# Vallisneria die off.



## tazcrash69 (Sep 27, 2005)

Just to make sure that the obvious isn't missed, Did you completely bury the vals? Sorry for the te4chnical terms here, but if you bury the little "bulby" thing the (proper name escapes me, need coffee) leaves grow out of, the plant will rot and die. 
Other than that, my vals seem to be doing well in very hard water (kH 8, gH 20).

HTH


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## KevinC (May 24, 2004)

tazcrash69 said:


> Just to make sure that the obvious isn't missed, Did you completely bury the vals? Sorry for the te4chnical terms here, but if you bury the little "bulby" thing the (proper name escapes me, need coffee) leaves grow out of, the plant will rot and die.
> Other than that, my vals seem to be doing well in very hard water (kH 8, gH 20).
> 
> HTH


I can't say I've ever had a problem with burying the base of the plant. I just took 57 corkscrew vals to my LFS two weeks ago - I don't have any problem growing them. However: when I first got the vals (both corkscrew and italian) they took a few weeks to get established - but when they did they became unstoppable! Also, Fluorish Excel at dosages for BBA will cause vals to melt. They sure do love CO2!


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

I've had Excel melt my vals too. Valisneria really tends to thrive in my hard Indiana tap water.


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

I have also read about Flourish Excel's adverese effects on Valisnerias.

I'd call the 'bulby" part at the base of a rosette plant the "crown".

Mike


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## tazcrash69 (Sep 27, 2005)

Momotaro said:


> I'd call the 'bulby" part at the base of a rosette plant the "crown".
> Mike


Thanks Mike.


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

I don't think that vals are as sensitive as some other plants. I've been able to pull them up and transplant them from my hard water to someone's tank who uses reconstituted RO water with no trouble - he actually tore them out because they took over.

If you need a start of Val, I have some Jungle Val (Valisneria americana) that has been grown in medium light, hard water, injected CO2, GW ferts. You're welcome to have it for shipping.


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## Rhinoman (Jun 6, 2006)

I don't use Flourish.
My GH is about 7. 
Thanks for the offer I'll see how it goes this time. At least I know were I can get some duckweed-free replacements if these die off!


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## Rhinoman (Jun 6, 2006)

Yeah! They're growing back!


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## medicineman (Sep 28, 2005)

Check for substrate condition and CO2 distribution. Both are also need to be kept on check after the vals take over a tank as the overgrowth may lead to decline if nothing is done (learned from experience). As always vallisneria take a long time to acclimate once transplanted, all the damage and stress from transport took heavy toll. I'm using medium soft water (gH 4) and my vals (gigantea/americana) are doing OK, forming a thick background with extra (4-5 feet+) long leaves. Just be sure to add just a tad bit of Ca and Mg to the water should you have extra soft water to improve val quality.


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## Rhinoman (Jun 6, 2006)

Thanks water is very soft so I bring it up to GH=9 KH=3. My plants are finally pearling.


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