# I had almost forgotten how much I love HM



## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

_Hemianthus micranthemoides_ or "Baby's Tears". 

I _love_ it. 

It grows in such a dense bush, is SO easy to trim and shape, and the fine leaves give such a great bushy look. I also love the light lime-green color. The killies love snuggling in the bush too! :icon_roll 

I have about 1/3 of my 15 gallon covered with it. The tank has 65 watts of lights and DIY CO2 (when I remember) and some Excel, and this has just taken off. 

It's SO PRETTY!

I'm hardpressed to find a plant that I like more right now. It isn't anything fancy or new or rare, but it's a great plant. 

I have the version that has two leaves per node (Amano perlweed I've heard it called?) Anyone have the version that has 4 leaves per node? I'd be more than happy to trade or buy. 

Who else loves HM?


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## spypet (Sep 15, 2006)

I love HM too, especially when you have an ET carpet.
I only dislike how easily it can melt when replanted.
unfortunately I had to discard all my HM after an algae
outbreak last year, since the HM didn't take too kindly
to being bleach dipped :redface:


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

And this is it in it's messy form - I had just been in there pulling up clumps! (See the space in front where it had tried to take over the _Marsilea minuta_)


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Great plant, it can be a giant mess when trimming, and looks awful for a week or two after a heavy trim... but it is well worth it!

I have seen mine grow anywhere from 2-5 leaves per node depending on the tank, or it's mood that day or whatever. I've also seen it grow straight up in low light and creep along the substrate in high light. So, I'm not quite convinced there is more than one species, or if it is just variable based on conditions...

I'd be more than happy to send some to see what it does in your tank, but I recently mowed it down, and it needs some time to recover.


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

Minsc - Sounds great! I'll send you some of mine too if you'd like to try it out!


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## CampCreekTexas (Feb 28, 2007)

I've been wanting some of this for a while now and just got some in a few days ago from a Swap&Shop deal. I can't wait to plant it! I need to hook up more lights above two more tanks I set up ~ already stuffed all the ones I have lights on.  

I feel the same way about Sunset hygro. I just LOVE the stuff! And H. corymbosa "Angustifolia" ~ it' just awesome!! Both grow just about anywhere in anything and with or without anything added. Being a newbie, this is rather heartening for me. :biggrin: 

(BTW, Jen ~ I also just got "The Winter King" in the mail a few days ago ~ it's next up in my "To Be Read" pile, right after "Eragon". Thanks for the tip. )


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## fishscale (May 29, 2007)

I really like how this stuff looks, how do you plant it? Is it expensive?


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

*CampCreek* - OH I love those hygros too! Ever just get STUCK on a plant though, and can't get enough of it? That's me and HM right now. Before it was Rotala rotundifolia, and before that Bolbitus heudolotii.  And you're going to LOVE The Winter King, but it does take awhile to really get into it. By the end of the third book it had me in tears . I'd just skip Eragon (I wasn't a fan, :hihi: - to me it was like he took the names, plots, and settings from all my favorite fantasty books, chopped them up and pasted them together, adding filler and a heaping helping of Star Wars and voila! I'm harsh, I know, but when I consider that it was written by a teenager then I can cut him some slack!). 

*Fishscale* - It's a stem plant, so you pretty much just push it down into the substrate. When you trim it, it branches and grows into a nice bush.

Not expensive at all since it is such a fast grower. I've seen it at LFSs in a pot for $1.99 or so. I can send you a good clump of what I have for cost of shipping if you want, just PM me your address.


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## fishscale (May 29, 2007)

Do you think it would be possible to grow it out in a 10 gallon tank so I could propogate it more easily in my 55 gallon?


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## dapellegrini (Oct 29, 2006)

I have two HM variants in my tank. One grows consistent 2-leaves per node and straight up, while the other creeps with 3-leaf nodes. Same tank, same conditions. Had both for more than 6 months.

It is a great plant especially for those searching for a good mid-ground plant. It is way too high maintenance for a foreground though, IME. It is a lot like texas sagebrush in my yard. I wish there was a small electric trimmer I could use to mold it better. Scissors work, but you will definitely have a huge mess floating around in your tank for a while.


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## CampCreekTexas (Feb 28, 2007)

> Ever just get STUCK on a plant though, and can't get enough of it?


 Yep! It's the same in terrestrial gardening. One year it was wandering jews, another year brugmansia (how can you NOT _LOVE_ something like this?! Pink Favorite Brug), another year it was beans, another year... :icon_lol: And these fascinations honestly did last a year at a time, and sometimes more. I just got to where I couldn't get enough of them! Just flat out _could not_ quit looking at them, reading about them, playing with them, getting more of them.:icon_roll :icon_lol:

Man, I can't wait to get my HM planted so I can see what you're talking about. Do you have any pics of how you've used yours? How do you use yours? I'll bet I'll love it. I really do like the pictures I see of it used in a scape. It's such a nice little bush form. That's why I've kept an eye out 'til I finally got some. I've got a crazy idea of doing a veggie garden layout just for fun one of these days, complete with a couple peacock moss trees outside the veggie plot, hycrocotyle trained up some sticks for pole beans, baby microswords for carrots, some kind of hygro for corn, etc. Maybe I can do a formal "potager" and use the HM as box hedges around it! :icon_lol:

(About Eragon ~ I didn't remember 'til you said that that someone had told me the same thing about it ~ maybe that was you? LOL! ~ but of course I forgot that when browsing Amazon.com for something to fill out the $25 free shipping thing so I could get a couple books for my MIL. *sigh* The blurb sounded good at the time. Oh, well. I'm not far into it yet, but so far so good. Hopefully I'll still like it since I don't really do a lot of fantasy reading and last time I saw Star Wars was when it was still in theaters ... the _first_ time.:icon_eek: :icon_lol


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

> Scissors work, but you will definitely have a huge mess floating around in your tank for a while.


Mow the lawn, then scoop out all the floating stuff. Hey - at least it floats when trimmed :hihi:

*fishscale* - Growing it in a 10 gallon might be easier since you have less depth for the light to filter through and theoretically could have higher light (i.e. it grows better for me in a 15 gallon with 65 watts than in a 110 gallon with 4x65 watts)... but there's no reason it wouldn't just grow in your 55.


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

> Yep! It's the same in terrestrial gardening. One year it was wandering jews, another year brugmansia (how can you NOT LOVE something like this?! Pink Favorite Brug), another year it was beans, another year... And these fascinations honestly did last a year at a time, and sometimes more. I just got to where I couldn't get enough of them! Just flat out could not quit looking at them, reading about them, playing with them, getting more of them.


OOOH good! I'm so going to PM you and pick your brain when I start on my garden. Now that school's out it is time to get started! I'm still working on developing a green thumb for potted plants and stuff outside - haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet though!

And how do I use my HM? I've done it as a short-trimmed foreground in the 15 but right now it is just an unkempt bush (killie spawn media!). I've mixed it in with Sagittaria in the 110 and it looked really nice, softened the lawn a bit. The bush look might be the most popular.

I LOVE your idea for a veggie-garden look! I had a crazy idea awhile back of doing some little small-scale mirror of real life in the tank. I wanted to do a church made out of driftwood with plants as landscape in a "forest" and moss growing down off the roof like shingles. Cute eh? I'm still working on it though - No one is allowed to steal the idea until I get it done though! :hihi: Imagine a couple bristle-nosed plecos or a synodontis as the church resident!


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## dapellegrini (Oct 29, 2006)

Ya you can scoop it off the top - as long as your filter is not blasting it every which way...

One side trimmed - the other still wild:










And some close-ups:


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## snakeskin (Jul 28, 2005)

is there a secret to growing this or will it just grow like crazy?


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## dapellegrini (Oct 29, 2006)

Patience. It has always been an easy plant for me, but I have heard others have problems with it. It typically takes a while to adapt to a new tank, maybe 3-4 weeks, then it starts to take off.


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## fishscale (May 29, 2007)

How exactly do you trim plants? Just reach in the tank? Won't that freak the fish out?


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## dapellegrini (Oct 29, 2006)

Yep - reach right in there and do what needs to be done. The fish don't mind as long as you don't get them between your scissors...


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## ringram (Jan 19, 2005)

I love it! You can trim it to be a foreground(carpet), or a bush...
Light green and fairly small leaf size is nice too.
I had a huge mat of it in my 90g for a long time.


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## CampCreekTexas (Feb 28, 2007)

Just how short can you trim this for a carpet and still have it be green and healthy? 

I like the church idea, Jen! Sounds too cute! Are you going to add a touch of the morbid and build a cemetery next to it? *snicker* And definitely PM me about your yard. I'm in a _very_ different growing zone than you are, but I'll be happy to help you as much as I can.


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

CampCreekTexas said:


> Just how short can you trim this for a carpet and still have it be green and healthy?


Not sure - I've trimmed it down so that only little nubs were left and it grew back. I bet you could keep it around 1" - but that'd be a LOT of trimming. My 15 foreground kept it about 1.5-2". 



CampCreekTexas said:


> I like the church idea, Jen! Sounds too cute! Are you going to add a touch of the morbid and build a cemetery next to it? *snicker*


Ooh! Do you mind if I steal that idea? Imagine little iwagumi grave stones in a yard of HC! Hahaha, OH that'd be too cute!


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

if you have it under high light, it grows creeping and you can trim it pretty close to the substrate.

It's a great plant for nano tanks as well....


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## CampCreekTexas (Feb 28, 2007)

Cool. Thanks for the info both of you. I might try it as a lawn in a higher light tank, once my stepson gets my hoods done (It's SO handy having two sons who are trim carpenters!:hihi. 



JenThePlantGeek said:


> Ooh! Do you mind if I steal that idea? Imagine little iwagumi grave stones in a yard of HC! Hahaha, OH that'd be too cute!


 Go for it! I think that's a FAB idea! LOLOL! Now I can't wait to see it. *snicker*


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## fishscale (May 29, 2007)

Can you grow HM emersed?


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## dapellegrini (Oct 29, 2006)

Yes. The leaves go round instead of long and pointy.

Here is some that I got Emersed:










and here it is after about 3 weeks:


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## dhavoc (May 4, 2006)

it makes a very nice ground cover emersed. i have it hanging off of the hob filter on one of my nano's and it looks great. one if the tiniest flowers also. emersed form is dark emerald green, not the light lime green of the submerged form, and the leaves are small and round and they grow very compact. will try to get a pic when i get home later.


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## uncskainch (Feb 22, 2005)

It sure has grown like crazy in my tank -- and I have DIY CO2 and pretty moderate lighting. I love it, too -- it's adds a lot of softness and depth to the foreground.


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## dhavoc (May 4, 2006)

pic of mine hanging off one of those red sea nano filters, you can barely make out the flowers.


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## fresh_lynny (Mar 9, 2006)

It is one of my favorites as well.....
Grows like ummmmmm a weed, but is easily shaped. I love it!


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

LYNN! Haven't seen you in awhile - how's that new ADA tank of yours looking??


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## garuf (May 30, 2007)

how tall does hm grow? im using some as a background plant in my nano im im scared it wont be seen beind my drift wood, instead of making the bushy background i envisioned


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

garuf said:


> how tall does hm grow? im using some as a background plant in my nano im im scared it wont be seen beind my drift wood, instead of making the bushy background i envisioned


It out grew my 2.5g AGA nano tank. Actually, it turned my entire 2.5g nano tank into an HM bush.


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## garuf (May 30, 2007)

hahaha pretty big then? fingers crossed ill get somthing similar mines so short the tallest bits probably not even 5cm


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

that stuff pearls like crazy!!!

what do you think is a better foreground plant, m.mineuta or hm?

btw tried some hm in my 12g eclipse to no avail, thats when i thought that 13watts over 12 gallons was alot of light !!!


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## Kelley (Nov 2, 2006)

bsmith782 said:


> what do you think is a better foreground plant, m.mineuta or hm?


Marsilea is a great foreground plant. It is zero maintenance and very pretty. The downside is that it requires LOTS of patience. I think that HM is a poor choice for a nano foreground. Too much work!! Try HC, Hemianthus callitrichthoides, instead.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

i already have the minuta, e.tenellus (broadleaf)and e.tenellus (microleaf) as foreground in a tank at home. i am currently trying to aquire an ada tank and am always open to suggestions.

why hc instead of hm, quicker growth?


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## fishscale (May 29, 2007)

No, HC doesn't grow as crazy, so less trimming is involved. BTW, thanks for your minuta and tennellus, they are doing great in my shrimp tank! 

Based on your experiences, would it be a bad idea to mix HC/HM/Glosso? I am not sure what I want to do exactly, but I am considering allowing those plants to grow together. Is this a bad idea? I know that Glosso gets really thick and needs to be trimmed/replanted, and HM grows like crazy, so one might overtake the other, but does anyone have any thoughts on this?


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## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

I'm not sure reading this thread was a good idea or not, now I'm searching Swap N Shop for HM, lol. If you guys have any for sale or know of someone who does please let me know.


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## fishscale (May 29, 2007)

I'm currently collecting for The Big Planting (TM) when I move into my new apartment. I am sure I will feel dumb when this plant takes over my tank, but I need to plant heavy to start


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## cleekdafish (Jun 13, 2007)

i used to have this plant , very limish color and beautfil leaves , my covered everything and it does grow fast...my grew like 6 inches tall


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## T-Bird (Jun 19, 2007)

Yeah I have some HM (although it was Bacopa Monniera where I got it from) and it's great.

Definitely wouldn't say this is a foreground plant for a nano. I have some in my 30L and after a few trimmings and replanting it is now turning into a small bush at the side of my tank and already one stem has hit the water surface again. More cuttings and replanting needed.

HC is great however. Also have some in the same 30L and it hasn't full spread yet but it's starting to. Will be a nice green lawn after another month or so.


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## g8wayg8r (Dec 24, 2003)

Give it water and light and it will grow.

I've got a bunch of it in the corner of a no-tech 10 gallon tank that gets a dose or two of excel and EI mixture every week. No matter how I try to comb it and open up like Einstein's hair, it always seem to want to grow more dense like Ben Wallace hair. Beautiful plant, regardless. I've got tanichthys albonubes in the tank and since it's grown to the surface, it's been a great place for the fry to hang out.

I recommend this plant in any tank.


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## stevenlau (May 26, 2009)

I think this HM likes hardwater, I keep failing to grow this HM in my softwater tank that has ADA AS II substrate. It grows to some point and will melt completely. Has anyone be able to grow it on ADA AS? Thank you.


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## Sharkfood (May 2, 2010)

Mine just crawls on the substrate and piles up on its self. It's nice looking, but I've never seen anything that grows that fast. Even the little cut pieces I sometimes miss after I trim get stuck somewhere in the tank and grow like crazy. I'm actually somewhat annoyed by its growth rate as I find myself cutting it back every couple of days.


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## fishyjoe24 (Dec 10, 2009)

HI I don't want to be rude but this is back from 07/00-30/2007 3 years ago. isn't HM pearl weed, pearl weed is the true name, then wasn't it became popular here in the US the us plant hobbies changed the name to baby tears, and then has more of the simular sp. came along they where called giant baby tears,and dwarf baby tears? or am I just totally confused because it's been a long day at the doctor, and hanging out with the girlfriend.


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## stevenlau (May 26, 2009)

fishyjoe24 said:


> HI I don't want to be rude but this is back from 07/00-30/2007 3 years ago. isn't HM pearl weed, pearl weed is the true name, then wasn't it became popular here in the US the us plant hobbies changed the name to baby tears, and then has more of the simular sp. came along they where called giant baby tears,and dwarf baby tears? or am I just totally confused because it's been a long day at the doctor, and hanging out with the girlfriend.


Unfortunately I don't quite get used to the term "pearl weed, baby tears or dwarf" but rather stick to its Latin name Hemianthus micranthemoides and the picture of it is this


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