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Java Ferns



Hoesch,

 Re: Java Ferns
 >>  Anyone have experience with this plant?  Do they take a long time to
acclimate?  Once acclimated, how fast can
 they be expected to grow under good conditions (light, CO2, etc) <<

 I grow 4 different varieties of this plant, and have had two of those for
about 10 years.  The plant grows well but slowly under even marginal
conditions, but does even better with brighter light and supplemental CO2.
Although it gets very large and beautiful under good conditions, it will never
win any track records for record for reproduction.

 In my 70G tank with 200W of full spectrum fluorescent lighting and
supplemental CO2 and trace elements, I can harvest one or two plants of the
large variety, 14-18" tall and with 6-10 leaves.  The small variety typically
available reproduces more slowly by rhizome, at least in my tanks.  With
these, although the base plant mass does spread, most of the plants I remove
are plantlets thrown off by the leaves.  I suppose it probably puts up about
the same number of new leaves per month as the large one, but because the
leaves are so much smaller, it takes a lot longer to outgrow its space.

  E-mail from: Karen Randall, 26-Apr-1995