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Amazon sword semi emersed on wood

Zante

Member
Joined
14 Jan 2017
Messages
92
Location
Florence, Italy
I know amazon swords can be grown emersed, but I was wondering if I can tie a small sword on a piece of wood, as you would an anubias, so that when it grows it will grow out of the water, so it would end up with roots in the water, down to the substrate, and leaves that start in the water and grow out of it.
 
You can put it in the substrate of the tank and let it grow out of the water. Most Echinodorus get rather big growing emersed, ive seen Discus tanks about 50 cm height with Echinodorus growing like this extending the same height above the tank. I have one growing like this in 60x30x30 tank and is about 60 cm in hieght.

You could grow it on from the lfs in a pot till it is high enough so it has some leaves sticking out the water. And plant it in the tanks substrate, it will keep growing emersed form leaves.

Or plant a little one from the lfs submersed, at first it will transition to submersed and grow on, once leaves start reaching the surface do not trim them off. It firt begings with popping some submersed leaves out of the water, these will dry out very quickly, within a day. Still do not yet cut them off, just let them be, It seems the Echinodorus senses this, that it has reached the surface and it will immediately start to grow emersed leaves from the substrate. You just have to wait for these leaves to show. These leaves you will recognize by having a totaly different shape, a smaller egg shaped leaf on a longer stem. But firts it just looks like a stem with a very small narrow leaf sticking out. Once this leaf is emersed it become more egg shaped. Once the plant has growen 1 emersed leaf it will completely stop making submersed leaves. :) And it grows surpricingly fast.

Example, complete plant.. This one also started out as a completely submersed version.
DSCF8604 (Kopie).JPG


Few days old young leaf unfolding, it stays folded on a long stem and is much narrower as long as it's submersed. Young shoots of this sp. are red in color. But become green while maturing..
DSCF8603 (Kopie).JPG


This size of a plant on a piece of wood, probably wont work because of a rootsystem which likely is as big as the plant itself.
And this is yet not the biggest Echinodurus.

Ah found it back, the discus tank.. :)
16003192_1227974037298913_5914900146323662883_n-jpg.jpg
 
I agree with zozo in that it won't work on a piece of wood. I recently removed a modest size echinodorus, 2x2ft and the root system was enormous which would make it hard for itself to support itself out of water.
 
Echinodorus makes a load of flowers and keeps comming all year long, no idea if it is the 12 hour light periode. But in my case it does continiously one after the other

Each peduncle has several raceme with flowers sometimes up to 6 or 7 per peduncle. Each pedicel axil of these raceme is a pottential new plant. Some spontaniously develop one others don't, but if you cut an axil off put it in water it will eventualy develop leaves and roots.

Here you see a few and the one behing the ball lily pipe hangs in the water.
dscf7317-kopie-jpg.jpg


After a few weeks hanging in the water it looks like this. Making it's own flower penducle again.
dscf7321-kopie-jpg.jpg


If you would plant this on wood, or stick it with a sucker to the glass, once the roots reach the substrate the plant will eventualy pull itself down.
That's the reason why i took this one out, it lowered itself to the substrate with a few cm per day. Very remarkable is, i have this plantlet in a pot now for over 6 months, not in water but damp soil. It doesn't grow as big as its mother and stays relatively small.. These plants seem to sense the invironment and grows according the water depth it is placed in. If it doesn't need these long petioles it doesn't grow them..

This is the same plantlet from above on soil after more then 6 months.
DSCF8605.jpg


I realy wonder how (this) plants do that, sensing their invironment and grow accordingly.. :)
 
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Just to clarify........
Echinodorus species are very different in their needs. Humidity is one of the problems.
Assuming by "Amazon Sword" you mean Echinodorus bleheri, this species need very, very high humidity, when growing emerse. This is why you never see this species used for the open-top-tanks. For this usually Echonodorus palaefolius is the chosen one, since it will tolerate much lower humidity. Several other species and cultivars may tolerate "house-hold-humidity" too.
 
How would you see a peace lily tied to the wood in the way I described, but with the leaves all out of the water?
What about a guzmania almost entirely out of the water, but with the roots trailing a bit under?
 
Just to clarify........
Echinodorus species are very different in their needs. Humidity is one of the problems.
Assuming by "Amazon Sword" you mean Echinodorus bleheri, this species need very, very high humidity, when growing emerse. This is why you never see this species used for the open-top-tanks. For this usually Echonodorus palaefolius is the chosen one, since it will tolerate much lower humidity. Several other species and cultivars may tolerate "house-hold-humidity" too.

A while ago i saw one on a window sil, reportedly it stood there for years.. It was a burgundy red colored Echinodorus, rather large about + 40 cm and i forgot to ask which sp. it was.

Do you maybe have an idea which one it could be?
 
How would you see a peace lily tied to the wood in the way I described, but with the leaves all out of the water?
What about a guzmania almost entirely out of the water, but with the roots trailing a bit under?

I keep peace lillies like that (we'll not onwood but tied to a stick behind the tank with the roots in the water) as well as maidenhead fern, lucky bamboo, ficus sp and anthurium.
 
Like already stated; Spathiphyllum (=peace lily) will happily grow this way. Gusmania, being Bromelia family, will defenitely NOT tolerate continuously wet roots.
Overhanging water , tied to a branch of wood ( NOT roots in water), will work perfect and look fantastic........I did that with several different genera of Bromeliads, Orchids and Rhipsalis (=leaf-cactus) for a Zoo-exibitien long ago.
 
A while ago i saw one on a window sil, reportedly it stood there for years.. It was a burgundy red colored Echinodorus, rather large about + 40 cm and i forgot to ask which sp. it was.

Do you maybe have an idea which one it could be?
Sorry, Marcel - there are just SOOOOOO many (more or less) red Echinodorus going around this hobby. It seems every second aquarist are doing their own (marvellous, ofcourse :rolleyes: ) cross of Echinodorus, these days.......somehow I do not see the need for 200+ quite similar varieties, though.......:banghead:
- Ech. 'Red Special' is a possible candidate, though.
 
Echinodorus bleheri is what I always think of as an Amazon Sword, I have found this plant to be one of the more difficult plants to grow emmersed!
I would say that Amazon Swords are one of the easiest plants to grow in a C02 injected tank, more often than not, being far to dominant!
I have one growing emmersed right now but, it is not doing well. Funny thing is... it is surrounded by other plants that are thriving!
 
How would you see a peace lily tied to the wood in the way I described, but with the leaves all out of the water?
What about a guzmania almost entirely out of the water, but with the roots trailing a bit under?
I did this which a couple of peace Lily's after seeing several examples on members tanks (and thanks to Mick Dk I now know why my Amazons were draping the surface instead of growing emmerse.)They d id remarkably well roots wedged in wood and flowered grew well very well. Have the look of the common variety of Amazon Swords too
 
HsyJlk5.jpg


Humidity can be an issue with these plants. Some surprisingly like quite a bit of light. The swords in front died in another pool that's indoors with indirect lighting from outside.
 
The plants in front of pic. is defenitely NOT Echinodorus (=swords). Most likely a Philodendron species - but could well be another Araceae.
 
When I developed an interest in aquarium plants, around 40 years ago, amazon swords were the single most popular plant to display in your tank!
We did not have the internet but, there were several monthly publications & numerous brochures available. They all seemed to feature ASs!
I remember having a huge specimen in a 4' tank, it was even featured in Aquarist magazine.
I openly admit that our tanks in those days were nothing like some of the amazing scapes you can find on these pages but, a big tank with a huge AS was quite dramatic & unusual.
I think I have a plan for my next scape......
 
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