Blyxa japonica question

[Hades]

Hi everybody,

i have a question about the growth/propagation of Blyxa japonica.
I have got some Blyxa in my tank for about a year now. Until now i mainly noticed growth in height and in thickness of the bunches: After a while you get "new plants" with roots growing on top of the original plantlets and pruning blyxa is more about uprooting and separating those to thin out rather then cutting the leaves.

But lately i see new shoots of Blyxa appearing far away from the original plants. There are some new (very, very small) blyxa plantlets growing about 50cm away from the "motherplant"...
So i wonder how does this work...?

I don't think it starts from "root-runners" in the soil since that is not the way Blyxa typically grows (and also because the new plants are really far away from the rest).
But am i right to assume that the new sprouts start to develop from small pieces (of blyxa-roots?) floating around after trimming that settle themselves somehow?

Thanks in advance
grtz

 

[zozo]

Sometimes Old botanical drawings can provide all the answers. I couldn't find a beter resolution pic from Blyxa than this but it shows the rootstock and it's vegetative propagation..

And yes roots can travel quite some distance before it pops up again somewhere else. I actualy envi your story a bit, i never was that succesfull with growing Blyxa.

 

[Hades]

Sometimes Old botanical drawings can provide all the answers. I couldn't find a beter resolution pic from Blyxa than this but it shows the rootstock and it's vegetative propagation..

Cheers! When i doubt just check oldskool botanical drawings...
I should have known that!

And yes roots can travel quite some distance before it pops up again somewhere else.

I have to add that i first noticed the new "rogue" growth after i did a huge blyxa trim, that is why i thought it might have been caused by small plant fragments floating around in the tank that somehow grabbed a hold somewhere and started to grow.
Also some new shoots grow next to big stones that reach the bottom of the tank (and block the shortest way to the motherplant) so if it is purely by root runners that is quite amazing to me actually!

actualy envi your story a bit, i never was that succesfull with growing Blyxa.

Really? I got mine from a friend and was told that it was very easy to keep so i always treated it like it was the easiest plant in the tank...
Maybe that is the trick for succes?

Anyhow, it really thrives here. It doesn't seem to grow too fast but sometimes you just don't notice how much it grows, it's like a "silent grower"...
Because of that I ended up with two massive bunches a while ago, they became so dense and high they took all the flow out of my tank so I just did a huge trim and gave away the cuttings...
But next time i can send you some shoots if you're interested?

 

[zozo]

But next time i can send you some shoots if you're interested?

Thanks a ton for the offer.. But it's a plant i gave up on.. Tried it several times, from different recourses.. It doesn't thrive in my current low tech setups, dunno why, seems that small differences can have drastic consequences.. Tho also not realy important, there are enough others that do well. Just need to find them.. In my collecteritis and the about 120 different sp. i played with i have several plant sp. collected by now labeled Easy i just cannot seem to grow, obviously the lable easy is very relative.

 

[Mick.Dk]

When in good growth, Blyxa japonica is very capable of (and quite good at) doing offspring from tiny bits of plant material, settling after a trim. This is really the most likely scenario, when you say they are showing 50 cm. from other Blyxa japonica plants. The trimmed stems also readily grow new tops after triming tops off for replant.
Good to hear you have success with Blyxa japonica - it is such a beautifull plant.

 

[Hades]

When in good growth, Blyxa japonica is very capable of (and quite good at) doing offspring from tiny bits of plant material, settling after a trim.

I suspect this was the case here actually. I checked the tank yesterday when lights were on and i noticed some more shoots. One of them, really small, just sits there on top of some moss, with it's roots growing above substrate...

Good to hear you have success with Blyxa japonica - it is such a beautifull plant.

I was gifted a few plantlets to start so it's in my tank almost by coincidence but since that day I just love Blyxa!

Just a picture to give an idea of the massive trim i did:

before

and after
oh look, there's a stone there ...

138909[/ATTACH]']

 

[zozo]

Seeing you pictures and the lush growth i assume it's with CO²? Just curious, and asking because also seen people grow it simularly beautifull in low energy setup.

 

[Hades]

Seeing you pictures and the lush growth i assume it's with CO²? Just curious, and asking because also seen people grow it simularly beautifull in low energy setup.

Yes, with co2, ferts and planted in amazonia soil but rather dimmed lights.
But I also assumed/heard that it can thrive equally well in low tech/low energy setups.
The leaves will have a more reddish colour with a lot of light though and growth might be faster but to my knowledge it is a pretty forgiving plant.

 

[zozo]

But I also assumed/heard that it can thrive equally well in low tech/low energy setups

Yup me too, gave it a try several times with plants from the shop, send to me from other hobbyists.. And i failed big time each time..
It's a plant i absolutely love (to death so to speak).. But i obviously have to wait till i do a high tech setup again, ever.

 

[Angus]

i'm growing Blyxa pretty well with ADA amazonia and no CO2, light EI dosing, had some melt whilst ammonia was high in the beginning, but seems to be going from strength to strength now, and putting on a bit of a pinker colour.

*edit* very very hard water, and lots of surface agitation and skimming too, other than that nothing special.