poor quality java ferns

[rummy nose]

hi all,

picked up my new tank last week a Rio 240, & i had already ordered some java ferns from a mail order site (wont say which one) hoping they would have been here & ready for when i got my tank but they only arrived this morning & in not to good a condition either, about half the leaves have gone brown some have rotted & most of whats left just dont look to healthy.

i was wondering if i removed the dead & damaged leaves from the rhizome will they grow back? the leaves that are sort of ok are far longer than i thought they would have been & from rhizome to leaf tip are near 12" long, if i removed all the leaves & attached the rhizome to the rock & wood as i had intended to will the leaves grow back & id eventually end up with the display that i had wanted?

also the bolbitis heudelotii is not much better although it mainly the leaf edges that look poor/damaged, if i trimmed this off as well would they grow back also?

contacted the site i got them from but they said there sorry but they had been posted in good condition, althought pionted out that if they had only arrived this morning that they must have been held up in the postal strike back log, i guess that fair enough.

 

[baron von bubba]

http://www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resour ... gulations/

name and shame them!

 

[rummy nose]

id prefer not to as i would not want the forum being held responible for what could be classed as slander, is tempting though.

besides they said if i can mail them pics of the plants they will consider replaceing some or all.

 

[Steve Smith]

You can get away with cutting all the leaves off and just leaving the rizhome like I did here:

Before:

After:

That's blyxa on the left and Narrow java on the right. Everything grew back nice and clean/fresh. Just make sure you give it all the right conditions and consider that things will take a while to grow back (ie, maybe go lean on your ferts for a week or so untill stuff starts growing back).

 

[AdAndrews]

(ie, maybe go lean on your ferts for a week or so untill stuff starts growing back).

quick question, sorry to barge in, but why would you need to go lean on ferts??

 

[Steve Smith]

Well, the way I see it is that you'll have cut away most of the plant's nutritional uptake method, ie the leaves. So less nutrients would be absorbed until it starts to grow back. Obviously it depends on the setup. If theres lots of other plants in the tank, then probably not relevant

I guess it's bot essential, but keeping on top of the water changes would be needed.

 

[rummy nose]

thats great i can start chopping lol

i really dont mind if it takes a while to grow back as ive got a load of stem plants that i can transfer until it grows.

thanks for the speedy replies guys.