# Riparium plant? -- Dracaena deremensis "compacta"



## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

It may! I think others have succesfully raised _Dracaneas_ in ripariums, but I am not 100% sure.

BTW, do you have a riparium?


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## Flippy (Apr 19, 2010)

No, but I am starting to set one up!


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

It might work. The safest tack would be to fill the planter cup up most of the way with hydroton, then cap with a finer gravel. I also find that with some of those plants that aren't necessarily marginal aquatics that they can adapt if after repotting you hang the planter so that only the bottom inch or so is in the water. Then as new roots form you might be able to lower it down to the water level.

When transitioning like that some plants loose most of their existing soil-adapted roots and look sad for a few weeks until new roots grow. It seems that the water-adapted roots are often thicker and less numerous.

"Lucky bamboo" is one _Dracaena_ that will grow well in a riparium planter. I haven't tried any others.


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## Flippy (Apr 19, 2010)

Here's some pics:


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## Flippy (Apr 19, 2010)

hydrophyte said:


> It might work. The safest tack would be to fill the planter cup up most of the way with hydroton, then cap with a finer gravel. I also find that with some of those plants that aren't necessarily marginal aquatics that they can adapt if after repotting you hang the planter so that only the bottom inch or so is in the water. Then as new roots form you might be able to lower it down to the water level.
> 
> When transitioning like that some plants loose most of their existing soil-adapted roots and look sad for a few weeks until new roots grow. It seems that the water-adapted roots are often thicker and less numerous.
> 
> "Lucky bamboo" is one _Dracaena_ that will grow well in a riparium planter. I haven't tried any others.


Thanks! I'll try that... roud:


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## Flippy (Apr 19, 2010)

Oh and also, do you think Chamaedorea Elegans (Parlor palm, Neanthe Bella Palm) could work? Some aquarium stores sell them as aquarium plants, so is it possible for them to grow in a riparium?


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

Flippy said:


> Oh and also, do you think Chamaedorea Elegans (Parlor palm, Neanthe Bella Palm) could work? Some aquarium stores sell them as aquarium plants, so is it possible for them to grow in a riparium?


It may. Hoppy has said this many atime, "The first chapter in the book of ripariums has not even been finished!" There are many many plants out there that we haven't tried yet. So almost everything is game! I wouldn't try that plant though. It says that it's poisonus!
Jake


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

There are many kinds of houseplants that are mildly to more seriously toxic--chemical defense goes with being that kind of plant. Many houseplants originally grew in shady spots down on the ground in tropical forests, so they are encountered by many kinds of plant eating animals.

Most such plants should be OK to use in a riparium, just don't chew on them, or feed them to your cat.

One real good riparium plant that is pretty toxic is dumb cane (_Diffenbachia_). It is important to make sure that that one is out of reach of pets and small children.


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## Flippy (Apr 19, 2010)

I have decided not to use the dracaena and the palm, and just use them how they're supposed to be used -- as houseplants!


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

There are a lot of other good options out there. I think that a lot of housplants end up looking a bit too coarse and large for a riparium. What are the specs going to be like for this setup anyway? 

Lucky bamboo does end up looking pretty good in a riparium if you plant several stems of it in a group. There was a member here (can't remember his name) who had some going in a 55 that looked nice.

My favorite riparium plant subjects are the emersed aquatics, such as crypts, anubias, swords and various stems. With some coaxing most such plants adapt very well to ripariums and they most definitely prefer to have their roots below the waterline.

The planting that I had going in my 50 a while back had a number of emersed aquarium plants.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

What you try in a riparium depends on what you enjoy doing. I really enjoy buying 2 inch potted houseplants that look promising, then trying them in a riparium, either as a raft planting or a planter cup planting, or both. Sometimes the results are great. Sometimes they aren't. But, those plants typically cost about $4 each, so if it doesn't work you don't lose much. If you don't like doing that kind of experimenting, then watching here for what plants have been found to work well, is a good strategy.


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## Flippy (Apr 19, 2010)

hydrophyte said:


> There are a lot of other good options out there. I think that a lot of housplants end up looking a bit too coarse and large for a riparium. What are the specs going to be like for this setup anyway?
> 
> Lucky bamboo does end up looking pretty good in a riparium if you plant several stems of it in a group. There was a member here (can't remember his name) who had some going in a 55 that looked nice.
> 
> ...


It is going to be a ten gallon tank, and I got these plants yesterday:
Spathiphyllum
Aluminum Plant
Creeping Jenny
Eleocharis Montevidensis
Alocasia "polly"
Purple waffle plant
I think I'm done with the plants, but do they sound good to you?


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Those do sound like pretty good plants to start with. You will probably find some of them to grow/look better than some others. Among those that you have the spathiphylluma and aluminum plant are especially useful riparium plants. 

I did not mean to say above that houseplants don't work for ripariums. Here is a shot of the 55 that I have going right now and it is mainly filled with houseplants.










A real good houseplant that I recently started using is syngonium vine. Here is a shot of the pink one that I found that grows real well in riparium planters.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I found the Purple Waffle plant very disappointing. Mine kept the leaves cupped to catch the light, so not much of the color was ever visible. Then it grew very coarsely, to the point that I just gave up on it. A much more successful similar plant is Purple Passion vine, Gynura aurantiaca. It has grown very well on rafts for me, and looks great in contrast to some of the light green plants. I found mine at Target, right next to the Purple Waffle.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

I didn't do so well with purple waffle either. It did not want to grow roots in the planter substrate. Perhaps it was too oxygen poor there for it.

You know another group of houseplants that would be good to consider are various _Philodendron_. I have a little "velvet heart" philo that is rooting real well in a hanging planter. _Philodendron_ aren't really swamp plants in nature, but a lot of them come from tropical lowland forests that can flood seasonally, so it seems that many can grow with their feet wet.


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## Flippy (Apr 19, 2010)

I suppose I'll just have to try it!


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## Flippy (Apr 19, 2010)

Flippy said:


> It is going to be a ten gallon tank, and I got these plants yesterday:
> Spathiphyllum
> Aluminum Plant
> Creeping Jenny*
> ...


Eeek! I guess I was mistaken! What I thought was an Eleocharis (it was a fiber optic grass) is actually an Isolepsis sp. Oh well, it said it loves water and can even be grown in a pond, so I think it should work! :icon_lol:


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