# Dwarf hairgrass simply NOT GROWING!



## slapmonster (Jul 19, 2013)

Hi all,

I have a 20 gallon tall planted tank right now. Most of the plants have been doing fairly well, except for one. I have seen absolutely zero growth in my dwarf hairgrass, and it has been a month since I planted it. Just yesterday, I pulled a batch out to see how it was doing and there wasn't even any root growth. The strange thing is that this plant isn't really brown or anything, it's still green! Just not growing.

When I first started this tank, I had a pretty weak LED lighting system with no CO2, but all plants still grew pretty well (corkscrew vals and amazon swords). But the dwarf hairgrass...nothing.

About a week ago, I upgraded my lighting system to two 24" flourescent T5-HO bulbs (2.4 wpg I believe?) in the Zoo Med fixture and started with CO2 injection. I've dosed API LeafZone for a month. Other plants continue to grow, but even after the lighting and CO2, no growth at all for DHG.

I've tried so many things with little results - lighting upgrade, CO2, separating into small bunches, trimming to encourage growth. I'm not sure what else to do now.

Questions:
1. Is API Leaf Zone adequate?
2. I also use the API root tabs, are these adequate?
3. Everything I read suggests that it should grow well in 2.4 wpg. Am I misinformed?
4. I am using normal aquarium gravel. Everything I read suggests that it should do okay in normal gravel, but it may be slower. I didn't expect it to take over a month though. Any comments on this?
5. Any other suggestions?

My goal is to get the dwarf hairgrass to carpet my aquarium, and I hate giving up on things that I started. Please help :frown:


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## steven p (Jun 22, 2012)

What's your substrate?


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## slapmonster (Jul 19, 2013)

steven p said:


> What's your substrate?


Just standard Topfin aquarium gravel.


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## bitFUUL (May 14, 2010)

DHG usually grows pretty slow, give it some time still.... I've been patiently waiting for nearly 9 months for it to spread in my 7.5g. It will grow, just make sure it's getting nutrients.


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## slapmonster (Jul 19, 2013)

bitFUUL said:


> DHG usually grows pretty slow, give it some time still.... I've been patiently waiting for nearly 9 months for it to spread in my 7.5g. It will grow, just make sure it's getting nutrients.


Thank you, that's good to know. :icon_smil

Anybody have recommendations on how I can improve growth?


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## Xiaozhuang (Feb 15, 2012)

1. API Leaf zone only lists Iron and potassium as its contents. You'd still need to dose nitrates, phosphates, trace elements. 

2. No experience with this, suppose to provide macro nutrients though

3. Your lights should be adequate, though depth may diminish the effectiveness?

4. DHG is not as slow as people say. In healthy conditions you'd see runners in 3 days.

5. Why not try MTS as a substrate since you can cap it with gravel? From personal experience it seems to like finer substrates. 

Runner growth in 1 month w/o CO2 on desktop vase:


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## MiSo (Oct 26, 2005)

dhg is easy to keep alive, it just grows pretty slow. you need a lot of patience. to get a great lawn, you need to plant heavy and just wait.


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## slapmonster (Jul 19, 2013)

Xiaozhuang said:


> 1. API Leaf zone only lists Iron and potassium as its contents. You'd still need to dose nitrates, phosphates, trace elements.
> 
> 2. No experience with this, suppose to provide macro nutrients though
> 
> ...


Wow thats awesome that the desktop vase grew like that!

Any suggestions on macro nutrients? I think I may try a finer substrate as well. What is a good substrate product to go with?



MiSo said:


> dhg is easy to keep alive, it just grows pretty slow. you need a lot of patience. to get a great lawn, you need to plant heavy and just wait.


That's what I'm starting to figure out, it takes patience with plants. I'm also hearing mixed opinions though. Some people say it grows fast. Like Xiaozhuang above who said he saw runners within 3 days. I'm trying to be patient though


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## MiSo (Oct 26, 2005)

the tank in my sig took about a year to get 75% covered in dhg. 260watts pc, aquasoil and powersand, pps pro dosing. i started with only about 10 pots of dhg though.

in doing another tank now, planted heavy and just need to wait. trying for another dhg lawn. started with a 10x10 mat. buildmyled.com lights, ei method dosing, aquasoil.
just planted about a week ago. 
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=369313&highlight=


for substrate, i like aquasoil a lot. for macro nutriets, you can dose dry or make your own solutions. 
check out nilocg's thread for ferts to make your own solutions. 
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?p=3606873&highlight=#post3606873


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## Xiaozhuang (Feb 15, 2012)

Aqua soil is good, but $$$$ for large tanks and those of us on a budget. MTS (qualities vary depending on the soil used) is cheap and good but messy if you move plants around alot. 

A good source of macro nutrients is to mix your own from dry fertilizers. KNO3 for potassium/nitrates, KH2PO4 for phosphates. You can find more in the fertilization thread. Its about 50X cheaper than using commercial brands. You can order them online and have them delivered. I couldn't find good trace fert over here and ordered mine all the way from the US also.

Nutrient calculators like these help you do all the math: http://calc.petalphile.com/en/
and the nice thing is that you will know exactly what you're adding to your tank if you mix your own fertilizers, this makes diagnosing problems easier also.

Yeah I agree that plants take patience... sometimes it doesn't work because the plant you received was in poor condition to start with, or was grown in very different water/soil parameters and so have trouble acclimatising to the new environment.


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## slapmonster (Jul 19, 2013)

MiSo said:


> the tank in my sig took about a year to get 75% covered in dhg. 260watts pc, aquasoil and powersand, pps pro dosing. i started with only about 10 pots of dhg though.
> 
> in doing another tank now, planted heavy and just need to wait. trying for another dhg lawn. started with a 10x10 mat. buildmyled.com lights, ei method dosing, aquasoil.
> just planted about a week ago.
> ...


Thanks brotha. Appreciate all your help!



Xiaozhuang said:


> Aqua soil is good, but $$$$ for large tanks and those of us on a budget. MTS (qualities vary depending on the soil used) is cheap and good but messy if you move plants around alot.
> 
> A good source of macro nutrients is to mix your own from dry fertilizers. KNO3 for potassium/nitrates, KH2PO4 for phosphates. You can find more in the fertilization thread. Its about 50X cheaper than using commercial brands. You can order them online and have them delivered. I couldn't find good trace fert over here and ordered mine all the way from the US also.
> 
> ...


The DHG was potted. I think you are right, it just isn't acclimating well. I should have at least seen some roots by now. I'm not giving up on this batch yet, but I found a new LFS that sells DHG, so I'm gonna buy some from there this weekend. Maybe I'll get better results from a different source. Thanks for your help!


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## VJM (Feb 9, 2013)

I only have my own experience to offer, but here's my take. 

DHG is just like a lawn. It does well with a fine, nutrative substrate, and lots of light. I have a dirted tank (Miracle Gro Organic potting Mix), with a sand cap. My DHG took off from the moment I planted it, and is so bent on taking over the whole tank that I have to remove some every week. 

I think the small size of the substrate is really helpful in getting DHG to run wild, as is having a highly nutritive substrate.


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## slapmonster (Jul 19, 2013)

Switched out my substrate to the Azoo Plant Grower Bed. Gonna hold off on the dwarf hairgrass for now. I'll probably get some staurogyne repens for the foreground instead.


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## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

I'd say the pea gravel was your problem. I've grown hairgrass very well in soil, Aquasoil, and Flourite but it always languishes in pea gravel.


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## tetra73 (Aug 2, 2011)

MiSo said:


> the tank in my sig took about a year to get 75% covered in dhg. 260watts pc, aquasoil and powersand, pps pro dosing. i started with only about 10 pots of dhg though.
> 
> in doing another tank now, planted heavy and just need to wait. trying for another dhg lawn. started with a 10x10 mat. buildmyled.com lights, ei method dosing, aquasoil.
> just planted about a week ago.
> ...



I thought I would bump this thread. Interested in how is your DHG doing? My has been planted for 2 weeks. Seeing runners now. Some clumps are spreading but others (only few) would just "sit" there. And few of them I am getting a slight outbreak of BBA. So far, I have trimmed them twice. It would have been 3 times including the trim I did before planting them. I guess I didn't trim them aggressively enough on my second trim.


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