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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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