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Barclaya
Dear all,
Just a couple of observations to follow on the thread of sometime ago about
algae and Barclaya longifolia. Someone stated that they thought algae didn't
grow very well on Barclaya leaves and I wanted to chime in and say that this
has been my experience also. I've got a terrific stand of filamentous stuff
growing robustly in my Sunfish tank. I've decided that it looks good to
leave some of it in place and watch it sway gently in the current of the
filter outflow. But there is not a lick of any visible algae growing on the
Barclaya.
On a different subject, I wanted to relate my experience with growing this
plant successfully after several tries. I put some Barclaya bulbs in the
gravel substrate of the fifty-five gallon tank that houses several adult
Bluespotted Sunfish. To simulate Spring I turn the heater on every year
around January so that the temp. rises from a low of about 66 F to a high of
around 75F. This temp is maintained until, oh say October, when I unplug the
heater and let the tank cool down into the sixties. Each year the Barclaya
has responded to the cold by losing it's leaves and going dormant. Then in
the heat of the simulated "Spring", new leaves appear more numerously and at
least 50% longer than each of the previous seasons. This year the leaves
are about to reach out of the tank and I am hoping for flowers. I am going
to be breaking down the tank for a move to a new house soon, so my
experiment will be interrupted. I may try and force the plants into dormancy
again in order to move the plants in bulb form to minimize transplant shock.
Cheers,
Metroserv, Inc.
Brian Perkins, President
Tigard, OR
503-245-4877