Java Fern - can i plant them or just attach them?

[henward]

im also looking at java ferns

do i need to put them on a piece of wood or can they grow planted in the gravel like other plants.

some websites say dont cover the rhizome...what the hell is that?

the bulb? or he roots

?

and how does one attach them to wood, common sense would say using athin clear fishing line.... but how long will it take for htem to hold and how strong is the hold?

[henward]

also, fertilising java fern

is it realy needed? you obviusly cant use fert balls, so use liquid?

[dantedobe]

I started off with one piece a couple of years ago and have heaps now. I just shove it in the sand or gravel and it takes off. It's such a great plant you just can't kill it.

[dantedobe]

Oh and I never fertilise it. It just thrives.

[jc360]

mine grow pretty good just floating, when i originally got it i think it was getting eaten but now out of the patchy stink old peices ive got tens of pups.

The rhimzone i am pretty sure is what the leaves are attached to, similar to that of Anubias.

[henward]

so you did bury the bottom of it and just plant itl ike a normal plant?

[dantedobe]

Yeah I just push it in to the substrate.

[spoon]

ur not really meant to as the rhizome can rot , tye it to a rock or bogwood with black cotton or nylon

[whetu]

Mine doesn't even need to be tied on. I tied the 'mother' plant onto a piece of drift wood, but when she had babies I just detached them and sat them on top of another piece of wood with a stone on their roots to anchor them. Within a few days the roots had attached themselves to the wood, so I just took the stone away and the plants stay there.

[alanmin4304]

What looks like roots is actually just and anchoring mechanism. The rhizome is the stalky bit that the leaves grow from. You should not bury them in the media as they may rot. thay do best anchored to a rock or driftwood. They feed through the leaves and generally do not need additional fertilizer. The black spots on the underside of the leaves are not a problem and are part of the reproduction cycle. They grow emersed in nature in continuously wet places like near waterfalls.

[whetu]

Hail to Alan and your excellent plant knowledge!

The leaves of the java fern are so tough it doesn't surprise me to learn that they can grow emersed. I believe anubias are the same? I would LOVE to have an indoor waterfall or an open tank with a fogging system and these plants growing over a natural-looking rock fall.

*daydreams*

[Caryl]

Hmm I might go plant some by my waterfall outside in the pond and see how it goes.

[supasi]

Ive got some anubias growing outside.

It ggrows great,until we had a cold snap.

It didnt ike the sudden drop in temp and shed its leaves.

It grows even slower in cold water than it does in tropical though.

[supasi]

Java fern grows better with water movement over the rhizome.

Mine is placed directly infront of my filter outlet and is growing like mad.

Mind you I do have co2 set up on the tank.

[alanmin4304]

I haven't tried with java fern but I had anubius in a glass house and sprayed it regularly but it didn't survive. It grows so slow that it probably didn't have enough emersed growth when I put it out there.

[firenzenz]

I just rubber band mine to driftwood, rock or coral and after a short time it has attached itself. My experience is that water quality and a little flow is as important if not more so than the amount of light

[spoon]

I just rubber band mine to driftwood, rock or coral and after a short time it has attached itself. My experience is that water quality and a little flow is as important if not more so than the amount of light

re water quality suspended particles will block light so a cleaner tank is much brighter another thing people forget is to clean the condensation covers on the tank and lights these being dirty can have a dramatic effect

[diver21]

I haven't tried with java fern but I had anubius in a glass house and sprayed it regularly but it didn't survive. It grows so slow that it probably didn't have enough emersed growth when I put it out there.

i tried going from submerged to emersed grown on a couple of my plants and they more or less killed off the submerged leaves and grew new ones, i think it has something to do with the fact that the leaves cant hold their own weight when you take them out of the water.

[alanmin4304]

You are right. You can expect to lose all the submersed growth as the structure of the leaves is quite different. The trick is to have enough emersed growth to support the plant before you keep it completely emersed. You can assist the conversion by keeping them in a bell jar setup so the humidity is very high.