This is my 2nd attempt with this type of plant. any hints? I placed some of it in tropica soil and some in quartz intert gravel.
UG was the plant that drew me to aquascaping, i fell in love wit a tank covered with a waving, lush and vibrant green UG carpet!
I instantely wanted (not wanted but needed) that.
Needless to say that my first try was an eyeopener...
It's been a while since my last attempt. I've tried 3 or 4 times during my first 12-24 months of aquascaping but failed. Once it stayed alive but i became very thin and rather ugly, nothing like the lush carpet i aimed for...
Focused on other plants first so i could tackle it again when i had some more experience, litteraly put it on a hold before it became my aquatic achilles heel.
I kept looking out for it, read a lot of do's and don'ts.
Read tips on waterparameters, lights, fertz, planting technique, ... I found more fails than wins.
But most of those tricks, spec's, tips, ... became rather futile when i was reading the journal linked below.
That tank is full of fertz, loads of light and troughout the journal the UG is being pruned, planted, replanted, uprooted, thinned out and moved around all the time and with al lot of "swag" and nonchalance..
But look and behold: it just seems to come back in full glory, looking great every single time.... It's a great plant when it thrives!
In this tank (or with this caretaker
) it doesn't seem to care that much about being submersed, seems to thrive in highly fertilized water and even the different planting/pruning techniques seem to have no impact on it's health and growrate.
It acts like the easiest of plants suddenly?
Is it his TLC, the sound of his voice, the words his whispers to it or is it (more likely) his skillful approach?
Still did'nt figure out if this (seemingly deadeasy success) made me happy (maybe even slightly hopeful?) or if it took away the little glimmer of hope (and confidence
)i still have/had?
Anyhooo... it proves that it is doable...
One day...
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/dutch-something-or-the-other-120-gal.17797/page-7