Aponogeton bulb question

I clip off the whole stalk, down to the plant bulb.

Ibought some of those, and they were growing wonderfuly....till the snail got to them.

Hes in another tank now :mad2:

No,
I've let them go, to see if they'll seed. They didn't by the way. I did get them to make little plantlets once several years ago, but they didn't root. The plants survived fine for a while.

There is a dormant stage, and my inkling is that flowering causes this to happen more quickly. I don't have any proof of this, however. Just a hunch.

Tony

Let it grow, or you'll always wonder!!

Besides, those things are cheap enough....even if the bulb goes dormant you can always plant another!

Wow...I have been waiting for someone else to ask about these bulbs! I have about 2 dozen in my tanks right now and they send up (what I call) "shooters" every couple of days.

If you let them be and go to the top of the tank you will have a white or pinkish two-pronged flower (white most often) within 4-5 days growing above the water line. I cut them off 2x a week at the bulb and the very next day there is usually a new 'underwater' leaf starting to grow. If you want underwater plants, you should keep trimming them back when you get shooters!

Also, these are a mixed variety so sometimes I got crispus--mostly a lighter green--and sometimes I got a plant that looks more like a darker color tall crispus that doesn't send out as many stalks to the top...they are obviously different varieties. The leaves look similiar in form, but the color is different and they seem to grow differently.

There is also a 20-day sprouting warrenty on the back of the package if they are from Sea Life, Inc. I sent three bulbs back to them a few months ago and they sent me a package of 10 new ones within a few weeks! They immediately started to grow within 1 day (I am not kidding). I started to wonder how long those older bulbs had been packaged at the Wal-mart???

These plants seem to be pretty hardy...I have started them off in the 10G and have since moved them into the other bigger tanks without any die-off--they have an amazing root system. For me, the $2.97 tag is well worth it for 5+ bulbs/package considering plants in my town cost anywhere between $1.69 to $5.99 each!

In my opinion, if you have bulbs that haven't sprouted after 20 days, send them back and they gave me 3x the amount I returned and they were all viable...I have a happy little Wal-mart plant family!