House plants with wet roots

[dean]

Hi you clever people
Looking at adding a couple of small house plants to grow emersed from a 30 litre tank

So i need your help
1. Which plants would look good on that size aquarium ?

2. How to secure the plant in place ?

Obviously its only 30 litres so suspending pots would look bad and take up too much space

All i can think of is to put cable ties through suction cups - but we all know they fall off in time

Suggestions please


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[Ehcosbie]

1. Peace lilies are great for this, they are one of the only houseplants that will reliably flower at low light. You can get some small versions from a local garden centre.

2. Some wire (bonzai wire is good as it is soft, coated and won’t rust) wrapped round, then use excess to creat a hook to hang the plant from the glass. MD fish tank did this on a few tanks a while ago.

 

[Tyko_N]

1. Which plants would look good on that size aquarium ?

My first choice would be Ficus pumila or a dwarf Phalaenopsis cultivar (although be careful to not get water in the rosette of the latter), but there are loads of species that could do well like Tradescantia, Selaginella and other Ficus species. Depending on the look you're after some slightly larger plants like boston ferns, Cyperus 'zumula', and "lucky bamboo" (can be left standing on the substrate if tall enough) might be worth looking at. Alternatively you can go the other way and let species normally kept submerged grow above the surface, Hygrophila, Utricularia graminifolia and Hydrocotyle does well for me (Echinodorus too, but will probably get too big for your tank), they are even likely to treat you to some flowers.

If you go for a peace lily, make sure that it's a smaller species, otherwise they tend to take over completely when grown in such a nice and humid place.

 

[ScareCrow]

Tradescantia and syngoniums are other options. There are a variety of sizes and colours to choose from.

As for securing the plants, I made some clips from electrical wire. Post 47 shows how they work/were made.

 

[aec34]

Depends what you think about what is too big, but I have monstera adansonii growing happily with its roots in water. Won’t be to everyone’s taste, but tank on left is a diddy 10 litre - it was in the big tank for about 6 months and didn’t grow into the substrate.

 

[zozo]

I would say, quite a lot, but it's all depending on the light source...

Google for plants in water bottles and you'll find them all... If it works on the window sill it can work anywhere as long as the light intensity is on the mark.

plant in water bottle - Google Search

 

[dean]

Tradescantia and syngoniums are other options. There are a variety of sizes and colours to choose from.

As for securing the plants, I made some clips from electrical wire. Post 47 shows how they work/were made.

Is that just standard insulated copper wire ?
Dont suppose youve got a video of making one ?


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[ScareCrow]

Is that just standard insulated copper wire ?
Dont suppose youve got a video of making one ?


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Yeah just normal insulated copper wire.

I don't sorry but if you twist the wire around something the same diameter as the plant you want to secure, then angle the tails up, which gives the depth you want the plant to sit. Then create a 90 degree bend to fit over the tank. The key thing is getting it so that it fits tight against the tank. That way spring is under tension which holds the plant and clip in place.