Working with Carpeting Plants and Grasses
Apr
01
2009
Carpeting plants such as Hemianthus callitrichoides and Glossostigma elatinoides and grasses such as Eleocharis parvula are very economical plants with which to work. This is because they may be separated into quite small portions and spaced apart to achieve an eventual mat or lawn effect. It is quite possible to get some 20 or more plantlets out of some Tropica pots, depending of course on how much effort the planter is prepared to put in.
When working with such small portions we have found that planting is much easier when done into a fine gravel such as Zambezi sand or Limpopo sand with a Tropica substrate base, or the finer powder versions of the ADA Aqua Soil, in either Malaya (brown), Africana (red), or Amazonia (black). This is because the smaller grain size seems to give more purchase to tiny plantlets and to hold them better in place. It is of course far less frustrating when small plugs do not lift out of the fresh substrate and float away to the surface when the tank is filled.
Smaller grain size as found in the ADA Powder range is also very useful in the nano environment and is far more in keeping with this kind of tank, tending to be more aesthetically pleasing in both scale and general appearance.
When planting smaller rooted plants such as these we have found that by filling the tank with only an inch or two of water that the planting itself is much easier. Vision is not effected by refraction, access to within the tank is much easier, and generally the planting progresses at a much quicker rate.
Plants should be prepared prior to working, split into the sizes required and any excess mineral wool removed. They should then be laid out on a flat ‘pallet’ like surface or board and this placed near at hand or held in one hand whilst planting with the other, just as an artist would work at his easel. The plants should be kept misted wiht a fine water spray at intervals to retain their moisture.
A good quality set of fine tweezers is essential when planting small specimens and qulity work is almost impossible without this most basic of aquascaping tools.
There are various kinds of good quality tweezers available ranging from the cheap but effective at the budget end of the market, to TGM’s own range of high quality mid price range tools, right through to ADA’s high quality tweezers and pins sets.
A pin style tweezer is very useful for this fine sort of work although some scapers will prefer to use an angled tweezer as preferance.
When such small specimens are planted they should be gently picked up with the tweezers and lightly ‘shaken’ into the substrate. If they appear to be too deep it is not a source of worry as they will soon send out fresh roots, anchor themselves more firmly and begin to grow.
We have found that if planting is done to resemble the number five on the face of a dice then carpeting is optimised.
Where ADA Aqua Soil is used in a larger tank, it is useful to place a bag of the powder form in the foreground where carpeting varieties are to be placed.
Once planting is complete the tank should then be gently filled wth water, poured over a saucer or square of thick plastic sheet placed in the bottom of the aquarium to avoid any disturbance of the substrate.
Lighting should be kept to about 6 hours for several weeks, and no dosing with liquid fertiliser should be carried out for five to six weeks, or until the plants show signs that they are in need of such. The exception to this rule is ADA Brighty K, a source of readily available potassium and rooting hormones which may be dosed daily from day one of planting and is extremely beneficial to early growth.
Like all plants carpeting varieties will need fairly regular trimming to keep them looking both compact and pristine. Cutting back grasses such as Tropica’s Eleocharis parvula will actively encourage fresh root development. This may be done with a good quality pair of household scissors, although there are specialist long reash scissors such as TGM’s own or ADA’s that are very much suited to this task.
Carpeting plants are extremely important in aquascaping, they provide us with the lush green pastures, treelined hillsides, and mossy outcrops which feature in many aquascapers visions of a perfect eden. An underwater garden can be a more excitingly visual place with these plants available to create our own unique vision of paradise.
Various Tropica carpeting plants:
