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Re: a flower stalk and plant maintenance
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>
>From: "Marshall F. Wilkinson" <wilkinso at acs_ucalgary.ca>
>
>
>I awoke this morning to find my E. major (Tropica) had developed
>this humungous flower stalk. This is so cool! No on else in the
>house shares my enthusiasm but I knew my cyber buds on the APD
>would ;-)
>At the moment the spikes are just below the surface. Is the flower
>self fertilizing? Can I expect new plants from this event? Will
>this be an ongoing process? I'm also curious as to what could
>have precipitated the flower stalk as lighting (except that from
>a nearby window) and other parameters have not changed.
>Is this my plants acknowlegement of spring? :-)
E. major (now called E. martii) produces adventitious plantlets on the
flower stalk. The flowers can be pollinated and will set viable seeds.
Usually, there are enough adventitous plantlets to satisfy one's desire for
more plants.
>From: Dave Phillips <dphillip at gbc_gbrownc.on.ca>
>Subject: Substrate, Plant Maintenance
>
> I've currently got two 20 gal tanks, one all guppies, and another
>guppies, tetras, and catfish. I've some live plants in both - Cabomba,
>something floating, Lloydella, Red Ludwigia, and Valisneria.
>
> Is it normal that the plants uproot themselves on a regular basis,
>and require re-planting? Some of them do grow quite well (esp.
>Lloydella), and often require trimming also.
> ............<snipped>...............
> Another problem I have now that my guppies are breeding like crazy
>is that they're eating all the plants. If I were to set up a plant-only
>10 gal tank, would I need anything other than gravel and light? Is it
>beneficial to keep the light on 24 hours a day?
>
I have never heard of guppies eating plants, and I keep guppies, and have
never seen them do it. What about tha alternative hypothesis that the
plants are dying back from some other cause? It is not normal that plants
uproot themselves. Cabomba is not an especially easy plant to keep, and
the lower parts of the stem may be dying, allowing the rest of the plant to
float to the surface. Vallisneria can sometimes send out runners where the
little plantlets do not get rooted well, but I have never seen an
established plant come up by itself.
Paul Krombholz Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, MS 39174
In Jackson, Mississippi with cool, drizzly spring weather.