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Re: Tied Riccia
Hi:
To all those using riccia as a bottom plant. Please remember that
riccia is a floating plant. It has no roots and will never grow any.
To keep it down, it is best to use a very fine clear monofilament. Wrap
it around a stone, for example, with riccia on the top of the stone. In
a couple of weeks, the riccia will grow enough to completely hide the
monofilament.
Riccia must be diligently trimmed or else it will grow too much. The
bottom portion will rot away because of lack of light. Once the bottom
layers rot away, the riccia is freed from the monofilament net you
created. Hence your problem of riccia floating away.
One trick Amano teaches is the use of hair grass (E. acicularis) in
between patches of bottom riccia. As the hair grass grows he takes one
strand from one bunch and ties it over the riccia patch to a strand of
another bunch several inches away. This has the result of forming a
hair grass net over the riccia patch that holds most of the riccia
down. One must still trim the riccia to avoid it floating away.
Over time (a long time) riccia will lose its tendency to float. Only a
few bunches of mine have ever reached this point and they didn't look
very nice.
I hope it helps.
Art Giacosa
Miami, FL