# HC propagating Guide to dry start emersed



## fishophile (Feb 6, 2012)

Thank you for the info! I'd would be awesome if you could find this detailed information on growing lots of different types of plants.


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

Cool tutorial! Very informative


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## Solcielo lawrencia (Dec 30, 2013)

John Simpson said:


> Then I use 2 drop checker solutions to make sure there isn't too much CO2 which can cause carbonic acid killing everything. I try to maintain between 50-100 ppm CO2 in the air in the tanks.


You are aware that atmospheric concentrations of CO2 are 390-400ppm. Since H. callitrichoides isn't a fast growing plant, extra CO2 isn't necessary but can be had by simply circulating the air with a fan.


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## John Simpson (Mar 14, 2013)

right sorry, 500-1000 ppm, 

and I think 5000 ppm starts to cause carbonic acid right?


I get what you're saying but running a fan is a bad idea especially for newley emersed plants 

and adding CO2 probably doesn't "accelerate" the growth of HC to any noticeable extent

Also adding CO2 really helps other emersed plants like glossostigma most of my larger chambers have a variety of plants in them, I'm adding new plants all the time which would be hurt by the lower humidity levels cuased by a fan.

growing emersed HC with a fan on it is a bad idea, unless you live somewhere with 80-100% humidity all the time and you really know what your doing



Solcielo lawrencia said:


> You are aware that atmospheric concentrations of CO2 are 390-400ppm. Since H. callitrichoides isn't a fast growing plant, extra CO2 isn't necessary but can be had by simply circulating the air with a fan.


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## TomsTank (Dec 2, 2013)

wow! that's a nice little plant factory you've got going there. I am doing my first dry start and I've got a 17 gal mr Aqua, a Current LED +, and amazonia aqua soil. I want to start some HC and your instructions are very helpful. I am wondering if I can also include some moss in there at the same time for the dry start. and would you recommend just tying the moss down or tossing into a blender and painting moss paste onto the wood and rock surfaces? also, can dwarf hair grass go in there too?
Thanks!


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## John Simpson (Mar 14, 2013)

you can dry start moss easy, depending on the type it will attach itself to rocks or wood during a dry start, you could tie it down or place weights on top of it and it will grow up and around them during the dry start

you can dry start hair grass, the acicularis is easy, the parvula is much much slower growing when grown emersed, but I wouldn't use DHG acicularis in the same tank as HC because it will take over eventually


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## TomsTank (Dec 2, 2013)

Grazie mille


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## Sugarcat (Jan 24, 2014)

Wow! Thanks for sharing this, especially all the photos. Very helpful. Can you elaborate on the fertilizer/hormone solutions you're using? I'm doing a dry start with dirt/sand cap and I'm concerned about initial nutrient availability.


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

thats pretty cool thanks for the tips


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## John Simpson (Mar 14, 2013)

There are many different types of pre-formulated fertilizers made for emersed growing or wabi kusa, some with hormones like the one I make and some without hormones like the Do!Aqua be Bright product. The hormones are the same ones used for tissue culture to stimulate branching and new growth. Basically these solutions are sprayed on the plants during the dry start to provide foliar feeding. I've found them extremely beneficial, a lot of people use similar sprays for house plants etc.



Sugarcat said:


> Wow! Thanks for sharing this, especially all the photos. Very helpful. Can you elaborate on the fertilizer/hormone solutions you're using? I'm doing a dry start with dirt/sand cap and I'm concerned about initial nutrient availability.


I'm not too keen on sand caps or dirted tanks, I wouldn't be the best at offering advice on that aspect


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## JLO1 (Jun 17, 2015)

I see people saying they dont need a lot of light, what would be the appropriate hrs of daily lighting needed to properly grow HC via DSM? Thanks!


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## thepotoo (Mar 19, 2012)

I run 6000k led strips for a total par at substrate of around 60-80 (bit less in wet tanks, bit more in dry start ones). 1 hour in the morning, 6 at night split photoperiod.

I could probably get faster growth if I played around with parameters, but it fills in quite nicely and I don't see any need to maximize growth as long as it's healthy.


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