# Pet Smart pogostemon helferi Journal



## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

i cant wait to see how this goes. ive thought about getting some myself


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## NeonFlux (Apr 10, 2008)

Nice one, Sean. Can't wait to see your progress man. Hopefully they take off for ya.


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## Sgtreef (Jun 6, 2004)

Will check in too, as not had good luck with them for a few months.

But after I bought some bigger ones, the others kind of went away.

Jeff


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## pirayaman (Mar 30, 2008)

I just got some r wachalli from a Petco 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk


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## MrSlumpy (Jan 4, 2013)

I bought that same pack and it melted down to almost invisible stems when I submerged it. Now 3 months later I have a forest of it. The largest crowns are about 3" diameter and it's growing like crazy. I need to trim some out actually. It's one of my favorite plants so far.


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## Sean W. (Oct 12, 2013)

Alright guys, a little bit of an update.

they have been in the tank for two full days, and its kinda hard to tell yet what they are doing. Look for yourself and tell me what you think


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## MrSlumpy (Jan 4, 2013)

Based on my limited experience, you might have planted the stems a little too close together. If it grows like mine did, it will start choking itself out with shade really quick. Maybe not though, if you trim all the daughter plants off as soon as they show up. Really wish I could post a pic of mine but they are in my work tank and I won't be there til Monday.


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## Aqualady (Jan 14, 2013)

I think it is too soon to tell...wait a few more days then see how things are going...mine a planted 1-2 inches apart and do well....good luck


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## Fujiija (Feb 24, 2012)

Mine are about 4 months old and they look great. I had about zero loss right after planting. It's amazing how quickly they greened up and leaves took on a more aquatic appearance (instead of the smashed, light green/etiolated tissue cultured look). I have so many plants I had to spread them out because they did a lot better than I expected. I also see that PetCo has their own tissue cultured aquatic plants - only saw two varieties there - can't remember the names as they weren't anything really unique - grown by a different vendor than the one at PetSmart.


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## Edub (Mar 23, 2011)

This stuff grows like crazy for me. I also got mine from pet smart.


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## TekWarren (Oct 6, 2013)

I had some from PS. Struggled with it for a couple months it grew well but went through two different melts (figuring out my CO2 and E/I dosing). Between that and my fish picking at it I lost most of it. I saved a couple small pieces, one really tiny piece and moved it to my low tech shrimp tank at work and it is doing wonderfully. No CO2, sporadic ferts with flourish, CSM+B, floramax substrate. It's good product and folks shouldn't be concerned with it (or any of the plants) as long as your not buying a bag of mush.


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## Sean W. (Oct 12, 2013)

Day 5. Looks a little more obvious that it is melting. Some of the stems still look strong, so i have hopes that it will bounce back!


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## stealthypotatoes (Feb 2, 2013)

It melts at first. Maybe around 30 percent will die off the rest will do fine.
Before:








After:


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## Charrr89 (May 15, 2013)

I lost all mine... But it did wonderful in my dsm until I submerged :/


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## MrSlumpy (Jan 4, 2013)

Even if the leaves melt 100% don't give up on it! Mine came back from bare stems after melting.

Here it is about a week after I declared it dead:










and then a couple of weeks after that:


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## kcoscia (Jul 24, 2013)

Are they making the change from emmersed to submersed? I know that the petco plants in the gel are emmersed, since my hygro compacta is purple (which only happens when it is grown emmersed) So I'm expecting a lot of die off before regrowth.


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## MrSlumpy (Jan 4, 2013)

kcoscia said:


> Are they making the change from emmersed to submersed? I know that the petco plants in the gel are emmersed, since my hygro compacta is purple (which only happens when it is grown emmersed) So I'm expecting a lot of die off before regrowth.


Yes exactly. The Staurogyne Repens I got in a gel pack did the same thing, it melted to ugliness and then came back with a vengeance.


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## GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy (Feb 11, 2012)

How long does it take them to grow into actual fern format with nice leaves?

I bought a pack of these after I watched the OP's video... Surprisingly none are melting. The pack came with 2 large clumps and I was able to get about 50 plants from the pack. Since I don't really have the patience for ground cover mats, I covered the substrate in the front of the tank with them. It should look really cool if they do well.

Are these fast growers?


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## alsmith (Nov 27, 2013)

I've bought two packs of the pogostemon helferi from petsmart and now have an entire carpet of them in my fish tank. I love it.


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## Sean W. (Oct 12, 2013)

alsmith said:


> I've bought two packs of the pogostemon helferi from petsmart and now have an entire carpet of them in my fish tank. I love it.


pictures or it didnt happen!


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

alsmith said:


> I've bought two packs of the pogostemon helferi from petsmart and now have an entire carpet of them in my fish tank. I love it.


Had the happen in my 29 a few years ago. Grew into a bush about the size of a grapefruit and probably would have kept going if I didnt trim them and sell most of them. Prob looks awesome as a carpet


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

i think i will go about it in a couple ways since i picked up a package myself. im going to float some and plant some. and leave a clump and pull one apart into small plants. figure one way or another it will work out lol


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## GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy (Feb 11, 2012)

wicca27 said:


> i think i will go about it in a couple ways since i picked up a package myself. im going to float some and plant some. and leave a clump and pull one apart into small plants. figure one way or another it will work out lol


I actually did all of the methods you mentioned inadvertently... I just noticed that they melt if they have too much light. The ones closer to the secondary light turned white(er), while all the others stayed green.

I think it would be better to plant them in a nutrient-rich substrate. I have a few planted in clumps and they aren't doing better or worse.


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

well i have several clumps no real roots yet must have been a pretty new package. i have mgo with pool filter sand cap, ada amazonia, and gravel. guess i will see what what it grows best in


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## MrSlumpy (Jan 4, 2013)

Here is 3 months growth (horrible pic but you get the idea)


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## Sean W. (Oct 12, 2013)

Wow that's awesome, I'd be ecstatic if mine take off like that!


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## dubels (Jun 14, 2012)

Just planted mine yesterday thanks to this thread. I couldn't find the plant at LFSs so I went to Petsmart as a last ditch effort. Man you get a lot of plants for a cheap price at petsmart. I paid $14 for a small clump of Anubis nana petite at a LFS but paid $8 for two at petsmart.

Hope mine grows. Going to keep an eye out on your journal.


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## anfield (Dec 1, 2013)

Hmm. might replace my dwarf sags with this. Oddly enough, my dwarf sags don't seem to do well.


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

My grapefruit sized bush about a year ago with my blue ram for scale


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

Regret ever getting rid of it all


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

the only prob i have with the package i bought is alot of it didnt have roots yet. i snipped off the few small bits that had roots and planted them. the rest are floating. so i will keep updated if any one wants to know


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## Sean W. (Oct 12, 2013)




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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

Yeah i neglected it for a bit........hahahaha


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## darthmilmo (Feb 19, 2013)

anfield said:


> Hmm. might replace my dwarf sags with this. Oddly enough, my dwarf sags don't seem to do well.


Do you dose with excel or similar products? If so, they've been known to melt those plants. Another good example is the vals, which ended up melting on my tank. I dont have downoi, but all these pics are inspiring. I'm going to look for it on petsmart.


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## GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy (Feb 11, 2012)

The Trigger said:


> Yeah i neglected it for a bit........hahahaha


https://imgflip.com/i/6nvnd


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## GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy (Feb 11, 2012)

darthmilmo said:


> Do you dose with excel or similar products? If so, they've been known to melt those plants. Another good example is the vals, which ended up melting on my tank. I dont have downoi, but all these pics are inspiring. I'm going to look for it on petsmart.


Would Flourish Comprehensive fall into that category?


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## Sean W. (Oct 12, 2013)

Part two of my journal, the good and the bad!


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## MrSlumpy (Jan 4, 2013)

GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy said:


> Would Flourish Comprehensive fall into that category?


No, Flourish comp is a fertilizer containing micronutrients. Excel / Glutaraldehyde is intended for use as a carbon source and an algaecide. It has been known to melt some types of plants.


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## MrSlumpy (Jan 4, 2013)

Sean W. said:


> Part two of my journal, the good and the bad


Good to see you're getting growth. Don't give up (yet) on the stems that look dead though.


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

sean i cant see the part 2 of the journal i just see a box with nothing in it. what is going on with yours? mine is doing quite well. i have the 2 main clumps floating since there were no real roots. i will snap some pics later tonight of the ones that have been planted about a week now. they look good. some are in ada amazonia and the other plantlet is in a mix of pool filter and black sand. both tanks have a single cfl 6500k daylight bulb. no ferts of any kind. just pushed into the substrate and left as is.


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## Sean W. (Oct 12, 2013)

part 3, some loss but also good healthy growth!


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## Sgtreef (Jun 6, 2004)

Don't give up, I went through a bunch of those packages.

Seems would grow a bit, then melt away.

And had to buy some good ones from Tom, and another fellow, now all doing good.

But I think the plant does not like a new tank at all ,more of a older setup too get going.

But just my opinion.

Jeff


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## Sgtreef (Jun 6, 2004)

The Trigger said:


> Regret ever getting rid of it all



Wow never seen so many together, I guess a lot of Fert's maybe?

Jeff


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## GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy (Feb 11, 2012)

Here's my tank after a little less than two weeks from being set up. You can see all of the Pogostemon helferi in the substrate, but not all of them are in view...


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## dbot (May 29, 2012)

Just planted my third batch (1 set of really nice stems from a TPT member, 2 sets of emersed/submersed PetSmart packages) and looking like 3 complete failures for me so far. I'm gonna check out my PetSmart again in the morning...

Edit...thanks for doing these videos and everybody who has shown us that this plant does actually grow! Really good inspiration!


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## Sean W. (Oct 12, 2013)

GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy said:


> Here's my tank after a little less than two weeks from being set up. You can see all of the Pogostemon helferi in the substrate, but not all of them are in view...


looks like yours is doing much better than mine!


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## NanoDave (Feb 25, 2013)

Nice journal. Just bought a few packs today and stumbled upon this thread. Glad I know what to expect a little more. I bought the alternanthera reineckii cardinalis last week and almost all the old leaves turned dark and died but amazingly theirs already several new leaves on all the plants within the past 2 days, and it's unbeleivably red. Deepest darkest red I've ever seen in an aquatic plant to date so PetSmart plants do seem to work. I find it pretty sad my local PetSmart has 10x more selection than any LFS within 30 miles.


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## Sean W. (Oct 12, 2013)

i just grabbed an Anubis Nana today from petsmart too.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

I was just there looking around and saw them but for the past 3-4 months I have not seen pogostemon helferi and they had it today so I picked some up. Some of the stems did have some aerial roots but I have a lot tech dirted tank so will see how it turns out, could just be a major fail.


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## Sean W. (Oct 12, 2013)

the pack i picked up had been there for a long time, there was a lot of dead and dying stems. My PetSmart is right next to my work, literally. I go in almost everyday, right now they dont have any, and i talked to the guy and said they should have a new plant shipment on wednessday. Hopefully they will get a new pack and ill pick it up fresh and give it another go.


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## NanoDave (Feb 25, 2013)

The Anubias Nana's I got in the bags took about 2 weeks till I started to see new roots and leaves. It's taken hold of my manzanita and even grown an extra inch or two of roots as well as probably 5-10 new leaves in the 2 months I've had them. The transition was very easy, or at least the 2 I have did.


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## Aqualady (Jan 14, 2013)

Sean W. said:


> i just grabbed an Anubis Nana today from petsmart too.





NanoDave said:


> The Anubias Nana's I got in the bags took about 2 weeks till I started to see new roots and leaves. It's taken hold of my manzanita and even grown an extra inch or two of roots as well as probably 5-10 new leaves in the 2 months I've had them. The transition was very easy, or at least the 2 I have did.


+1 I bought them as well and no melting....all good results...continuous growth


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## danellis1229 (Jan 24, 2013)

hey Sean how is this doing now


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## andrewq (May 22, 2013)

I've had really good luck with petsmart downoi. Im using high light and co2. This is a picture of about 4 weeks of growth.


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## The Dude (Feb 8, 2011)

Wow! I hope mine does as well. I have some in a 20 gallon with DIY CO2 and my 46 gallon with DIY CO2 and some excel daily (lowered to 2 ml recently from 5ml)


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

I've had alot of luck with the petsmart downoi. I started it out with tons of CO2 (Before I added fish) and the growth was explosive. Same with the A. Reineckii and the hairgrass.


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## Sean W. (Oct 12, 2013)

danellis1229 said:


> hey Sean how is this doing now


the 8 or stems that made it all the way were doing fantastic in my 110, i put them in my emersed tank when i took down my 110 and they all died unfortunatly.


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## The Dude (Feb 8, 2011)

I purchased some Downoi from Petsmart about 10 days ago. I expected some melting and transition, but thus far they are simply growing and spreading quickly. Both tanks are medium light with DIY C02. I'm thinking of getting another pack and filling up a big area in both tanks. Any shade at all very negatively affects it's growth. It likes direct light


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