# Propagating Blyxa Japonica



## Nightshop (May 12, 2006)

The blyxa patch of my 50 gallon has grown incredibly thick and has become quite prone to debris build-up. 










Surely there is a way to propagate this plant, I recall hearing that it is actually a stem plant. I'm clueless as to where I should cut the stalks . . . anyone know how?


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## riverrat (Jul 14, 2005)

Its pretty straight forward. Pull a plant out of your substrate. I wiggle it while pulling gently. Blyxa roots are usually thick and plentiful. This way you will loosen the root mass and get them to pull out easy with most of the roots attached.

After you have removed a patch look at the plant. It is a stem plant that branches. In the clump that you pulled out you will notice 2,3,4, or more plants actually form that one little bush. 

Now simply snip them apart trying to save as much of the stem below the leaves on each one. This will make them easier to plant. The new ones you have cut will not have roots but will establish them after you plant them. Saving as much of the stem below the leaves will make them easier to plant. Shorter ones will want to pull out to of the substrate in a strong flow. 

If the stem is short below the leaves and you think you'll have a hard time getting it to stay in the substrate simply pull some leaves from the bottom of the plant to make more of the stem available to shove deeper into the substrate.

I trim my roots back leaving an inch or so on the plants with the roots before replanting. 

After a good trim and replant they will take a little while to take off again. But as soon as they start growing...wow a real weed. 


Good luck
river


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

Nice patch of Blyxa btw...


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## Overfloater (Jan 12, 2004)

There is an old shot of my 75G with a Blyxa groundcover. Sorry about the tilt. 

You can pull the blyxa out and break the stems apart into individual plants. It grows like a family tree.


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## davefan13 (Jun 19, 2007)

wow floater, that's amazing. i love the simplicity of the tank.


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## fishscale (May 29, 2007)

Isn't Blyxa Japonica supposed to be hard to grow?


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

It can be under the wrong conditions. It loves light and CO2. It can take some time to settle in to a tank though.


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## davefan13 (Jun 19, 2007)

so would it be possible to grow well under like 2.8 wpg w/o co2 if i dosed daily?


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## ovenmit331 (Mar 27, 2007)

around how many wpg would be needed in a 10g with DIY co2?

same question with a 30g hex...


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Blyxa is looking good Nightshop, aren't those the ones I sent ya? if so they look great!

The Cyperus helferi I sent you also looks great!


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## Nightshop (May 12, 2006)

Jdinh04 said:


> Blyxa is looking good Nightshop, aren't those the ones I sent ya? if so they look great!
> 
> The Cyperus helferi I sent you also looks great!


Yep, these are them. The glosso I was trying out never followed through so I'm looking to propagate my Blyxa through out the tank.

In addition, the plants are growing so close together that they limit water flow between the leaves and such, therefore a whole bunch of crap collects within the plants. 

Hopefully by spreading them out they will grow easier and with less debris to deal with.


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## Nightshop (May 12, 2006)

Overfloater said:


> There is an old shot of my 75G with a Blyxa groundcover. Sorry about the tilt.
> 
> You can pull the blyxa out and break the stems apart into individual plants. It grows like a family tree.


My blyxa looks a lot like yours, is there any way to prevent the browning at the tips of the leaves?

Beautiful shot, btw. :icon_smil


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

i don't think thats browning...thats the plant turning to its rust color i believe which means you are doing things wellroud:


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## Overfloater (Jan 12, 2004)

gmccreedy said:


> i don't think thats browning...thats the plant turning to its rust color i believe which means you are doing things wellroud:



Yes that is correct. I had 4x55W PC over this tank.


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## ovenmit331 (Mar 27, 2007)

after buying some of this and adding it to my tank it's looking kinda rough. is this an extremely high light plant? does it take a while to rebound? what are the best conditions for it?


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## EdTheEdge (Jan 25, 2007)

Ovenmit.... the Blyxa in my tanks sure did/are taking a while to rebound from transplanting. I have approx 2.5WPG and plenty of CO2. It's a nice plant but does grow slowly (at least in my tanks).


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

ovenmit331 said:


> after buying some of this and adding it to my tank it's looking kinda rough. is this an extremely high light plant? does it take a while to rebound? what are the best conditions for it?


Blyxa is a med-high light plant. It's difficult to grow well without CO2 addition. And yes, this plant does not ship well, or easily adapt to different water conditions / substrates. That said, once it settles in, and begins to grow, it can easily handle prunings and replantings (in its established "home"). I've grown it well in Flourite, EC, and AS - under lighting of 2-5wpg. If you click on the "46g" in my signature, you'll see it growing in Eco Complete, under 2wpg (96w over a 46g).


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## ovenmit331 (Mar 27, 2007)

unirdna said:


> Blyxa is a med-high light plant. It's difficult to grow well without CO2 addition. And yes, this plant does not ship well, or easily adapt to different water conditions / substrates. That said, once it settles in, and begins to grow, it can easily handle prunings and replantings (in its established "home"). I've grown it well in Flourite, EC, and AS - under lighting of 2-5wpg. If you click on the "46g" in my signature, you'll see it growing in Eco Complete, under 2wpg (96w over a 46g).


AWESOME tank. hopefully mine will recover and start growing again.


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

it will recover...just let it be. Mine took weeks to finally "come around". You may even see them brown up for a while...just let it do its thing.


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## ovenmit331 (Mar 27, 2007)

gmccreedy said:


> it will recover...just let it be. Mine took weeks to finally "come around". You may even see them brown up for a while...just let it do its thing.


will do...


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