# thoughts on plants



## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

Last year I posted that my jungle vals had all up and died after using some new fertilizer.I replaced the jungle vals with Italian tortis and was told at the store that they were a somewhat fragile type of plant until they got going.

Boy was he right! The stems on them snapped at the slightest touch but I persevered with them. I had one small nub of jungle val left in the tank and it did not rot like all the others had. After about 6 months it decided to make a leaf and then another etc. As this jungle val grew and started to send runners --the italian vals started to fail. Today almost a year later I removed the last piece of rotting torti. The jungle vals have made a comeback and now fill approximately 1/3 of the tank.

I also have some hornwort and anubias in the tank. The java fern won't grow and since I just do low tech plant growing I think that the amount of nutrients I provide does not allow the java ferns to grow with the other plants. In fact I have found that java ferns seem to like to be the only other plants in a low tech tank.
Any one else care to comment?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

hornwort grows faster than java fern and tends to float and hog the light. Java fern is a slow to grow and spread, but seems to be the last plant to die.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

at the rate those vals grow I think they suck up just about every nutrient there is too.In the winter when the sun hits the tank I have to throw a lot out.


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