# Cannot grow stem plants



## beyoung95 (Apr 10, 2017)

Hi,

I have a low tech setup and cannot grow stem plants. I have tried Ludwigia, Rotala, Bacopa, Anacharis they all die after a few weeks in the tank. Jungle val and Bolbitis heudelotii also die. Other plants such as Java Fern, Anubius, Cryptocoryne Wendtii, Dwarf Lily, Swords and Banana plant are doing well. Any ideas why the stem, val and bolbitis always die?

Setup:
36 gallon bowfront
Light Satellite Plus Pro 24"
Gravel substrate
DIY Osmocote+ root tabs
3ml Flourish once a week
30% water change once a week
Manzanita dritwood
pH 8.0
KH 180ppm (10deg)
GH 30ppm (1.68deg)
temp 80 degrees F

Thanks


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## johnson18 (Apr 29, 2011)

That's a deep tank. What's your photoperiod? Dosing any Excel or other liquid carbon solution? Often stems are gonna need higher light, water column dosing and co2 supplementation. While Flourish will provide micros into the water column your only source of macros are your root tabs. 
I've been successful with stems in low light tanks before but it usually requires lots of Excel, long photoperiods & dosing of macros into the water column. 
If you wanna try picking up some Excel or metricide(sp?), you might be more successful. If you really wanna stay low light, low tech then find plants that work in your tank and pack it full of an assortment of those! Some stems you might try for low light would be wisteria, baby tears(the non-dwarf type) or any of the Hydrocotyle species. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## beyoung95 (Apr 10, 2017)

Thanks for the reply.
My photo period is 10 hours.
Forgot to mention that i dose 3x per week API Liquid Carbon.
I have no algae issues at all. What macros do you recommend? 
Thanks for the plant suggestions.


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## d33pVI (Oct 28, 2015)

I couldn't say for sure, but some of the issues could also be temp related. Going 80+ degrees can cause some plants to struggle. I know anacharis prefers cooler water, think vals may, too. Any reason in particular you are 'running hot'?


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## beyoung95 (Apr 10, 2017)

The adjustment on my heater is broken.


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## bigbadjon (Aug 6, 2015)

This 55 gal tank has ludwigia and mermaid weed that I collected and hygrophila polysperma I purchased. It is lit by 2 9w warm daylight led bulbs. I put metricide 14 in a squirt bottle and give the tank 10 pumps per day. It gets 2 75% water changes per week and after the water change I use a turkey baster full of Select Aquatics fertilizer and 25 squirts of metricide 14. My water is 68f to 72f. It is slower going but stems can be grown low tech.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Light should be enough but I'm still leaning in that direction..
put a little pedestal inside and pot a stem so it is about 6" off the floor and in the middle.. See if it grows...


Heats not helping but some of those stems should be able to take it..
Lots of carbonates but little Ca and/or Mg..so that could b an issue a well..

Personally I've just went w/ plants that "like me"....



> Ludwigia:
> Light: Moderate to High
> Placement: Mid-ground
> Water Conditions: 72-82° F, KH 3-8, pH 6.5-7.5
> ...


Temp ok kh high, pH high-ish..
http://www.barrreport.com/forum/barr-report/co2-enrichment/5409-high-kh-and-sensitive-plants


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## beyoung95 (Apr 10, 2017)

Thanks jeffkrol. I like your raised pedestal idea for a stem plant. I recently turned off my heater, I do not think that it is needed and also ordered some KNO3 and KH2PO4. I hope this helps.


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## JustJen (Jun 20, 2011)

At least with the val, temp shouldn't be a problem. My low tech lower light 46 bow runs 82+ because of my gold rams, and I've got corkscrew val coming out my ears. lol!

I can grow stems fine in my other low tech tanks, but I pretty well have to stick to val, crypts, swords, etc. in my 46 because of the depth. It's running a 2 bulb catalina T5HO fixture, but the tank is just too deep to get good light down low. Rotala is an exception though, I can't grow it in any tank. I suspect my kh of 19 is the culprit there.


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