I am trying my hand at growing HC emmersed.

I've set up disposable tupperwear containers with the emmersion. Now for the light, I was wondering, can anyone find a problem in leaving them out in the sun during the day, then bringing them indoors at sunset?

My avg high temp here is 80-85.
My avg low-temp is 65-70.

Thoughts?

Hi,

As long as it can get some shade and you can keep it MOIST, IMO it should be okay.

I would check often to ensure it hasn't dried out too much. This may be an issue....

I would think the sun would be a good light for it lol

However, I doubt it would need 8-10 hours of it.

Can you set up a few that would get different duration of sun to see what works best?

Good luck.

this sounds like a terrerium, essentially. if you have a lid on this aquarium, and it sits in full sun, i can tell you that the temp inside will exceed 100F easily. without a lid and in the sun it may be pretty hard to keep the HC from drying out.

jd

Hi,

I'm also trying to grow HC emersed in smaller tanks.
I have a 12" x 12 " x 12" square glass tank.

It's left at a window where it gets strong sunlight.
Covered it with a piece of cling wrap with a small gap at the corner to allow gas exchange.
I've checked it once or twice daily to make sure the leaves dont dry out.
Soil is kept moist all the time.
I'm using GEX substrate, a japanese made substrate for shrimp tanks.

Noticed that the plants will tend to grow tall and skinny instead of short and thick (what I'd prefer).

Tried this method with glosso too.
Glosso also grows tall instead of forming a carpet.

Where did you get the GEX substrate ??

Hi Panda,

I'm from Singapore. GEX substrate is sold in most LFS. They come in green or red packets.

Green is for plants.
Red is for shrimp and plants.

I believe there are some fertilizers not suitable for shrimps in the green packets. ( or it might be a marketing strategy =) )

If you are from Singapore and are interested, PM me and I'll tell you the location where I got it from.

Regards,

Ryan

hi, just like to ask, how did you plant your HC and Glosso?
did you plant it inclined against the substrate or standing?
would that affect the growth of said plants?

i read somewhere that these plants tend to grow tall and skinny if light is lacking.. but i still have no experience on this...
im plannning to grow either one of the two plants, but want to know more about them yet=)

Hi Generals,

HC is planted in clumps spaced approx 2cm apart.
Glosso is planted loosely around the tank.

I planted them deep into the substrate the first time till only the leaves can be seen.

Both tanks are left by the window. No artificial lighting at all. No additional fertilizers.

Both plants grew fast and tall instead of fast and thick. I'd take a photo but I've removed them and I'm experimenting with something else now.

I've not been very successful with HC yet (hints at Tom's monster tank with HUGE HC carpet), so I cannot say much about the difficulty of HC.

I've tried replanting and messing around with glosso and I can say they are a bit easier to have than HC. (with regards to lighting)

Only problem I have with glosso is that they can grow too thick and overlap each other, resulting in quite a mess. But that can be solved by pruning.

HC is definitely a challenge and I'm not giving up.

Regards,

Ryan

Yassmeena,

I too have 3 Tupperware bins set up for emmersed growth, I currently have HC in 1.5 of the bins and Dwarf Swords/dwarf hair grass in the other 1.5. I have mine under my screened in Lani. Because I live in what seems to be a rain forest (Central FL.) I keep my bins covered most of the time I don't want to flood them out by the frequent rain storms here while I'm gone. When I am home I can monitor current weather I take the lids off and they really love the somewhat direct sunlight (screened) I try and keep the soil (Scotts potting soil/pool sand ratio 2/3) moist to the point of where I can see the soil saturated. after all day with the lids off I have to re saturate the soil with a turkey baster syringe so I don't disturb the top soil. I like the progress but feel I could do better....because I can't keep my lids off I am going to put a couple of bins under a CF 55w in the garage and really give them 10 hrs of direct light and see how they progress from there.

Troy

oh ok.. hehe thanks for the info.
i started around a week ago, and mine also grows tall instead of thick.. but some seem to be growing thick.. i just didn't understand why
i have to observe a little bit longer.. and hopefully i can figure it out with my inexperienced mind hehehe=)