# Ludwigia repens dropping leaves



## Nighty (Jul 29, 2005)

After a few months of glorious foliage, my ludwigia repens has decided to take October to heart and shed its leaves. Half of them have turned grey and brown and the other half are healthy red and green ... but still dropping. 

What am I doing wrong? 

Water Params 
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Temp: 77 F 
pH: 6.9 
Ammonia (ppm): 0 
NitrIte (ppm): 0 
NitrAte (ppm): 15 
KH (degrees): 10 
GH (degrees): 
Ferts you are using (what and how often): dry nitrate (1/4 and 1/2 teaspoon a week), potassium (1 teaspoon 3x week), trace elements (10ml 3x week), phosphates (fleet, 1ml twice a week) 
CO2 (Type & Level): pressurized 

Lighting (Wattage & type of bulbs): 130W CF


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## Marc (Oct 13, 2004)

Ludwigia are known for dropping its leaves if its shaded. Usually it will drop its lower leaves if not enough light reaches the bottom stems.


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## Nighty (Jul 29, 2005)

Thanks Marc, I love your Ludwigia 'farm' ... absolutely gorgeous!

The leaf loss just started to happen last week. The top leaves are turning grey and brown and they're not shaded. Is the whole plant in such a case doomed? How can I stop the leaf loss? Other than the lower leaves, the plants receive full light.


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## Marc (Oct 13, 2004)

Nighty, Its a great plant and grows very well when given the right conditions.

This is what I would dose in your tank
More info here http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=21944
+/-1/4Tsp-KN03 3x a week
+/-1/16+Tsp-KH2P04 3x aweek
+/-1/16+Tsp K2S04 3x a week
+/-5ml Trace 3x a week

whats your GH?

also how are your other plants doing?

Pull out a stem of the repens and see if roots have formed- its a good indicator that your plants are growing or stunting.

would you happen to have any pictures?


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## Nighty (Jul 29, 2005)

Thank you Marc!

I took a look at some repens stems on Saturday during water changes/trimming and they have nice root formations at the end. They look pretty healthy (except of course for the lgrey/brown leaves). I don't have any recent pictures, but will snap a couple tomorrow. 

I'll adjust my dosing routine so it follows what you've suggested (great post!). Looks like I have been overdosing potassium ...

I use Fleet Enema for dosing phosphates where 1ml roughly equals 1ppm (I think). Would you know what 1/16 of a teaspoon would equal in terms of that?

The other plants in the tank are doing great. Water sprite is huge and the rotala indica group is growing quickly. It used to be a hair algae magnet, but that phase appears to be behind it now.


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## Marc (Oct 13, 2004)

Nighty said:


> Thank you Marc!
> 
> I took a look at some repens stems on Saturday during water changes/trimming and they have nice root formations at the end. They look pretty healthy (except of course for the lgrey/brown leaves). I don't have any recent pictures, but will snap a couple tomorrow.
> 
> ...


Trim the brown and gray sections of if you can. Its probably dead and will do your plants no good. Just let the repens grow and do their thing.

Sounds like the rest of your plants are growing and very little algae, so i think you are good.

I was over dosing on K as well- I forgot that stuff like KN03 has some in there as well.

check out this link- this will help you figure out whats going on with your water specs.
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilator.php

1/16 tps of KH2PO4 will give you 1.61 ppm
1ml of fleet enema will give you 4.42ppm (nothing wrong with being this high since you are dosing 2 time a week.)

With your co2 level being about 35+ppm are you seeing good pearling in your tank? If not you could add a bit more co2. Just watch your fish, if they start gasping for air back the co2 down.


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## Nighty (Jul 29, 2005)

Marc, thank you very much for all your help. I'll now put into practice what you've suggested. I'll also try upping the CO2 a notch when I return home. Pearling isn't that noticeable during the week, but it certainly goes wild after a water change.

The fertilator is a great tool. Thanks for the link!


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