# The Difficult Hemianthus micranthemoides



## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

Why it is so hard to grow this plant? What is the special parameter to successfully grow this plant? Intensive lighting? 

Mine seem like to grow at a certain height and then melt at the bottom stem part, I replant those healthy parts and after they grow at certain height, they started to melt again at the bottom and so on. Even though I plant them sparse enough in order for light to be able to reach the bottom part. They grow at medium speed not fast as described on most website. Also I noticed the new grown shoot has smaller leaf. Do they stunt? Lastly, I noticed that this plants are not forming roots at the base, is this normal?

Substrate using ADA AS II
pH = 5.2-6.4
kH = 0-1 dgH
gH = 4-5 dgH
Light = 2x21watt T5NO (Tank size 80x30x40cm)
CO2 diffuse by external reactor
EI dosing :
NO3 = 10 ppm
PO4 = 1.8 ppm
K = target 20+ ppm
Fe = 0.25 ppm
Ca = 20 ppm
Mg = 5 ppm

The tank has been setup for almost 1 month. TIA.


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## DarioDario (Nov 14, 2008)

*Re: The Difficult Hemianthus Micranthemoides*

Did you take the time to cycle the tank with just the ADA substrate? HM is incredibly easy to grow. So I'm suspecting that you haven't cycled the soil properly and thats whats causing the plant to melt. Fill us in


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## endgin33 (Jun 10, 2008)

I find HM to be really easy to grow in my hard water- in fact I just read an article on the ADA site about how HM is a hard water plant. Given how soft and acidic you water is, that may be the problem.


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

*Re: The Difficult Hemianthus Micranthemoides*



DarioDario said:


> Did you take the time to cycle the tank with just the ADA substrate? HM is incredibly easy to grow. So I'm suspecting that you haven't cycled the soil properly and thats whats causing the plant to melt. Fill us in


No, I just cycled the tank together with ADA substrate and all the plants. Should I really just cycle the tank with ADA substrate only? But why? How to cycle ADA substrate only and how long? What is the purpose behind it? Why not all the plants melt except HM? TIA


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

endgin33 said:


> I find HM to be really easy to grow in my hard water- in fact I just read an article on the ADA site about how HM is a hard water plant. Given how soft and acidic you water is, that may be the problem.


Could you provide me the links? Thanks

Wouldn't the HM just be able to adapt to soft water?


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## endgin33 (Jun 10, 2008)

Here you go. http://www.aquajournal.net/na/water/plants_prefer.html
In my hard water it grows SO fast under high light and co2, it is almost a nuisance.


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## endgin33 (Jun 10, 2008)

In fact, in the article it specifically discusses Amazonia and HM. Those guys are pretty good at this stuff...


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

Thanks so much endgin33 for the link.

Now come to think of it, should I just replace the HM with another plant or just keep planting until they form the roots and hoping somehow they will adapt/acclimate to my soft water, hmmm? The link clearly describe my HM situation precisely


> When the pH and hardness of the water decreases during the initial set-up period, the lower part of the plant tends to melt, and it takes some time and effort to get it established.


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## nfrank (Jan 29, 2005)

endgin33 said:


> Here you go. http://www.aquajournal.net/na/water/plants_prefer.html
> In my hard water it grows SO fast under high light and co2, it is almost a nuisance.


i dont think it should make a big difference here, but the plant that Amano calls "Pearl Grass" is not Hemianthus micranthemoides. I got some from him a long time ago, and PG looks alot like HM but PG has 2 leaves at each node (HM native to the US has 3 or 4) and the appearance of PG is a little less stiff. From my experience PG and HM grow very easily in soft water.

Here is a somewhat humerous old exchange Amano Pearl Grass . The link to the picture is broken. He is a working link to a different old picture, i still have on-line. HM is on the left, PG is on the right.


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## Tausendblatt (Sep 16, 2009)

So, the real Pearl grass bends like rotala green hmm? Makes sense for there to be 2 different species, since there are 2 common "interchangeable" names, baby tears and pearl grass. Just like Elodea and Egeria.

Is that the micranthum umbrosum or whatever it's called, or it something entirely different?


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Tausendblatt said:


> So, the real Pearl grass bends like rotala green hmm? Makes sense for there to be 2 different species, since there are 2 common "interchangeable" names, baby tears and pearl grass. Just like Elodea and Egeria.
> 
> Is that the micranthum umbrosum or whatever it's called, or it something entirely different?


_M. umbrosum_ is something different.

What the pearl grass is is a real mystery. It does look like a _Hemianthus_. As far as I know, all _Hemianthus_ species are limited to the US and Caribbean. Only _H. micranthemoides_ (now perhaps extinct in nature), _H. glomeratus_ and _H. callitrichoides_ are found outside of Cuba, so it's possible it's one of the Cuban endemics, though I don't know how likely that is. I'd like to flower some again and see what I can do to ID it (never really bothered the first time).


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

nfrank said:


> From my experience PG and HM grow very easily in soft water.


So nfrank, why my HM or PG (confused and have hard time to ID and compare them) melt at the lower stem and refuse to root and I have soft water, what do I lack? I find it hard to grow them.


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## nfrank (Jan 29, 2005)

Cavan Allen said:


> _
> What the pearl grass is is a real mystery. It does look like a Hemianthus. As far as I know, all Hemianthus species are limited to the US and Caribbean. Only H. micranthemoides (now perhaps extinct in nature), H. glomeratus and H. callitrichoides are found outside of Cuba, so it's possible it's one of the Cuban endemics, though I don't know how likely that is. I'd like to flower some again and see what I can do to ID it (never really bothered the first time)._


_

Here are some pictures of emersed growth of 2-leaf APG (Amano Pearl Grass). It is currently growing in the intake of my tank overflow for the sump for one of my two 90g (330L) tanks.

I found some 10-yr correspondence of mine with ADA and they reported that the names they use are:
"New Pearl Grass" -Micranthemum micranthemoides var.," for the 2-leaf version and "Pearl Grass" for the "regular" one. 
They used to use Hemianthus, but many publications in Japan had been using Micranthemum more often. So they too used Micranthemum.​Here is the only reference i can find on-line http://www12.plala.or.jp/aquaroom417/plants/newpearlgrass.html, so apparently, it now goes by Hemianthus micranthemoides var. in Japan.

BTW, it is not necessarily native to asia. All i know is that i got in while in Niigata in 95 and I believe they are called PG because they easily pearl O2. These are the best i can do without a good macro lens. The leaves are approx 2mm wide.
























_


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## nfrank (Jan 29, 2005)

A link to earlier APC conversation on this subject, with better pics of the emersed growth of APG and PG. Based on my archived conversation, perhaps these should be abbreviated NPG and PG.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Do you think you could provide me with any of that, Neal? No promises of course, but I may be able to get an ID. You could send it fresh or pressed.


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## johnzhou2476 (Nov 28, 2006)

I just finished reading that article from ADA. It kinda contradicts what I've learned about KH. I thought Plants don't care about KH but apparently it does. It seems to me that the reason why your HC is not growing well according to the article is that your carbonates are low. At very low PH, there are abundance of free co2 but very little of carbonates which the HC prefers.


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## nfrank (Jan 29, 2005)

I think that ADA article might have been trying to say that HM, or HM var. can use bicarbonates as its carbon source, not that it actually prefers it. Sometimes stuff gets changed in translation.
See Box 2 of this CO2 article on the Tropica web page originally published in TAG.

I never had problem growing these plants in very low KH conditions, with adequate CO2. If CO2 is insufficient, KH may be the issue.


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

Increasing CO2 won't help either, I keep buying and replanting but they keep melting and dying . What is seems so wrong here?


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## Turbosaurus (May 24, 2006)

I grow it in very very soft water. 4ppm Ca (less than 1/4 degree) from my tap, 0 degrees KH, ph in mid 6s, and I don't add anything to increase it. I don't know what my Mg levels are, but they are way low. My test kits shows 0 degrees GH, and I only know the Ca based on water dept reports. 

Sorry I can't ID your problem specifically, but perhaps this helps you by process of elimination.


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

I am using RO water but I add CaSO4 to about 10ppm and MgSO4 to about 2ppm and still have no clue but anyways, thanks.


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## Elohim_Meth (Nov 4, 2007)

I have two tanks, one with CO2, ADA AS Amazonia, everyday ferts dosing routine and other w/o CO2 low-maintenance tank. I tried to plant HM into my hi-tech tank three or four times but everytime it had melted in a few days. At the same time it grows fast and healthy in my low-tech tank. The water parameters are mainly the same (kH0, GH7) except for pH (5.3 and 7.0).


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

What substrate are you using on your second non CO2 tank? If it's not ADA AS then I assume that HM doesn't like soft acidic water. 

As of now, I have change my tank water from previous 0 of both kH and gH to 3 kH and gH water. Now, I can see reduced melt on HM and little of them have grown a bit, still in progress.


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## Elohim_Meth (Nov 4, 2007)

stevenlau said:


> What substrate are you using on your second non CO2 tank? If it's not ADA AS then I assume that HM doesn't like soft acidic water.


Yes the substrat there is earthworm castings in the first layer and a gravel in the second.


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

Exactly...


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