# Hardy Aponogeton Bulbs



## vinimack720

i bought some "hardy aponogeton bulbs" from my lfs a few days ago for about 3 dollars, they are dried bulbs about 1/2 inch in diameter, the package says to just drop them in and they will start to grow in a few days. I dont know much about these plants(these are the only real plants i have added to my tank) and was wondering if any one else has used them. How long do they take to sprout? i have had a few in my tank for about 5 days and nothing has happened yet...do they need a lot of light? my lighting is pretty bad( a 15 watt flourecent tube and another 15 watt bulb, i know this falls far short of the 2 or 3 watt per gallon rule for my 75 gal tank but the package says that they are "easy to grow" and i thought this would be a nice treat for my fishies  
thanks for any help you can give me


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## Sprite42

With those bulbs, it is a crap shoot. I have gotten some really nice plants and some are duds. It usually takes several days to two weeks from them to sprout. I just let them float until they sprout and then anchor (not bury) the bulb with the sprout side up.

Some will never sprout. If they show signs of mold or fuzzy growth, I remove them and throw them away. Some them never even sink to the bottom, while others sink immediately.

It is like a box of chocolates....you never know what you might get....


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## vinimack720

ok, ill keep watch on them

thanks for your help


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## garfieldnfish

I got the same experiences with them like Sprite described. I figure for the price, even with a few duds, it's still a good deal. I have low light in some of my tanks and they do ok there. Be prepared to buy a new pack every so often as they do not last all that long. Also, try a pack of dwarf lilies if you can. I like the looks of them even better. Once they sprout, they grow really fast, so you have a nicely planted tank in about 1 1/2 weeks.


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## RockabillyChick

i bought 7 bulbs, only 2 sprouted, the rest grew fuzzy stuff on them and i threw them out. the 2 that are growing now are doing good. one of them sprouted right away, maybe a week after i put it in. the other took a while, maybe 3 weeks to sprout.


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## TheOldSalt

You can also get these at WalMart.

Plopping a dozen in your tank will usually result in your tank becoming a jungle in under a month.

They grow under low light, but they grow more slowly.

They grow to fullsize, bloom ( they have flowers which bloom above the water ) and then they die back again. They are not dead. They are merely resting. If you wait a few weeks they should likely resprout & start all over again, but for better results, take them out of the water & let them dry out, and them return them to the tank in about a month.

If you rub the flowers together, you might get seeds. These seeds are very tiny and very difficult to notice, but you can get new plants that way when they sprout.


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## Damon

Aponogetons may never die off, depending on the species (undulatus or crispus is what you find in these pkgs.). You can pollenate them yourself with a makeup brush but fish will eat the seeds. Very easy undemanding plant to grow.


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## flamingo

THe ones I go from a long time ago died off a while ago. I put them in cold water for 2 weeks, then returned them to the tank and they grew like crazy, just a little tip lol.

Smae for me, Out of like 6 I get maybe one or two good ones. The ohter ones just get white and die.


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## Damon

When they die off, wrap them in a moist towel and sit them on a constant heat source (like a cable box) They will sprout again in a cpl of weeks. Some strains still have the dormancy period, but most dont.


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## Ownager2004

Ive tried these a few times. Before using flourish excel I got about half to sprout. After using flourish excel for awhile I added some recently and half sprouted in the first 3 days. I added CO2 early today and all have sprouted now.

I grew these when I had like a 5 year old 15 watt bulb over a 10 gallon with nothing added. They are a very easy plant to grow(bought all mine at wal-mart by the way... the bulbs).

Ive also heard if you do not let the flower reach the surface(cut it) that the plant will grow indeffinately. Which did work for the wal-mart bulbs that I have purchased in the past.


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## Damon

Correct. The flower is the plant preparing for the cold season. It drops seed (hopefully), and when spring comes again, they will produce new plants. I'm still curious as to where the bulb originally comes from.


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## vinimack720

yea, i bought my at walmart too, they have been in their for about a week and a few have sprouted a small stem, but the trouble is that i think my goldfish keep biting at the stem! im guessing this will deffinetly affect its growth. Any sugestions?


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## Damon

Remove the goldfish....................


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## Nowatzki

*Sea-Life Aponogeton Bulbs are Hooey!*



TheOldSalt said:


> You can also get these at WalMart.
> 
> Plopping a dozen in your tank will usually result in your tank becoming a jungle in under a month.


I bought a package of these "Easy to Grow" Hardy Aponogeton Bulbs at WalMart a month ago, and *NONE *of the six bulbs ever showed any signs of sprouting. Sending the bulbs back to Sea-Life, Inc., (the originating company) might cost me more than the $2.97 I paid for them, but I think I will do it anyway, because otherwise they are making money off selling people a bunk product. :-x


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## flamingo

Old thread.........

If you place them in your tank (and they don't grow fungus) you could wait months before they ever grow. The packet I bought decided to grow one day, 2 months after being in the tank.


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## Maece

*fungus*

When the fungus started growing on my bulbs, my platies ATE it! So - if the bulb still seems solid, is the fungus really a problem?

Also, on the package for the smaller bulbs, I believe that the instructions said to plant under the substrate for faster growth. The packaging for the bigger bulbs specifically said to allow them to free-float until they sprouted. I didn't save the packaging, but I did save the receipt - do you think I could still return them?

How long should I wait for sprouting? I'm at about 1.5 weeks now, and haven't seen anything other than some white fungus (which my fish seem to be taking care of).


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## jmowbray

I have a question regarding these bulbs. I bought two packages yesterday and placed them in the tank. Right now I'm treating my tank for both fin root, and ICH. Will the chemicals in the tank affect the plants? I can move then to a plastic tank, but they won't have any water circulation. Will they be all right with the medications in the water? If you need to know the med.s I can give them to you. I would think that it would be fine b/c when the are full grown plants and you have to treat your tank, I would hope it wouldn't kill them. Let me know.


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## lohachata

Aponogeton Madagasgar(Fenestralis)










Aponogeton Boivianus..4 weeks after dry bulb put in water..










various Aponogeton Boivianus about 3-4 weeks after being put in water as dry bulbs..


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## blackheart_21

Okay a bought this plant from walmart a few months ago and it came with nine bulbs. (i got lucky) but anyways it does even look like the picture. and the reason is because its a different kind. its called Aponogeton distachyos L.f. and its almost completely different from the others. and the thing is only one grew. Whats wrong? and dont get bulbs from walmart. they dont even put the right bulbs in the right packages.:!:


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## sneasle

I've got a bulb I picked up a while back from the LFS. It's gone through several dormant periods, and they can last for quite a while.

As long as the bulb says solid and doesn't start to decay, I see no reason not to hang on to it.

Usually when my bulb decides it wants to start growing it really goes for it. Usually reaches the top of the 55g in about a week, and throws a flower by the end of the next week, and this is with very low lighting and a heavily planted tank.


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## Slider7285

MY FIRST POST! 

Yes I know this is an old thread, but it's where I'm starting. Was reading through all the responses in here and one common thing keeps coming up, that this plant propagates through seeds from a flower that grows on the surface. I have what is supposed to be an Aponogetun Bulb from my LFS and it looks like the plants pictured here. Now I know there are many different varieties in this plant, the big difference I see from mine to the ones mentioned here is that mine does not flower. In fact it grows a stalk to a specific height. Then new leaves and roots begin to grow from the top of this stalk. It does not reach the surface to flower. When I first saw the roots I did what came natural, left it attached to the "mother" plant but burried it in the substrate. I've had the plant in my tank for 5 months now. In that time it has produced now 8 of these "babies"!!! Once the "baby" is in the substrate the roots take hold and new leaves grow, this is about the time I seperate it from the "mother" plant. The latest 2 "babies" in fact have grown 2 "babies" of their own even before seperation. My wife and I have taken it to calling it the "underwater spider plant" due to this. It also doesn't show any signs of slowing down as new leaves are constantly growing on it at the rate of about 2 a week. I have even just taken a "baby" off and placed it into my daughters 10gal tank to help with the startup as this bulb took off during my cycling phase. 

Sorry I know that's a runon paragraph and all, but just looking for some answers as to anyone else having their's do this. It's in a 20 gal setup with sand substrate, cringe if you want to but I love it, with community fish, shrimp, and other plants. I'll make a list for my signature as to what's in there. I'll also post some pics if anyone is interested in seeing the "babies". Thanks in advance for any response. 








This is the first "baby" to come from the "mother" plant. It is doing extremely well. The bulb has a nice brown color to it and the new leaves are flourishing.








This is the latest "baby" that has sprouted. It is now in the substrate so the roots establish. It also has 2 "babies" of it's own. That surprised me a bit. 








The "mother" that started it all.








The second "baby" to come from "mother". This one seperated a little prematurely so it's smaller than I would have liked, but getting bigger by the week. 








Another angle of the new baby. 

Yeah the pics are fuzzy. Used our old 5mp with no flash. The wife's 15mp is way better but wasn't handy at the time.


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## CalvinKE

i usually put them in water bottles with either tap or tank water, and wait until they sprout to put them in the tank, and just throw out the moldy fuzzy ones.
i bought a aponogeton bulb pack and a lily pack, not dwarf lily, and only 1 lily survived, and now its growing really fast, its pretty cool, and i just bought another pack of aponogeton and letting them sprout and start growing in bottle, i put it outside for sunlight and put them in at night


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