Frustrated with Alternanthera reineckii

[DGalt]

I'm not sure what I should be expecting of this plant, but I've got a general idea of what it should look like, and well...it just doesn't.

So the plant arrived in emersed form. Understanding that, I expected it to wilt before it grew. That's fine. And it did start doing that, but only to a very small extent. The new growth doesn't look like it should either, and I"m just not sure why.

All of the other plants in my tank are doing just fine. Both the crypt and the dwarf clover have converted to their submerged forms and are doing great.

I just don't know what to do with this plant. Should I trim off the majority of it's leaves and hope they grow back properly? Should I trim the stems in half...or something? Or should it take longer than I originally thought (planted about a month ago) and I should just be patient?

It's lights out right now, but I'll try and get a picture up tomorrow.

As for tanks conditions / routine:
40watt CFL (giving between 2-2.5wpg, depending on how efficient the bulbs actually are)
Nitrates: 5-10ppm
Dosing with Flourish 2x a week, Excel daily, and 1/4 tsp KCl 1x a week

Should I try upping the lighting? Or would this just cause more problems since I"m only using Excel (I don't have the space / time for DIY CO2 right now)

as always, thanks in advance :grinyes:

 

[247Plants]

That should be plenty of light over a 15 gallon for it.

I find it to be a slow grower myself but a pic is worth a thousand words.....

Tomorrow it is

 

[DGalt]

Pictures

Ok, here are some pictures.

The top few leaves have turned red, but they aren't nearly as broad as I had expected. As for the lower leaves, well they haven't changed much.

 

[ninjaish]

from my experience with this plant is that it needs to be kept together. it seems to do better. here is a pic of mine

 

[DGalt]

my concern right now is uprooting it and starting all over. but if that's the best course, should I chop them all in 1/2 or something and replant? I just don't know what to do with this thing

 

[Shocker6966]

It's quite tempermental to lighting. Mine started to die off when planted at the edge of the tank, I moved it to a more concentrated light zone and raised it a couple inches and it's growing again. Tends to get leggy if the light doesn't reach the entire plant.

 

[DGalt]

yea I was thinking of moving it forward to try and get it more in the direct light. Like I said, though, I'm concerned about pulling it up and starting all over.

If I were to move them should I dig them up or should i just cut them in 1/2 or 3/4 and discard the bottom?

 

[Bk718]

your plants seem to be doing fine. Alternanthera isnt a really fast grower so give it time to transform into its submerged form. With this plant you will get the submerged form of the plant growing from the top, the bottom/current green leaves will not change. Once the new growth has reached about 5" snip it and replant the top part, throw out the bottom part..

 

[DGalt]

your plants seem to be doing fine. Alternanthera isnt a really fast grower so give it time to transform into its submerged form. With this plant you will get the submerged form of the plant growing from the top, the bottom/current green leaves will not change. Once the new growth has reached about 5" snip it and replant the top part, throw out the bottom part..

hmmm. ok. well, it's already as tall as the tank, so I guess I'm going to have to pull it out and replant it so it has some room to grow. but that makes sense; the newer growth at the top is a deep red. wish I had know!

 

[Xythadar]

That really doesn't look like enough light to be a 40w... are you using the converted value instead of the actual?