I ordered a bunch of Glossostigma elatinoides from an online seller. It was kinda a random purchase with some other plants I was buying from the same seller. I'm always game for an adventure 
... and I got one.
First, the seller listed the plant as having medium lighting requirements. I didn't look elsewhere for information until I got them, and they looked funny to me compared to photos I saw of the same plant online. I learned quickly that the seller was WAY off! They will grow under medium light, but they get leggy and produce larger leaves and look like a stringy mess when grown this way. YUCK! So, instead of complaining to the seller for sending me a stringy mess, I got experimental!
I have one high light tank, but it's my show tank in my cafe, so I don't like to put dodgy looking plants in there. I have a propagation tank for that in my office that no one ever sees but me. How do you get more light to a plant that needs high light in a medium/low light tank? Float them! They may be horizontal, but they are much closer to the light, so they get that intensity they need, and unless they are heavy root feeders, they will be just fine basking in the high light they need without substrate for a while. So I let them float for a week.
Stringy stems started acting like runners, new upright growth popped up, and new little roots grew down! What did I do? I planted it sideways in my high light tank and let it establish itself in the substrate. I got a few little strings floating up the next day that weren't buried well enough, but after a little tuck in, they look great! Instead of waiting weeks or months for them to spread out and carpet the floor of tank, they are already spread out wide and filling in nicely after one week. How's that for a happy accident?
Try it
... and I got one.First, the seller listed the plant as having medium lighting requirements. I didn't look elsewhere for information until I got them, and they looked funny to me compared to photos I saw of the same plant online. I learned quickly that the seller was WAY off! They will grow under medium light, but they get leggy and produce larger leaves and look like a stringy mess when grown this way. YUCK! So, instead of complaining to the seller for sending me a stringy mess, I got experimental!
I have one high light tank, but it's my show tank in my cafe, so I don't like to put dodgy looking plants in there. I have a propagation tank for that in my office that no one ever sees but me. How do you get more light to a plant that needs high light in a medium/low light tank? Float them! They may be horizontal, but they are much closer to the light, so they get that intensity they need, and unless they are heavy root feeders, they will be just fine basking in the high light they need without substrate for a while. So I let them float for a week.
Stringy stems started acting like runners, new upright growth popped up, and new little roots grew down! What did I do? I planted it sideways in my high light tank and let it establish itself in the substrate. I got a few little strings floating up the next day that weren't buried well enough, but after a little tuck in, they look great! Instead of waiting weeks or months for them to spread out and carpet the floor of tank, they are already spread out wide and filling in nicely after one week. How's that for a happy accident?
Try it
