# Anybody else growing White Anubias?



## Zefrik (Oct 23, 2011)

I like it. Where did you get it?


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Zefrik said:


> I like it. Where did you get it?


Tom Barr had some for sale a couple of weeks ago.


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## n00dl3 (Jan 26, 2008)

I have it too but mine is growing emersed. The acclimation took awhile, I just now getting one new leaf a week. Extremely pretty plant and the new leaves are white too!

I don't think the price will go down that much if at all because how slow it grow and it is still a relatively new plant.


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

n00dl3 said:


> ....I don't think the price will go down that much if at all because how slow it grow and it is still a relatively new plant.


Only if the sellers set & hold a price, which is next to impossible to do. Look at Buce, also a slow grower. A little over a year go it was $80 to $100 for a tiny plant. Now routinely $25.

As far a s a while leafed Anubias that has leaves don't stay white :tongue:, I think it's a 'flash in the pan'. I wanted some myself at one point...now, no so much.


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## n00dl3 (Jan 26, 2008)

DogFish said:


> Only if the sellers set & hold a price, which is next to impossible to do. Look at Buce, also a slow grower. A little over a year go it was $80 to $100 for a tiny plant. Now routinely $25.
> 
> As far a s a while leafed Anubias that has leaves don't stay white :tongue:, I think it's a 'flash in the pan'. I wanted some myself at one point...now, no so much.


You do have a point... but I think it will be determine by how readily people can import them. I guess I just haven't seem much of these around in the US and international market.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

n00dl3 said:


> I don't think the price will go down that much if at all because how slow it grow and it is still a relatively new plant.


I hope it does so other hobbyists can enjoy this nice plant. If I'm ready to sell I'll be sure to list it for less than I got it for.... :wink:


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## Mumford (Nov 12, 2012)

DogFish said:


> Only if the sellers set & hold a price, which is next to impossible to do. Look at Buce, also a slow grower. A little over a year go it was $80 to $100 for a tiny plant. Now routinely $25.
> 
> As far a s a while leafed Anubias that has leaves don't stay white :tongue:, I think it's a 'flash in the pan'. I wanted some myself at one point...now, no so much.


Do they not stay white then??


- Mumford


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

There was a man from Indonesia that posted pics of his White Anubias farm, I think that was on APC.

I'm sure other industrious entrepreneur are diligently at work raising their crops too. :hihi:


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

Mumford said:


> Do they not stay white then??
> 
> 
> - Mumford


Look at the OP's pic :wink:


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## Mumford (Nov 12, 2012)

DogFish said:


> Look at the OP's pic :wink:


I always thought they stayed at least partially white. Disappointing :/


- Mumford


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Mumford said:


> I always thought they stayed at least partially white. Disappointing :/
> 
> 
> - Mumford


Well, so far all the new leaves are white and staying white. All the others have a marbled look to them but I can't say for sure that they will always do that. Maybe it's due to a change in parameters from mine to TomBarr's set up...only time will tell.


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

I think it stays white/white marbled and never turns completely green, at least from the reports I have read:

One by Tom Barr:
http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/month.9910/msg00263.html

14 years ago, over 2 years submerged and still put out white leaves. 

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=180976&page=3
Another good thread about this plant. 

I think it is safe to say it will retain its white coloration.


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## denske (Feb 20, 2013)

I know this is an older thread, but how are your white anubias doing? I bought one a few months ago, and had to trim a few leaves due to GSA, but all new growth(3 leaves) is pure white, no green whatsoever. 

I just noticed what looks like GSA starting on these leaves now, I'd love to keep them white, have you had to clean any algae off the leaves? Was wondering if you had any luck? 
Here's an older pic of mine, as you can see algae started to creep on the older leaves, and got worse. I have since trimmed them off, hoping to accelerate new growth.










I have it tied to a rock along with other nana petites.


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## flight50 (Apr 17, 2012)

I too would love to get my hands on this plant. I don't mind saving up for it. It is a tad bit expensive though. My only hesitation at this point would be does it actually stay white/marbled. The white color is what has my attention but if it doesn't stay true to that coloration, I will pass. Updates from you all that do have these would be appreciated. Please reveal the duration you've had the plant and if the plant lost its white color. If it did, how long did it take to come back to its white/marbled form if the color did return.


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## bacon5 (Jul 25, 2011)

Very cool looking plant indeed. I too wonder if you can keep it at least marbled. Does it need high light and co2 since the white pigment must have less chlorophyll I wonder?


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Here is an update from the original two that I purchased...the leaves seem to stay white. It's a very nice plant but as said earlier a slow grower indeed.


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## denske (Feb 20, 2013)

Awesome growth, are you growing these emersed now?


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

denske said:


> Awesome growth, are you growing these emersed now?


Thanks.

Nope, they are still growing in a regular tank. I put them into glass pots since it's easier to move around that way; plus the pots are filled with MTS capped with white sand. They seem to be doing really well in my moss tank.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Im afraid to say that nobody can have White Anubias. White Anubias is albino and albino plants can only survive as parasites off another plant since all albino plants lack chlorophyll in their leaves meaning they cannot produce photosynthesis. It has been tried by thousands of people worldwide with both terrestrial plants and aquatic, afraid to say it is a dead end. The only 'white' anubias is a variegated anubias or stardust anubias. However, several cactus nurseries proficient in grafting have managed to commercially produce albinos and then graft thrm onto a bigger cactus which can support the smaller colorful plant with its excess food uptake. Here's a picture



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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

hedge_fund said:


> Well, so far all the new leaves are white and staying white. All the others have a marbled look to them but I can't say for sure that they will always do that. Maybe it's due to a change in parameters from mine to TomBarr's set up...only time will tell.



Actually new leaves will stay white. The green leaves in the picture is another plant, and the white leaved part is parasitically feeding off of the green part. Eventually the white part will no longer be able to keep getting bigger as the green part can only produce so much spare nutrition at one time to keep the white healthy.
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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Anyone growing white anubias must know that removing the white plant from the green plant will result in imminent death. As albino plants cannot produce their own nutrition, their roots must stay connected to the green mother plant so they can leach off of the mother.

It should be noted however, that this is not necessarily a good thing for the green part, as essentially you are putting more strain on the plant. It weakens the green part and renders their ability to adapt to different water condition, fight algae, and compete with other plants less effective as the main focus of the plant is being switched from flourishing and getting bigger to simply producing enough nutrients to maintain its current growth.

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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

mr.bigglesworth said:


> Actually new leaves will stay white. The green leaves in the picture is another plant, and the white leaved part is parasitically feeding off of the green part. Eventually the white part will no longer be able to keep getting bigger as the green part can only produce so much spare nutrition at one time to keep the white healthy.
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mr.bigglesworth said:


> Anyone growing white anubias must know that removing the white plant from the green plant will result in imminent death. As albino plants cannot produce their own nutrition, their roots must stay connected to the green mother plant so they can leach off of the mother.
> 
> It should be noted however, that this is not necessarily a good thing for the green part, as essentially you are putting more strain on the plant. It weakens the green part and renders their ability to adapt to different water condition, fight algae, and compete with other plants less effective as the main focus of the plant is being switched from flourishing and getting bigger to simply producing enough nutrients to maintain its current growth.
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


I'm sorry to say but this information about the white anubias is not true. It's not a grafted plant, it's a anubias that has marbled leaves. The new leaves come in white but start to become more marbled with age. There is several plants that have leaves that are white or marbled and are able to photo synthesize just fine. I have some Hoya plants that have leaves that are almost the same coloration as the anubias and there are several other plants that have white or marbled leaves if you search around you will see. Caladiums, hosta, Hoya are several that come to mind.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

ua hua said:


> I'm sorry to say but this information about the white anubias is not true. It's not a grafted plant, it's a anubias that has marbled leaves. The new leaves come in white but start to become more marbled with age. There is several plants that have leaves that are white or marbled and are able to photo synthesize just fine. I have some Hoya plants that have leaves that are almost the same coloration as the anubias and there are several other plants that have white or marbled leaves if you search around you will see. Caladiums, hosta, Hoya are several that come to mind.


All the examples you listed are simply variegated. Their are no pure white leaved plants with no green on them that can photosynesize. Green is the required color for photosynthesis. If we could make plants photosynthesize with white colored leaves that would be the talk of the century. It would be one of the greatest advances in science ever. But we can't. If white was possible, so would blue, purple, black, red, yellow, and more. i have yet to see any purple plants. Also I knew they were not grafted. This is a natural occurrence of albinism. I was just stating a interesting fact.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Here's a nice link to read up on for albinism in plants

http://www.cactus-art.biz/note-book/Dictionary/Dictionary_A/dictionary_albinos.htm 

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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

mr.bigglesworth said:


> All the examples you listed are simply variegated. Their are no pure white leaved plants with no green on them that can photosynesize. Green is the required color for photosynthesis. If we could make plants photosynthesize with white colored leaves that would be the talk of the century. It would be one of the greatest advances in science ever. But we can't. If white was possible, so would blue, purple, black, red, yellow, and more. i have yet to see any purple plants. Also I knew they were not grafted. This is a natural occurrence of albinism. I was just stating a interesting fact.
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Are you being serious, if you haven't seen plants that have leaves that are a different color than green then you haven't seen a huge majority of plants on this planet. There are many plants that have purple, red, orange, yellow, and yes white leaves. I have been gardening long enough to have seen and keep many of these plants. Google plants with purple, orange, yellow, red, or white leaves and see what you find, you will be amazed. I know that only the green part of a variegated leaf will photosynthesize but that doesn't mean that plants that don't have green leaves don't have chlorophyll hiding within the leaves it just means you can't see it. Here is some info that may explain it without me spending an hour typing.


http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/colored-leaves-have-chlorophyll-too


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

mr.bigglesworth said:


> Anyone growing white anubias must know that removing the white plant from the green plant will result in imminent death. As albino plants cannot produce their own nutrition, their roots must stay connected to the green mother plant so they can leach off of the mother.
> 
> It should be noted however, that this is not necessarily a good thing for the green part, as essentially you are putting more strain on the plant. It weakens the green part and renders their ability to adapt to different water condition, fight algae, and compete with other plants less effective as the main focus of the plant is being switched from flourishing and getting bigger to simply producing enough nutrients to maintain its current growth.
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


To solve the debate, I just ended up cutting the rhizome right where all the white leaves begin. We'll see what happens but I have a feeling that the leaves will not end up dying.

I appreciate all the info from both of you guys but it's a little bit over my head. I am not a biologist but it's interesting nonetheless.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

mr.bigglesworth said:


> All the examples you listed are simply variegated. Their are no pure white leaved plants with no green on them that can photosynesize. Green is the required color for photosynthesis. If we could make plants photosynthesize with white colored leaves that would be the talk of the century. It would be one of the greatest advances in science ever. But we can't. If white was possible, so would blue, purple, black, red, yellow, and more. i have yet to see any purple plants. Also I knew they were not grafted. This is a natural occurrence of albinism. I was just stating a interesting fact.
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Actually Chlamydomonas mutants have been developed that lack Chloroplast and Chl a and b. They can be maintained with sugars.
Interesting and useful, but hardly the talk of the century.

Bluish, red, yellow and many other pigments already mask the green in Chl a and b(c/d for some algae), so we do not need to remove the green Chl a or b for those colors in plant leaves.

White? well, pretty much, most of the NEW growth can do without, and in fact, the lowest Chl content is typically in new leaves. Many weedy aquatic plants have red coloration in new tip growth for this reason, and after some time, the older leaves become greener.

Same with this plant.

I have a few










So like any plant, the older leaves supply the building blocks for the new leaves which are much whiter. And the less Chl a/b, the slower the growth. They grow slower and are harder to grow than typical Anubias.


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## JYY626 (May 14, 2009)

Gotta love this discussion.

So educational, I've learned so much from this hobby.


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## niko (Mar 8, 2006)

Any variegated plant requires more light. A fully white leaf can be had but at what price? That's how everything is in this life.

Also I don't know why people still believe Anubias (variegated or not) is a slow growing plant. It will not make 5 new leaves a week but in a proper environment will shoot 2 leaves a week without a problem.

And let's not forget that what we do in our tanks is to force the plants to live in conditions that WE consider great. Many plants do not like to be fully submerged. Best examples are Anubias and HC. They do fine but not even close to what they do when emersed. You may get a little disturbed if you see pictures of what a Russian guy does with emersed Anubias in a dilapidated basement. No, nothing kinky but it will blow your mind. His plants and variations beat Tropica's. Only because he has found the optimal conditions. 

By the way Anibias wrapped in a black plastic bag and no water WILL sprout perfect green new leaves and be ok for months in 100F heat. Try that same blackout under water. The point is - Anubias has an amazing ability to sustain itself in extreme conditions. No wonder it can support a dysfunctional relative. Try that with Rotala.

Another point is stuffing our tanks with plants from completely different parts of the world and expecting them all to be happy. It's like an apartment building housing Australian aborigenes, Wall Street stock brokers, Eskimos, a family plucked out of an American suburb, and Gypsies. Not to mention the choice of fish. A true natural sight indeed. No wonder often there are funny issues.


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## chocological (Nov 13, 2012)

niko said:


> Another point is stuffing our tanks with plants from completely different parts of the world and expecting them all to be happy. It's like an apartment building housing Australian aborigenes, Wall Street stock brokers, Eskimos, a family plucked out of an American suburb, and Gypsies. Not to mention the choice of fish. A true natural sight indeed. No wonder often there are funny issues.


I'm Hispanic and Irish, my fiancée is mixed white/black. We live in a 4 family house sharing with an Albanian family. The building is part of a duplex which houses another Hispanic family, an Indian family and another eastern European family.
NYC. That what you've described.

My last building lived in had all different types, Chinese, African, etc. Just saying, in many parts of America, your analogy falls flat. :icon_cool


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## Kehy (Feb 5, 2012)

chocological said:


> I'm Hispanic and Irish, my fiancée is mixed white/black. We live in a 4 family house sharing with an Albanian family. The building is part of a duplex which houses another Hispanic family, an Indian family and another eastern European family.
> NYC. That what you've described.
> 
> My last building lived in had all different types, Chinese, African, etc. Just saying, in many parts of America, your analogy falls flat. :icon_cool


This forum really needs a "like" button


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## iLOVEnanos (Jun 6, 2013)

Any updates on your plants? I am on the search for one!


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

> your analogy falls flat.


his analogy was about different types of people, not different races of people. Don't automatically read racism into a generic statement about different lifestyles coexisting in harmony. I doubt it if your building contains true aborigines or eskimos (Inuit). And gypsies bring their homes with them.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

iLOVEnanos said:


> Any updates on your plants? I am on the search for one!


Sorry, I am not looking to get rid of any yet. I would like to grow a whole 15 gallon tank before offering to other members. 


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## caique (Mar 16, 2012)

niko said:


> Any variegated plant requires more light. A fully white leaf can be had but at what price? That's how everything is in this life.
> 
> Also I don't know why people still believe Anubias (variegated or not) is a slow growing plant. It will not make 5 new leaves a week but in a proper environment will shoot 2 leaves a week without a problem.
> 
> ...


 
This last paragraph made me LMAO:hihi:.

But isn't that the truth.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)




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