# Plants to grow out of the aquarium



## BBradbury (Nov 8, 2010)

*Emersed Plants in Tanks*



DavidZ said:


> Looking to add a cool looking plant to my drift wood on top with an open top aquarium to grow out of the water, only having the root system in the water.
> 
> Any ideas?
> 
> Thanks


Hello Dave...

If you want a plant that will grow with the roots under water and the leaves above, then research Chinese evergreen or Aglaonema. Attached is a pic of one of my tanks with both aquatic and land plants. The "Ag" plant may be what you want.

B








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## fishyfishy101 (Nov 12, 2014)

How high do u want it to grow? Star grass looks pretty cool, its like bushy bamboo. Grows to b about 20in and when it's out of water it grows little purple flowers.


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## Lyana (Aug 4, 2014)

My Indian Fern grows out of the water. Not sure if it would really be what you want though.


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## ichthyogeek (Jul 9, 2014)

Are you looking for a cool root system? Or a cool looking plant? I'm not sure how your tank looks, but here are a few ideas:
Lucky Bamboo (it has orange roots)
Peace Lilly plantlets straight from the rhizome

Good luck!


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## DavidZ (Nov 17, 2009)

I was thinking of something like baby tears


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## lochaber (Jan 23, 2012)

I think any sort of aquatic moss, anubias, java fern, bolbitis, or anything else you attach to wood will work. It will just take a bit of time to grow out of the water.

I'm pretty sure the terrestrial baby's tears will work, but they can get out of control pretty quickly.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

How about pennywort or its smaller cousin, Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides? The small one makes mats and is actually a garden weed some places.

I haven't had H. sibthorpioides grow out of water but Brazilian Pennywort loves to creep out of the tank and I have had it grow behind bookcases and out the other side. It will flower too, little balls of flowers. Bet H. sibthorpioides would be much more attractive grown the way you are imagining as it is so much smaller in scale and I have seen mats of it at water's surface in more than one tank.


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## Sparklescale (Nov 22, 2013)

how about mint? I grow it in my 2g jar and in the sump of my 37g. I just attach it to the side of the tank so that the leaves are above water and the stem is submerged. It will grow water roots in a couple weeks. Mine is peppermint and I have to harvest it every couple weeks. Makes great tea, or, just eat it fresh!


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## devilduck (May 9, 2012)

Great idea with the mint!


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## micheljq (Oct 24, 2012)

My Alternanthera Reineckii did grow out of the tank quite rapidly, trying to stick itself on my light.. It's now 6" out of the water.

Michel.


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Plants I've had personal experience with growing out of the water:
Mosses (many varieties), riccia (will need tied down and periodically trimmed.. never grows roots), ludwigia (also lot of varieties), creeping jenny, penny wort, pothos (this is a house plant vine but its very tolerant to being submerged), hydro sp. japan.


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## Izzy- (Jun 11, 2014)

You can grow pothos outside with the roots inside. I think it looks pretty cool around a tank


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## DavidZ (Nov 17, 2009)

sweet great ideas guys, like the mint idea, but will try something that spreads more.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

If you like the idea of mint what about trying one with smaller leaves? 

Pennyroyal has leaves outside in full sun that are about 1/2" long and Corsican mint looks like terrestrial baby tears. 

Corsican mint is my favorite mint scent but it is absolutely delicious according to my garden snails so it didn't last long unless I baited constantly. Pennyroyal is more medicinal smelling and very strong. It has grown into my lawn so I get to enjoy it while doing yard work.


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## Acro (Jul 7, 2012)

Were you looking for something to grow out from the substrate or something to grow rooted (or attached) to your driftwood?


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## Fishfur (Jan 29, 2012)

What about water mint ? it's a marginal plant, edible, very strong mint scent, similar to true peppermint, but it's a natural marginal species that would suit.

If you wanted something a bit dramatic, what about Spathiphyllum ? Peace Lily, commonly. It's also a marginal pond plant that loves light, despite the reputation it has for being a shade tolerant house plant. There's a lovely variegated form, called Domino, streaks of white with rough surfaced leaves, very striking and not enormous.

Another you might consider would be Cyperus.. aka Papyrus plants. The best known Papyrus is the gigantic Nile river version, which grows to 10-12 feet. Can be grown as a summer ornamental many places. But there are many smaller cultivars, here they're sold as summer container plants mainly. Don't mistake these for Dwarf Papyrus, which is also a Cyperus, but is one that does best in a pond situation. Most of them are marginal plants, with tall, airy flower stalks. 

Their flower stalks have a flat wheel of grassy looking leaves on top; the actual flowers are so tiny, you barely see them. They go brown when mature, if you did get seed, highly variable germination is common. Each flower stalk can produce plantlets if the head is submerged in water, which is their main reproduction method, whether the stalks are still attached to the parent or cut off. Baby Tut is one cultivar that only gets about two feet tall from the ground. Wild Spike is about 3 feet, with much lusher foliage, but I am not sure that is a real cultivar name. I see it locally most summers. And some are under a foot tall.

They grow in clumps, spreading in every direction, as well as producing plantlets when the stalks tip down into the water. The middle of a clump might need to be cut out now and then. The giant form was used to make paper originally, our source for the word 'paper'. 

There are some lovely cultivars of Epipremnum now as well, that's Pothos commonly, already suggested. 'Snow White' has so much white variegation, it needs more light than most, but is very attractive. 'N' Joy' is a slightly dwarf leaf form with pretty variegations, another is 'Pearls 'n Jade', both a bit rough surfaced instead of shiny smooth, and there are several others. Marble Queen is the common white/green one, Golden Queen is yellow/green. All grow well with roots submerged.

The so called Wandering Jew, [tradescantia] is another that can do well rooted in water. The commonest one has shining silver over purple and green stripes. Can be quite striking. Needs to be restarted fairly often, given its habit of dropping the oldest leaves.

Another might be one of the Prayer plants, Maranta. There are a few of these, some newer cultivars are highly variegated. They close their leaves up at night and open again in the day, hence prayer plant. Flowers frequently, white or purple, look a bit like tiny iris. I'd have to look up the full botanical names for the exact species, but there's one very pretty cultivar called Lemon. They all root so fast in water, roots seem to appear overnight and will grow that way for a long time. Rather usual looking, compared to many commonly seen plants too.


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## aquariumhobbyist (Feb 18, 2014)

lochaber said:


> I think any sort of aquatic moss, anubias, java fern, bolbitis, or anything else you attach to wood will work. It will just take a bit of time to grow out of the water.
> 
> I'm pretty sure the terrestrial baby's tears will work, but they can get out of control pretty quickly.


My experience with java fern has been that, any leaves that grow out of the water turn black within a couple of days and dies. I have had a similar experience with anubias: when leaving the rhizome and roots submerged, the leaves above the waterline wither and die off. I would expect bolbitis to show a similar phenomenon. Is there a particular trick to keeping these plants out of water? Is there a special acclimation period of some sort?


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