View Full Version : Wal-mart bulbs It's been like 2 months
hondamx
11-04-2006, 5:57 PM
Ok I might of just got a bad batch but I bought those lilly bulbs at wal-mart and I've had them in for like 2 months. I just noticed they were'nt really growing today. They grew a little but not much. Should I just throw them out or is there any way I can make them grow.
If they still feel hard to the touch, then they should still be ok. Have they sprouted anything at all yet?
fishcatch22
11-05-2006, 2:45 AM
lilies are VERY slow growing plants. it may take 3 months for them to get going. be patient. perhaps you aren't using enough ferts/CO2?
hondamx
11-05-2006, 9:34 AM
They are sprouting a little but not a lot. I'll just keep waiting.
One of my lily bulbs was put in the tank about 7 months ago and only started to grow in the past month after I added co2 and NPK to the substrate.
Sammie7
11-05-2006, 11:34 PM
I just bought some of those bulbs about two weeks ago. there were two in the pack. I must have gotten lucky, because it started growing about a week after I put it in water. Right now it has about three recognizable leaves growing in with more coming out. From the beginning of this morning One leave had not fully opened, but through the day I could see it progressively opening. If my estimates and hopes are correct it should reach at least five inches by Thanksgiving. However, my other bulb has yet to sprout, which is confusing seeing as the other one is doing so well. I might have to send that one back. In my 10 gallon tank I have 20 watts of florescent bulbs and The hagen nutrafin CO2 system. Perhaps the fast growth has something to do with the CO2? How long does everyone else wait to mail them back for more bulbs? Can anyone explain the whole dormancy period that everyone keeps talking about, so I can know what to look for? Also is there any way to "prime a bulb to get it to sprout? For example, certain seeds have thick hulls, which can be nicked and soaked in water to stimulate growth. WOW, I'm long-winded.Thanks
fish_freak
11-05-2006, 11:41 PM
As far as I have been told those bulbs are annualls so they will grow for about 4-5 months a year and then sit dormant the rest of the year to resprot again 7-8 months later
My lilly bulbs both sprouted. The first one started after a week and is growing nicely. The other one waited three weeks and just started to show the first life.
Sammie7
11-06-2006, 1:26 AM
So when it's dormant it doesn't have any leaves? That stinks.
justintoxicated
11-06-2006, 6:46 PM
Mine took a couple weeks to sprout but they are not slow growing plants at all! In only a couple weeks one has outgrown my 10 gallon! (needs some major trimming, and I'm getting new really large leaves every couple days at this point.
They have even exceede the growth of my apongeotan bulbs (spelling) which sprouted much faster.
Well the first ones I bought did not sprout at all they got stinky and rotted. but I decided to try them again and both bulbs sprouted!
Anyone know te light requirements? I'm thinking to move one of them into my Vivarium where there is only 3.5-4 inches of water.
fishcatch22
11-06-2006, 6:50 PM
Mine took a couple weeks to sprout but they are not slow growing plants at all! In only a couple weeks one has outgrown my 10 gallon! (needs some major trimming, and I'm getting new really large leaves every couple days at this point.
They have even exceede the growth of my apongeotan bulbs (spelling) which sprouted much faster.
Well the first ones I bought did not sprout at all they got stinky and rotted. but I decided to try them again and both bulbs sprouted!
Anyone know te light requirements? I'm thinking to move one of them into my Vivarium where there is only 3.5-4 inches of water.well I guess it varies greatly. my mother once tried some in one of her community tanks, and it took 7 months to reach full height. she dosed ferts, had 3 WPG, and a CO2 reactor. i think they need pretty high light, like 3-4 WPG, but don't take my word for it.
I think the lilies do need higher light than the apon bulbs. Before I had only 30 watts of incadescents on my 10g tank and the lily bulbs grew, but not very fast. I have since upgraded to 40 watts of 6500k compact fluorescents and the 2 lily bulbs have started growing faster. One just came out of dormancy about a week ago and it has already sent up 3 floating pads. The other lily bulb has consistently sprouted pads that are 3 to 4 inches across, enough so that I have to prune the pads when they start to shade the aponogeton plants.
My aponogeton plants recently went to seed so I now have several tiny plants that have taken root in the gravel.
justintoxicated
11-07-2006, 3:16 AM
I think the lilies do need higher light than the apon bulbs. Before I had only 30 watts of incadescents on my 10g tank and the lily bulbs grew, but not very fast. I have since upgraded to 40 watts of 6500k compact fluorescents and the 2 lily bulbs have started growing faster. One just came out of dormancy about a week ago and it has already sent up 3 floating pads. The other lily bulb has consistently sprouted pads that are 3 to 4 inches across, enough so that I have to prune the pads when they start to shade the aponogeton plants.
My aponogeton plants recently went to seed so I now have several tiny plants that have taken root in the gravel.
Do you have to polinate from 2 different plants to get them to seed? Or can you polinate using the same plant. only one of my Aponogetons has been sending up runners like crazy, I think the others must be dwarfs lol (but thats ok they are in a 10 gallon)
My Late Bloomer Lily is sending up pads the size of my hand (they still have not reached the top of the tank but I have no doubt they will by this weekend) (3.4 WPG, 20G)
The one that strted a few weeks ago has slightly smaller pads but several have reached the top of the tank (2.2 WPG 10G) they look pretty sweet, floating on top of the water perfectly. It will need a trim before this weekend.
Some types of aponogetons are self-pollenating while others need to be cross pollenated. Most if not all of my apons seem to be the type that need cross-pollenation. It can be hard to tell with the walmart bulbs since they are often hybrids.
I noticed I was able to get several different plants to flower at the same time after I added a co2 generator and NPK to the substrate as well as dosing twice weekly with Flourish+Iron.
justintoxicated
11-07-2006, 9:14 PM
My other 2 aponos are in another tank though they look different as well :( the other 2 bulbs I put in my 20G did not sprout.
Sammie7
11-10-2006, 6:32 PM
What do the seeds look like? How big are they?
When the seeds are still on the flower, they are usually pointed at one end and more blunt at the end attached to the flower. When they are mature, they are about 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch long and about 1/8 of an inch at the widest point. Most often they are green in color. Once they drop off and start to sprout leaves, the "seed" seems much thinner. It may be the seed starts to germinate before it even detaches from the flower stem.
Here's a link to a simple drawing I did of a new aponogeton sprout. The unsprouted seed would be very similar, but without the leaves or roots.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e330/br553/apondrawing.jpg
fishluver93
11-11-2006, 6:49 PM
i got some...in a pack of like 6 for $3. are you supposed to put the end of it in the gravel/substrate?? because when i frist dropped mine in today, two out of the six floated. i thought that was odd. ;)
You would want to just drop the bulbs in. Within 7 days, you should see some green shoots coming from the bulb if it's good. Then you could secure them in the substrate. Keep and eye on the ones that float. If they start to feel mushy or soft, then they are no good and should be removed from the tank.
Sammie7
11-11-2006, 7:24 PM
The part of the plant that the shoot comes out of will be the "pointy" end. That in mind don't put that part under the substrate.
DrussRob
11-11-2006, 8:35 PM
I got those same bulbs and stuck them in my 10g tank. They never seemed to grow, so after about 2 months I basically forgot about them and stopped watching them. About a month later (3 months from placement) I went out of town for the weekend and when I came back all 5 of them had sprouted at once. Scared me for a second because I forgot about the bulbs being in there and was wondering what reddish alien being was growing in the tank.
fballguy
11-14-2006, 2:10 PM
If they get mold on them are they no good? Or could I remove the mold?
More than likely they have started to rot and are no good. It would best to remove them.
fballguy
11-14-2006, 4:59 PM
More than likely they have started to rot and are no good. It would best to remove them.
That sucks considering I put them in yesterday.
If they are still hard, then they may be ok but I would still keep an eye on them. Is the mold white or gray in color?
fballguy
11-14-2006, 7:48 PM
It's like a light gray, and slimy, not the regular fuzzy mold. Its exactly like what I get on my CO2 diffuser. It came right off and the bulbs are still hard so I'll leave them for now and check them every day.
Xavier3520
11-21-2006, 6:57 PM
i bought this one at walmart 1st pic is at 3 days old the other is at 6
Xavier3520
11-21-2006, 6:58 PM
i moved it as u can see i didnt have anything in the corner of the tank and thought it would fit nicely there :-P
Given enough time and proper lighting and nutrients, that one plant could fill the whole side of the tank. I have 2 apons in my 10g that reach to the surface and from the glass to about 5 inches into the tank. Even with that, they are a bit crowded
jennfier
11-22-2006, 10:28 AM
2 months ago, I planted about 6-7 bulbs. 3 sprouted. After 6 weeks, I removed the non-sprouted ones and put them my drawer. I'll try planting those again later.
2 sprouted ones are in my no-tech 40g; no ferts, no co2, lighting is crap -- few years old 19w factory lights. They are bushy and have flowered multiple times.
1 sprouted one is in my higher tech tank, 4wpg, traces, macros, diy co2. It only has a few small leaves and only just starting to put out a little bud. All my med-high light plants are doing well, the bulb doing the worst.
So, IME the bulbs I got prefer the low tech setup.
desertgoldhound
11-25-2006, 12:14 PM
I don't like shopping at wal-mart fish dept. but I baught this the day after this post started here is what I have now.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q316/desert_gold_hound/Plantandfish.jpg
This is the only bulb that has done well the other 2 are not doing anything hardly.
iangibbs
02-17-2007, 12:15 AM
I bought those bulbs as well, from the Wal-Mart in Canada - only time I've ever seen them, they've never been back. They were in my tank and sprouted but looke a bit sad, then I added C02 and brighter and light, and BAM they have gone crazy! One pink leafed one, and the other ones have thinner leaves. It didn't say what they were when I bought them, so that was that. Now the pink leafed one has grown so much that it has another plant sticking out of it. Does anyone know how to split the bulbs without killing them? Any help appreciated. Thanks so much!
Sammie7
02-17-2007, 12:34 AM
I'm pretty sure that you can detach the growing plant with it's roots from the bulb and then a new plant will come from it. Then you will have two plants.
marc515192
02-17-2007, 11:59 AM
I love those Lillies. I started with 2 but they can get really big. So I took one out. I ended up with different varities of Aponogeton's. And hove more sproutint now. I usually have 1 or 2 the don't grow. If I don't see a sprout within a month then I take it out.