"aquarium" plants list... for terrestrial growth

seems, except in certain circles these guys are typically grossly overlooked. many of us know that most aquarium plants are marginals or even terrestrial plants that tolerate being submerged better than most. however, it seems that information isn't enough encouragement for most folks to try them out in their humid environments.

i'm hoping something as simple as a basic list all in one place could be a great resource for reference of species other folks have had good experiences with.

sooo... if you've had success with an otherwise "aquarium" plant in a terrestrial environment, please list it here for other folks.

here's my list so far...
hemianthus micranthemoides... hemianthus calitrichoides... red root floater... rotala rotundifolia... rotala "nanjenshan"... glossotigma elatinoides... riccia fluitans... anubias "nana"... hydrocotyle sibthorpioides... cryptocoryne parva... and bolbitis fern

one thing i will say, is there is no reason to be afraid to try any of these plants terrestrially. typically they grow much better, much easier, with less demands and under less light including (but not limited to) coloring up better, faster growth and better overall health when grown terrestrially. since many of these plants are terrestrial or marginal in the wild, we're bringing them much closer to their natural growth state and not stressing them by drowning them... and algae is a permanent NON-ISSUE. :thumbsup:

tropica (worldwide industry leader in "aquarium" plant production and distribution) even suggests that when adjusting an aquatic plant to a new environment (including in an aquarium) that terrestrial grown specimens will often fare better through the adjustment due to the overall health, vigor and reserves the plants are able to build up during terrestrial growth. they go on to note that a marginal/amphibious plant grown aquatically is grown in an environment that's stressful to the plant, therefore making acclimation to another environment harder on the plant and therefore less successful overall.

http://www.tropica.com/advising/technical-articles/production-articles/emergent-plants.aspx
http://www.tropica.com/advising/technical-articles/production-articles/improved-adaptability.aspx

user_name said:

dundadundun, what conditions did you grow the rotala rotala rotundifolia in terrestrially?

Click to expand...

in plastic containers that my chinese food comes in, under a daylight cfl.

got some glosso a while back from a member here. it was more than i expected. it was packed in a fish bag with wet paper towels at the bottom. i removed the mat of glosso and the paper towel and put it in the "tupperware" (dish from the chinese takeout joint), covered it and sprinkled it with some w/c water from my 50gal.. about a week later i started seeing a couple red rotala tips emerging from the mass of glosso.

later, i decided my hc was probably going to be overtaken by the other plants in my terra. i took some soil i had already mixed up comprised of coco fiber, coco croutons, bat guano (high in phosphates for blooming), fluval zeo-carb (i have a huge container of this i'll never use), torn up long fir sphag moss and a little leaf litter from the yard... put it in the take-out container, soaked it with w/c water (high in nitrates), topped it with a little more dry soil...placed the hc, some rotala rotundifolia and rotala nanjenshan from my 30 gal and put a cfl over it. everything seems to be growing like weeds.

i keep my room pretty cool, so these containers never reach 80*F, even under the light. i'd guess they get awuful close to 60*F often... as that's the temp i like to sleep in. everything still seems to be growing like weeds.

so... high humidity, 60*F-80*F, bright light, anything moist and rich in nutrients as a substrate/soil layer (paper towels are working great)... and rotala grows like there's no tomorrow...