start to decay, nothing
will grow back. They will contribute nothing to the overall health of your
tank and will eventually detract from it as the roots decay.

The description also sounds like Japanese Rush? I can't think of the Latin
off the top of my head.

kush

LeighMo wrote in message
...
A google search turned up Didiplis diandra as the
scientific name for the Water Hedge.

I don't think what he has is Didiplis diandra. Didiplis diandra is a stem
plant, that doesn't have "bulbous" roots. And it has fine, needle-like
leaves,
not lanceolate ones.

Alternanthera species are sometimes sold as "water hedge." Some of those
are
true aquatics. But I don't think they have "bulbous" roots, either.

I suspect what he has is Dracaena sanderiana, or a related species. It's
sold
under various common names: lucky bamboo, green dragon plant, ribbon
plant,
etc. Here's a photo:

http://horticulture.missouri.edu/tri...dracaena-s.htm

It's pretty, but as the photo suggests, it's not a true aquatic. I'm
afraid
there's nothing you can do to make it grow successfully underwater.
AquaticPlantDepot.com sells it as a terrarium plant.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

Aluminum plant? Pilea cadierei
http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plan..._cadierei.html

as water hedge I think (or water something). it had lanceolate leafs,
about
four on each side, one above each other, it seemed to grow from a few
bulbous roots and the leaf colour was a mid-green with a thin almost white
outline along the edge.