Re: Plants Without Lights

[Billinet at aol_com]

JoAnn asked, in part.

   "Ever wonder just how long aquatic plants can deal with having the lights 
out?"

About 15 years ago I planted several corkscrew vals in a 5 inch by 5 inch 
plastic container, half filled with garden soil and covered with gravel.  I 
placed it in a 10 gallon tank lit with incandescent lighting and added some 
fish for some forgotten experiment.

Later I removed the fish and about 3/4 of the water and moved the tank to a 
rack under a 20 gallon and forgot about it.  There it got no direct light of 
any kind  nor any heat nor anything else.  

About 6 months later I needed the tank for something.   I siphoned out the 
water and took out the plastic container with the thought that I would empty 
the dead plants and the other stuff into the garden.  But the vals weren't 
dead!

They were very small, very compact, and a bright green, hard to the touch.  
Surprised, I put the container into another 10 gallon tank, well lit.  In a 
short time the plants had grown to their normal height.

But, more surprising, they started to put out runners.  Each plant had 2 or 
3, and the offspring plants also had multiple runners.  In a month or so 
there were at least 80 vals in that 5 X 5 container - I stopped counting at 
that point.  I ended up selling the container and the plants to a LFS for $15.

I wonder if the plants during their forced rest managed to store up nutrients 
for that time when conditions might improve, and when they did, just exploded 
before things got bad again?

I think that was the last time I was able to grow that plant with any success.

Bill