Apon bulb hasn't sprouted... ideas?

[Egyptdragon]

Hello all,

I've been a lurker for about a month, now posting finally.

I bought two Aponogeton bulbs online, one sprouted within days and after 2 weeks now has two leaves spanning 2-3 inches in length. The other seems to be a dud. I bought two different species, I think the madagascarensis has sprouted and the boivinianus has not.

I fertilize with FloraPride by TetraPlant. (Nothing local has any substrate fertilizers...)

Granted, I don't have the right amount of light for the aquarium (it's an 18g tall, so the flourescent lights that fit my hood are meant for a 10g tank this means right now I'm getting just under a watt per gallon) and that can't be helped right now, but I'm hoping to find a way to salvage this bulb.

I should note all my other plants, including Cryptocryne willisii, Anubias, an Amazon sword and water wisteria, are looking good with new growth. My tank must not be completely unsuitable!

I was thinking of putting the non-sprouting bulb in a regular garden pot with a mixture of peat moss and potting soil and submerging this in my 2 1/2 gallon emergency tank.

Does this sound like it has promise?
Ought I just bury the bulb in my tank, leave it sitting on the substrate?
Attach it to some lava rock up high so it gets more light?
Are there other options that I haven't considered?

Thank you for your insight.

 

[djlen]

They can be weird plants to sprout.
I usually buy a bunch and just drop them into the front of the tank where I can keep an eye on them, and see which sprout and which don't.
I'd give them 2 weeks and then they'll either sprout or start to get funky. But they definitely will sprout sitting on the substrate if they are viable.

Len

 

[Egyptdragon]

Thanks for your thoughts Len.

It was sitting there for about a week and a half, I've since taken it out of the main tank because it was getting this white fuzz on it - and it smelled odd- a bit like dog droppings actually...

I dislike the idea of something that smells bad sitting in my tank, it just seems like a bad situation to me. I think I'll let it sit in the other tank and see if it's willing to do something a little later. Certainly my terrestrial bulbs have a mind of their own and sprout whenever they feel like it.!

 

[125gJoe]

I bought Apon bulbs from WalMart and they all failed...

 

[Egyptdragon]

I went to WalMart the other day looking for aquatic bulbs because I heard they had them cheap, but I couldn't find any... I guess it's just as well.

I got mine from Aquatic Plant Depot and all the plants from them are flourishing except that one bulb. That's the nature of bulbs I guess, they cost half as much as the grown plant, but are trickier to get started.

The other bulb is having a growth spurt. It has another leaf from yesterday.