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Re: [APD] Barclaya longifolia




>Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2006 19:59:05 EDT
>From: REDRAGON40 at aol_com
>Subject: [APD] Barclaya longifolia
>To: aquatic-plants at actwin_com
>
>I just got two bulbs and I have read /heard conflicting info about growing
>this plant.  I am strictly low tech, but if I put it in a rich substrate in
>rainwater (pH 6.8) and a temp of 78 to 80 F, will that address its needs?
>Also, how should the bulb be placed?
>Carol   < ' )))><

Carol

I had Barclaya growing in a 38 gallon with 2 36" Triton tubes on for 12 
hours. No CO2, no fertilizers, no Excel. My pH was close to neutral, around 
6.8 or so. I never tried to modify it. I have moderately soft water from the 
tap. I never really checked it back then. It had a very heavy fish load, 
mostly South Americans:  tetras, Corydoras, Rams, etc. I had rams, 
kribensis, and Corydoras spawn and raise young at various times. This tank 
was started before I found the APD. I think the first bloom occured when I 
was just posting on the APD because I remember someone from Florida asking 
me off list for some of the seeds, which I gladly sent. My substrate was #3 
quartz gravel using an undergravel filter with powerheads on top. I would 
change the water very infrequently, just added for evaporation. When I did 
change the water it was a major change. I vacuumed the gravel maybe once 
every 1-2 years. It would become compacted with all of the mulm. The plants 
grew great though, but so did the BBA and probably GSA. I was really plagued 
with it. I know now it was a lack of CO2. I was growing various Crypts. plus 
the Barclaya. I kept the temperature at around 82-84 F.

The Barclaya bloomed frequently. I don't consider it a very pretty flower. I 
would need to prune the outer leaves because the plant was taking over the 
whole tank. The long leaves would float on top and really shade everything 
else. I would get seedlings sprouting from the seeds that would sink from 
the flowers. I sold these seedlings to my LFS when they got large enough.

I did try lowering the temperature in the wintertime just to see what would 
happen. I lowered the temperature to around 75 F and noticed a dramatic 
detrimental effect on the Barclaya. It really sulked at those temperatures. 
It stopped blooming, got smaller, lost leaves, etc. I raised the temperature 
after about 6 weeks and it came back. I never noticed a rest period. Mine 
kept growing for about 3 years or so until I got tired of the plant and BBA 
and switched the tank over to a Lake Tanganyikan tank where it is presently. 
The rhizome would grow laterally along the surface and die back at the back. 
I never noticed a really large roots mass in the gravel, but it grew anyway. 
I found I needed to weight the rhizome with a rock if I uprooted it until it 
became established again. Keep the "bulb" very shallowly rooted. The growing 
point should be exposed to the light.

Jerry Smith in Bloomingdale, NJ


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