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Krombholz: Tiny Vals
>It may be a variety that is normally larger, but small in this case due to
>some kind of nutrient deficiency. Collect a plant or two, give it a brief
>2-minute bleach treatment (5% bleach) and try to grow it in one of your
>aquaria and see what it looks like. If it stays small you might have
>something new and we will all be lining up at your door.
I've seen enough amazing variation w/in aquatic plants not to suspect this
right off the bat. Three things minimize this possibility:
1. I found about 2sq ft of totally isolated & identical specimens growing
in this lake w/o any other Val sp.
2. I placed native Val (that's NATIVE so don't freak!) about 5O meters away
and it grows like gangbusters! It grows to its normal 30cm in length.
3. It's RED. I know of no Val sp. that goes all red in even the brightest
of light. I know of only one red Val and it grows to some 1.5 meters in
length.
I'll take a pic of the Val patch in situ. By the time the pics are on the
net I'd have grown this Val enough in vitro to be able to draw some
conclusions. I've set up samples in a new tank with a subsoil of peatmoss,
vermiculite and Osmocote (Scotts ProGro professional potting mix). The top
inch and a half will be the linestony sand found near the plants original
location.