Luck with packaged live aquarium plant bulbs?
by Aquaboy on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 | 4 Comments
I have made several attempts to grow those packaged plant bulbs. I have managed to get 2 plants out of about 30 of those little bulbs! What is the secret to success with those things? They are Hybrid Aponogeton bulbs. A few times they have gotten slimy white spots on them and never sprouted. Is it a water quality issue, lack of some nutrients, inappropriate lighting, just a hard plant to grow, or a combination of things? Any advice would be great! Thanks!
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In my humble opinion, these are a scam, sold at places like Walmart and Petco, where they are reasonably sure that the buyer doesn’t know anything about aquarium plants, and so will be suckered into buying them. (These are also the stores that sell packaged swamp plants in the guise of aquarium plants.) In my experience and from what I’ve heard, they rarely grow, and if they do, the plant doesn’t live very long.
Check out your LFS for real plants that will actually live. They may be more expensive, but in the long-run, you’ll save a lot of money and frustration.
I also have problems with those bulbs. One fish guy said I needed to use some florapride. It is a liquid fertilizer and safe for all fish. I have tried it but my bulbs have only grown an inch or two but my amazon sword is doing alot better. I don’t think it helps that some of my ground fish uproots them as they swim by either. He also said to get some type of gravel. I think it’s called gro-lite. It has fetilizer built in or something. I haven’t tried that yet. There is one that is a dwarf lily bulb. It flowers and grows these beautiful purple pink green leaves. I have had great luck with that one but it is a slow grower so if you decide on that one, give it lots of time. The end results are well worth it.
Do not get those junky things. I had 2 packets of bubls from walmart AND THEY ALL DIED. Mine got that white stuff too. Hope I helped!
It’s not your fault. These bulbs will do great if they are put into a tank while fairly fresh, but unfortunately they tend to be sold off the shelf at Walmart until they’re completely dried out and dead. Sometimes you can even see white mold starting to grow on them inside the package.
However, if you can purchase them before they go stale they will grow like crazy and provide you an “instant” planted tank. But, as one person noted, they will not live long. This is because in nature they need a dry dormant period to maintain their strength…which is seldom done by the average aquarium-owner.