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Ferns not growing enough

Neil6

Member
Joined
12 Dec 2020
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47
Location
Uk
Most plants are growing well except for my ferns. Got dark green ends to the leaves and it keeps on producing many plantlets on the leaves but doesn't grow with any vigour. Any ideas?
Chihiros WRGB2 6hours
Co² injection
EI fertilization
 

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Trident fern really likes co2, and it takes a WHILE to start to bush out and get comfortable. Dark translucent tips are normal, it’s how the leaves continue to grow. Plantlets mean that particular leaf is at the end of its life and it’s using its energy to sustain itself by creating new plantlets. Just keep up your ferts and make sure your co2 is right, it’s just a waiting game.
 
Dark translucent tips are normal
Translucency is normal for plants suffering a CO2 shortfall. Ferns subjected to our typical Megatron lighting require so much CO2 that supplying such a high concentration would annihilate the fish, so we are forced to simply live with translucent tips...

Cheers,
 
Translucency is normal for plants suffering a CO2 shortfall. Ferns subjected to our typical Megatron lighting require so much CO2 that supplying such a high concentration would annihilate the fish, so we are forced to simply live with translucent tips...

Cheers,
Learn something new everyday. For such a slow growing plant, how is it they require so much more CO2 than the fast growers?
 
I wouldn't really call java fern a slow growing plant, under optimal conditions it seems to grow very quickly. It's more just that it's very adaptable and can grow without co2 supplementation, fertiliser, and even in ridiculously low light - it just does so by growing very slowly.
It's never going to compete with some stem plants but it can grow surprisingly fast.
 
Hi, new on the forum and learning by reading as much as possible.
Hope you don’t mind me jumping in.
I also thought translucent tips was die off on the fern, it is def. new growth then?
 
Hi, new on the forum and learning by reading as much as possible.
Hope you don’t mind me jumping in.
I also thought translucent tips was die off on the fern, it is def. new growth then?
I only seem to get translucent tips on new growth. They end up growing healthy but they just start with the tips like that. Translucent tips on the old leaves however I don't know...
 
Thanks for the reply. Yes translucent on new growth. Thought a parameter had changed to cause die off but glad to see not.
Do take the point that it is due to lack of CO2 but running low tech so not injecting.
 
how is it they require so much more CO2 than the fast growers?
They are essentially a low light plant but we normally place them under duress in high light applications, thereby raising the demand for CO2 to an unacceptable level. Another symptom of this stress is black/brown spots appearing on the leaf surface.

Cheers,
 
Lighter green tips is normal new growth on Java sp be it Co2 or Non Co2 it will get darker as the leaf matures!
Hi @GHNelson

Lighter, translucent tips is what I see on my Java Ferns and this darkens over 2 - 3 weeks. I'm not injecting CO2 into the tank in which these Ferns are growing beautifully.

JPC
 
Another tip that I’ve discovered with fern is to avoid letting them go dry, like during a water change for instance. I’ve had random melt and die off on thriving leaves and even brand new baby leaves and couldn’t figure out what happened. I discovered that each time this happened it was after a water change where I did some serious maintenance and pruning and the leaves were exposed to the air for quite a while. Spritzing them consistently with water can fix this, but it’s something you can easily forget and miss.
 
Hi all,
Another tip that I’ve discovered with fern is to avoid letting them go dry, like during a water change for instance. I’ve had random melt and die off on thriving leaves and even brand new baby leaves and couldn’t figure out what happened.
That is a good tip. We've got quite a few of <"these posts">.

cheers Darrel
 
Another tip that I’ve discovered with fern is to avoid letting them go dry, like during a water change for instance.
Hi @Mr.Shenanagins

I can vouch for that. And that was with frequent water spraying on Java Ferns about a week ago. I'm talking about spraying every 15 - 20 minutes - in warm weather, this is not frequent enough. The tips of the leaves were starting to droop. Fortunately, all plants recovered within a few hours of being returned to the tank.

JPC
 
Hi @Mr.Shenanagins

I can vouch for that. And that was with frequent water spraying on Java Ferns about a week ago. I'm talking about spraying every 15 - 20 minutes - in warm weather, this is not frequent enough. The tips of the leaves were starting to droop. Fortunately, all plants recovered within a few hours of being returned to the tank.

JPC
Agreed, If I don’t spray them every couple of minutes, I might as well snip off the leaves and start from scratch. Hopefully they did recover! But if you notice the random brown melt, you have your answer.
 
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