growing under water???

emerald1951

15 years ago

Hi all, I have a question for all...have you ever hear of or tried growing house plants in a aquarium??? totally under water, I had a book that talked about this but I can not find it, all I remember is that it said any house plant could be grown under water..I did grow a, arrowhead plant in a tank and it did well until I put a couple of goldfish in the tank, the fish ate the plant..all I remember is you had to wash off all the soil ... anyone heard of this and how to do it??

linda

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

tropichris
15 years ago
I think it depends on what kind of plant you want to grow. For example, if you want to grow CPs aquatically a couple good plants would be the Utricularia genus- aka the Bladderworts. You can also grow java moss in there. Bacopa (a plant with small leaves, sorry dont know where to get it) ive heard does well in waterlogged areas. Water ferns, the Azollas and Salivinias, float on top of the water. you can probably grow air plants if they are mounted on the top of driftwood, but make sure they are not waterlogged. Lucky bamboo, most people think is an aquatic, but it is really a terrestrial. I have included a link below which sells most of these plants. Thanks! ~chris

Here is a link that might be useful: Blackjungle
garyfla_gw
15 years ago
Hi
A great many tropical plants will grow emerged from water. As will most water plants Few will grow toatally submerged. Arrowhead is a good exaple as is pothos,spathyphyllum, several calatheas. These will become epiphytic if humidity is high enough. Grow our of water almost indefinitely but 6 months tops for submerged.
Of the water plants Riccia, Anubias, Crypts, actually grow better emerged though they can thrive for years totally submerged.
Some that I've had no luck as emerged forms. Cabomba,Madagascar lace plant,several of the sword plants.
There are many others .
I have a small area in the shadehouse where I torture lots of different types of tropical. Grow them submerged for 6 months lol gary
Related Professionals
Eden Prairie Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Mooresville Landscape Contractors · Hayden Landscape Contractors · Lees Summit Landscape Contractors · Saint Paul Landscape Contractors · Altadena Fence Contractors · Fort Lauderdale Fence Contractors · Fort Worth Fence Contractors · Gainesville Fence Contractors · Cocoa Beach Window Contractors · Morton Grove Window Contractors · Winnetka Window Contractors · Coshocton General Contractors · Linton Hall General Contractors · Mount Vernon General Contractors
tropichris
15 years ago
funny, I didnt know pothos was an epyphyte until i put a philodendron "Silver" (which is actually a pothos) in a crack in wood with a bit of spahgnum. It started to put out a new leaf. As for the auatic section of the cage, some how a Waterwheel plant(Aldrovanda) popped up overnight, and I didnt put it or any of its seeds in there! it just appeared out of nowhere!!!
the_analyst
15 years ago
Try looking in an aquatic pet store. They may offer such books and maybe even sell some plants that can be grown under water. I know this can be done, but I've never done it myself, so I can't offer any advice.

Sarah
myrandal
14 years ago
Just be careful with the plants you select. Often, house plant that are sold as "aquatic" are only meant to have the roots in the water. If you completely submerge them, they may last a few weeks or months before slowly rotting. But, there are a lot of varieties of aquatic plants meant for aquariums. Aquabid.com will give you a good idea of what's out there for sale. If you really want a planted tank, you're better off focusing on those plants.