# My first wabi kusa w/ step by step pics!



## l8nite (Aug 29, 2012)

really nice and pleasing!


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

Nice! Aren't you in scape now?


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## pweifan (Nov 2, 2006)

This looks really awesome, great job! Thanks for posting this


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

subscribed!


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

l8nite said:


> really nice and pleasing!





sayurasem said:


> Nice! Aren't you in scape now?





pweifan said:


> This looks really awesome, great job! Thanks for posting this





gnod said:


> subscribed!


Thanks everyone!

sayuresm, yeah, I just signed up on the board a week or so ago. I haven't really had a chance to check it out much though. How do you get a number and the little card for your sig? I'm sure it's some basic FAQ I just haven't read yet.


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## Asgard (Feb 8, 2008)

Very nice!
I'm very curious how it will develop.


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## pweifan (Nov 2, 2006)

It's been 11 days. Time for an update


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

pweifan said:


> It's been 11 days. Time for an update


Here ya go:



















The hydrocotyle and the glosso have a ton of new growth. The moss is starting to perk up too. It's not all flattened out like it was when I first wrapped it. The stems looked terrible so I trimmed them pretty much flush with the surface. Hopefully they'll send out some new growth, but if not I'll wait until I get some emmersed growth popping out of the top of one of my tanks and add that instead.

I've been misting twice per day and am still using the 13w light. Maybe that's not enough for the stems? Should I use a 26w instead?


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## pweifan (Nov 2, 2006)

This is looking great so far! 

I used a 13W light but not for very long. It didn't under-perform, it was just easier to use a different light fixture. So I really can't say  I bet you'll be OK with it.

I also have used the emersed growth from a tank and those stems do a LOT better.

Thank you for posting the updated pics. I promise to post some to my thread this weekend


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## Meganne (Sep 3, 2012)

ok, these are COOL. and now on my to do list


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## Conrad283 (Dec 10, 2012)

Pretty sweet


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

Time for a mini-update. I have a stem growing! Not sure what it is though, except that it's not the bacopa.












Meganne said:


> ok, these are COOL. and now on my to do list





Conrad283 said:


> Pretty sweet


Thanks!


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## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

Wonderful post. I'd love to start something like this.


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## pweifan (Nov 2, 2006)

Stacy, I'm pretty sure it's Ludwigia Repens x. Arcuata. I have it in my tanks and one of my wabis. It looks like you've got some really happy growth there


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

Hmm, I did plant a couple ludwigia stems, but they were more on the side. I guess a side shoot could have grown straight up from inside. At some point I guess I should actually try to learn some names instead of relying on everyone here. Haha.

Yeah, it's definitely growing a lot all of a sudden. The glosso is really reaching though, so I think I do need to increase my light after all. My desk lamp says 13w max, so I need to find a new fixture first. Maybe one of the smaller Zoo Med domes or something.


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## hunterlook (Feb 21, 2013)

rocksmom said:


> Hmm, I did plant a couple ludwigia stems, but they were more on the side. I guess a side shoot could have grown straight up from inside. At some point I guess I should actually try to learn some names instead of relying on everyone here. Haha.
> 
> Yeah, it's definitely growing a lot all of a sudden. The glosso is really reaching though, so I think I do need to increase my light after all. My desk lamp says 13w max, so I need to find a new fixture first. Maybe one of the smaller Zoo Med domes or something.


Home Depot sells those LED screw in bulbs that use minimal power but produce much better PAR ratings and ALOT less heat. If needed, you could lower the desk lamp to get more intensity too.


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## Meganne (Sep 3, 2012)

you inspired me, but I flooded mine.








I have a bad feeling the ball of clay under there is going to explode! lol! keeping my fingers crossed I am wrong!


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

hunterlook said:


> Home Depot sells those LED screw in bulbs that use minimal power but produce much better PAR ratings and ALOT less heat. If needed, you could lower the desk lamp to get more intensity too.


Thanks for the idea. I actually went today to check them out, but ended up not getting one because the color temp was 5000k and I was afraid it would look too yellow. I'm going to check Lowes this week or look online and see if I can find one in the 6500k range. 



Meganne said:


> you inspired me, but I flooded mine.
> <snip>
> I have a bad feeling the ball of clay under there is going to explode! lol! keeping my fingers crossed I am wrong!


Very nice! That's a cool jar. Is it actually flared out at the bottom or is that just from the camera lense?


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

Time for a picture update. This thing is seriously growing. I don't know if I should trim the glosso or not.



















The ludwigia has grown a lot, but it's actually reaching down and has lots of sideshoots. The backside has a "bald spot" so I added a couple nodes of marsilea minuta and a little clump of dhg belem. I want to add another stem or two, but I don't have any emersed growth right now to use.


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## Meganne (Sep 3, 2012)

yes it flares, I found both vessels at the local thrift shop for 3 bucks each roud:

the growth you've had is wonderful


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## pweifan (Nov 2, 2006)

OMG Stacy, this is beautiful! It has really gone to town, look at that plush glosso  What's your routine with misting, fertilizing, etc?

[EDIT] By the way, are you still using the 13W light or did you end up switching it out?


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

It looks fantastic! I have to keep all my wabi kusa in an emersed covered setup submerged, because I can't keep up with misting so often.


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

Thanks guys 



pweifan said:


> OMG Stacy, this is beautiful! It has really gone to town, look at that plush glosso  What's your routine with misting, fertilizing, etc?
> 
> [EDIT] By the way, are you still using the 13W light or did you end up switching it out?


I haven't used any ferts at all, so just whatever was mixed in the clay. I think you said you added some osmocote? I think my flourite I have in the bottom was used, so there might have been some goodies in that too. I just mist twice a day with straight tap water and add a little extra water when the bottom looks dry. It gets some sun in the morning and then I run the light for around 12 hours. And yes, I'm still using the 13w cfl, but I keep it about 2-3" from the top of the glass.

I wish my tanks had growth like this! Haha.


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## pweifan (Nov 2, 2006)

Yes, just a bit of Osmocote. Those are just stunning results. I can't get my current light that close to the top, but I have another I could use... I think I'll experiment 

Thanks for sharing! I'll be posting an update this weekend.


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

pweifan said:


> Yes, just a bit of Osmocote. Those are just stunning results. I can't get my current light that close to the top, but I have another I could use... I think I'll experiment
> 
> Thanks for sharing! I'll be posting an update this weekend.


I think you lied, I think it was STEROIDS. This is less than a week after the last photo:


















The empty spot in the back is almost filled in with no assistance from me (the mm and dhg I added hasn't taken off yet). I'm so in love with this thing. I need to keep an eye out for a cool container to start another one or maybe just ask my husband for a little low iron cube or a Do Aqua plant glass for my birthday.


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## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

I want one so bad  I tried to buy one off the guy who RAOK'd yours. He is extremely nice, but ran out of materials lol. 

Someday I'll do a little glass just like this  

Yours is so beautiful. I find it much neater than struggling with ferts/co2 in a full on planted aquarium.


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## denske (Feb 20, 2013)

Awesome progress! The stems you used, we're they being grown emersed? Or did you just pull them out of your tank?


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

MABJ said:


> I want one so bad  I tried to buy one off the guy who RAOK'd yours. He is extremely nice, but ran out of materials lol.
> 
> Someday I'll do a little glass just like this
> 
> Yours is so beautiful. I find it much neater than struggling with ferts/co2 in a full on planted aquarium.


If you're not lazy like I am it wouldn't be that hard to put together your own materials. Our soil here doesn't have the red clay like Scott sent me, so I'm thinking of trying the powdered clay you can buy at health food stores and then adding some dry fertilizer and enough water to make it the right consistency. Everything else is pretty easy to get together.



denske said:


> Awesome progress! The stems you used, we're they being grown emersed? Or did you just pull them out of your tank?


The ones I added that didn't make it were just straight from my tank. The ludwigia that's growing I think hitchhiked in with the glosso, and unless I'm mistaken I think they were emersed.


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## pweifan (Nov 2, 2006)

Stacy, this is beautiful! I'm very impressed with this. Keep up the good work  I didn't THINK I sent you steroids, but maybe I did by mistake 

Mark, I'm going to be redoing one of my wabis. I can get enough supplies together for both of us if you're still interested. Just send me a PM


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

I gave my wabi kusa a pretty severe haircut today. I made the mistake of adding some ferts to my mister bottle which resulted in a lot of burnt looking leaves, especially on the glosso. They're hard to see as much in the picture, but they looked pretty bad in person.

Before:



After:



I'll get another picture in a week or so. I'm guessing it will grow back pretty fast.


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## pweifan (Nov 2, 2006)

The before picture is really packed with plants! The glosso should recover just fine. Did you leave any Ludwigia?

This reminds me that I never posted my update. :icon_redf


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

There was like literally no room left in the little bowl, the plants were packed up against the glass. Yeah, I left some ludwigia. I did trim it pretty low, but there is still quite a bit in there. You can kind of see the reddish stems peeking through the glosso.

You definitely need to update yours! How many do you have going now?


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

It's safe to say that my wabi kusa has recovered from it's trim. Less than three weeks and the plants are once again growing out of the bowl.



I keep meaning to add some new plants, but I don't have anything growing emersed. I need to just buy some from the sns.


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## pweifan (Nov 2, 2006)

Awesome awesome awesome!!!  This is just great. I think that you should add just a splash of red color. Rotala sp 'Colorata' comes to mind, but whatever you can find would work.

To convert plants to emersed growth, I just lower the water level a bit in my tank and float the plants. New growth comes out of the water.

As for my wabis... I'll be posting to my journal soon, but I no longer have them.  I was going to reduce the number I was keeping, but I realized that I just didn't have the time to maintain them anymore. Now that it's warm, we've got too many outdoor projects going on to keep up.

It helps to see this one doing so well. Thanks


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## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

I love this wabi!!!! Excellent green glob .

I confess I'm the thief who stole Scott's wabis.


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

Thanks Scott!

I have some stems floating in one of my tanks, but the only ones that seem to grow up and out of the water are the ludwigia, which is already in there, and bacopa caroliniana which is boring. Haha! I keep hoping for some rotala mini butterfly to go emersed but no luck. I'll have to watch for the r. colorata. That's one I've actually wanted for awhile but never got.

Sorry you didn't have time to keep up with yours. Don't fret, your wabi kusa passion will live on through me, sensei! Or something cheesy like that.


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

MABJ said:


> I love this wabi!!!! Excellent green glob .
> 
> I confess I'm the thief who stole Scott's wabis.


Gasp! Thief!

Are you going to start a journal for them?


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## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

rocksmom said:


> Gasp! Thief!
> 
> Are you going to start a journal for them?


Done and done! They are in the Planted Nano section.


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## pweifan (Nov 2, 2006)

rocksmom said:


> sorry you didn't have time to keep up with yours. Don't fret, your wabi kusa passion will live on through me, sensei! Or something cheesy like that.


lol!!!


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

I need one of these now. That looks amazing man.


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

I haven't done anything to the wabi kusa in over 6 weeks, just the occasional watering when the bowl looks dry. It's grown out of control. The hydrocotyle is even flowering.










I'm debating on giving it another big trim or moving it to another, bigger container and starting a tiny one in this bowl.


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## denske (Feb 20, 2013)

Wow that looks awesome! I would just let it keep going, lol.


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## pweifan (Nov 2, 2006)

Wow, this is incredible, Stacy! I can tell you what I'd do because it's how I ended up with several  Of course you should trim this one and start another! It's a great way to try multiple kinds of plants also.


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

I vote trim it sparingly and then move this massive ball to a bigger container to use this one for a new one. Now I'm tempted to start my own. Really nice job! roud:


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## bluestems (Feb 7, 2012)

looks great!! 

what are you using for ferts?


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## rocksmom (Mar 6, 2012)

denske said:


> Wow that looks awesome! I would just let it keep going, lol.


Thank you!



pweifan said:


> Wow, this is incredible, Stacy! I can tell you what I'd do because it's how I ended up with several  Of course you should trim this one and start another! It's a great way to try multiple kinds of plants also.


Thanks Scott. Yeah, I definitely need to try some new plants on my next one. I have some s. repens I want to try and I bought some rotala colorata like you recommended too. 



FisheriesOmen said:


> I vote trim it sparingly and then move this massive ball to a bigger container to use this one for a new one. Now I'm tempted to start my own. Really nice job! roud:


I think that's what I'm going to do. I bought a little custom "tank" from our local group that's like 6x6x1.5 that should be perfect for this one. 



bluestems said:


> looks great!!
> 
> what are you using for ferts?


Thanks! I haven't used any fertilizers besides the osmocote that was in the clay originally. I tried adding some to my misting bottle, but it burned the leaves so I just use plain water.


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