Walmart plant bulbs

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Anton Wernher

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Feb 24, 2002
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Hey all,
On the old board I remember a thread about the plant bulbs at walmart. Well I just picked up a pack of Dwarf Lillies and aponogetons. I have two question. First does anyone have any pics of these walmart plants growing in their tanks? Secondly I can't get the Aponogeton to sink. Should I just let the float or cover them with gravel?
 

Turbo

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Dec 1, 2002
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Walmart Bulbs

No, you shouldnt cover them with gravel. At least not all of the way. When they start growing the roots will come out and grow into the gravel. Second...if it is floating, then the bulb is probably no good. It is probably hollow inside. Good ones are solid and they will sink, normaly right away.
 

HazyWater

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Dec 2, 2002
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I bought those bulbs. They floated too. Then they sank.

Just let them sit in the aquarium and roll around in the current until they sink. Don't bury them until you know which end is which.

The bulbs will vary themselves. Of 6 aponogeton, only 1 sprouted. Of 4 bulbs of the dwarf lily, only 2 sprouted.

The leaves of the dwarf lilies and the aponogeton are very similiar, like rippled long ovals. The aponogetons are suitable midground and background plants. A number of these planted together would look nice.

The dwarf lily's leaves look the same as the aponogeton's but are wider. They rapidly throw up red floating leaves if given the chance. Once mine had 3 floaters, it sent up a flower stalk, which hasn't bloomed yet.

The one I've refered to as "Aponogeton" looks a lot like aponogeton crispus, you can see it at tropica. The package says the other one is a hybrid of Aponogeton Ulvaceus, you can see that at tropica too. The pictures are exactly what the plants look like, right down to the crispus flower, except for the floating leaves on the dwarf lily.
 

Lazonby

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Dec 6, 2002
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Originally posted by Anton Wernher
First does anyone have any pics of these walmart plants growing in their tanks?
Yep. Here's the non-lilly one. This is a young plant on CO2. Give it some time and a nutritious substrate and it will get very, very large, about 16-18" tall, 12-14" wide, and very leafy.

 

125gJoe

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Jul 6, 2002
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Originally posted by HazyWater
I bought those bulbs. They floated too. Then they sank.
Of 6 aponogeton, only 1 sprouted. Of 4 bulbs of the dwarf lily, only 2 sprouted.
Well, I guess it's time to get rid of the one I have. It's been in the aquarium for months, and no growth at all........
 

wetmanNY

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I haven't had a perfect record with getting Aponogeton to come out of their rest, to say the least. Then I discovered that a dormant bulb needs a month or so of cooler water, into the high 60s. When warmth returns it'll resprout--- probably.

A cool spell is good for many "tropical" fish: barbs and danios, Cories, shark-minnows etc etc. (Not for dwarf cichlids and others). So it could be do-able.
 

fishhead

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Nov 27, 2002
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A while back I got a bunch of Apon bulbs (about two dozen), many of which sprouted in a few weeks or less. A few didn't but I had stuck them in the substrate so I forgot about them. About four or five months later, the temp on my tank dropped to the low seventies from a heater being dead for at least a week while we were on vacation. Not too long later a bunch of Apons appeared from the bulbs that I had forgotten about. I had a number of floaters in the beginning, many sank after a while, there were five that were still floating after a week, only one sprouted out of them.
 
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Turbo

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Dec 1, 2002
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Walmart Bulbs

Also, the bulbs that you buy at Walmart. If you dont get them to grow it says that you can mail them in and they will replace them. Dont even bother mailing them in. I tried it once and after like 2 months I got them...and half of those bulbs didnt even work. But if you get one or two plants out of it. Your doing pretty good. Considering the three bucks you spent on them its a deal compared to buying them grown at a pet store.
 

RTR

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Oct 5, 1998
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Given sufficient time, most Apons (other than madagascar lace) will resprout on their own. I gave up pulling them out for chilling. They either come back or they don't. The cheapo packaged bulbs are mostly hybrids, so there is always the chance that you will get one with enough ulvaceous in the mix that it will not go dormant but keep going as long as it is fed periodically. I consider these a good bargin even if the sprout rate is poor - those that do make good plants and a steal at that price.
 
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