# Confusion with Hygrophila Corymbosa Stricta and Giant hygrophilia



## Madsci (Dec 9, 2012)

Well they're stem plants, so they'll get as tall as you let them. That said, I wouldn't use either of the as a midground plant as they can get pretty huge but there's another cultivar, H. corymbosa compactica, which stays much more compact (hence the name!).


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## jcmv4792 (Jul 15, 2015)

Madsci said:


> Well they're stem plants, so they'll get as tall as you let them. That said, I wouldn't use either of the as a midground plant as they can get pretty huge but there's another cultivar, H. corymbosa compactica, which stays much more compact (hence the name!).


Isn't the compact the same as stricta? The website I'm looking at has it listed as "Hygrophilia corymbosa stricta, Compact"



> Hygrophila Stricta also know as Hygrophila Compact is a wonderful low growing freshwater plant that does well from low light to high light tanks. If the plant is placed under high light the leaves will take on a reddish color as seen in the picture to the left.


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## theatermusic87 (Jun 22, 2014)

I bought some of the compact from a tube at Petco... Some has stayed small less than a foot... And some has gone ballistic and is now a foot and a half out of the top of my 25g so somewhere 3-4 feet tall. I do have it braces since I doubt it would stand by itself, but the stem is about as big as a #2 pencil...

Your mileage may vary


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

The compact variety only gets about 6-7" tall max, and turns into a really bushy plant. 

This group is only 5 plants


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## Madsci (Dec 9, 2012)

jcmv4792 said:


> Isn't the compact the same as stricta? The website I'm looking at has it listed as "Hygrophilia corymbosa stricta, Compact"


I interpret that as saying that the compact strain is a derivation of the stricta strain - that is, a mutation was found in someone's stricta that decreases the internode stem length and it was subsequently named compact.

To my knowledge, and I could be wrong, the h. corymbosa strains most-easily available are
stricta/giant - biggest cultivar
siamensis/blue - smaller leaves, lankier than stricta
compact - reduced internode stem length
angustfolia - elongated leaves

There are a ton of names for hygro so I'm open for debate if anyone disagrees with my assessment of the h. corymbosa complex!


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## jcmv4792 (Jul 15, 2015)

burr740 said:


> This group is only 5 plants


Wow that looks amazing. I like the plants in the foreground as well. Is this tank co2 injected?

Bump:


Madsci said:


> I interpret that as saying that the compact strain is a derivation of the stricta strain - that is, a mutation was found in someone's stricta that decreases the internode stem length and it was subsequently named compact.
> 
> To my knowledge, and I could be wrong, the h. corymbosa strains most-easily available are
> stricta/giant - biggest cultivar
> ...


Ah I see. So is this particular plant the one with reduced internode stem length?

http://shop.plantedaquariumscentral.com/HYGROPHILA-CORYMBOSA-STRICTA-Compact-easy-plant_p_27.html


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

jcmv4792 said:


> Wow that looks amazing. I like the plants in the foreground as well. Is this tank co2 injected?


Thanks, yeah pressurized CO2




jcmv4792 said:


> Ah I see. So is this particular plant the one with reduced internode stem length?
> 
> http://shop.plantedaquariumscentral.com/HYGROPHILA-CORYMBOSA-STRICTA-Compact-easy-plant_p_27.html


That is the same plant I posted above.


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## jcmv4792 (Jul 15, 2015)

Do you think the big version(giant hygrophilia, temple plant) is too big for a 55 gallon tank? Would it take up the entire front to back?(12" wide).

In my 55 I planned on having the giant hygrophilia in the back, and the short version(compact) in the front. Not sure if this would be too crowded


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Not too big, unless you're buying giant plants to begin with (doubtful). They may outgrow your tank over time, if you're lucky...but to start with you'll benefit from having lots of big nutrient hogs. You can always fine tune down the road.


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## rstampa (Jan 29, 2017)

I purchased a bunch of these back in November. But I haven't much growth with them. I have med to high light and I use Flourish produces daily. I also use various fertilizer tablets. 
Some of my other plants have grew much taller, about 4" higher then the giant hygrophila corymbosa. I've cut about 2 to 3 inchs. off the tops around the beginning of Jan. All are alive but none are growing very much. Just a couple new shoots on the original plants and that's it.
What could be the problem.


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