# My HC Emerse



## beastboi

Hey guys here are some pictures of my HC in emerse form. It's been like this for 3 weeks already and i'm starting to wonder if i need to do something different. I keep the light on for about 8 hours a day and keep the water level just under the saturate. I'm using aquasoil II powder only. Any suggestion would help Thanks!!


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## Anti-Pjerrot

IMO you should spread it out.


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## pympinfob

so far so good....hook me up with some when it grows


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## NAL

sweet


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## niko

Your light may seem bright to you, but it is not enough for the HC. This thing likes TONS of light. Add light any way you can.

If you can suck out all the water and leave the HC in the wet Aquasoil (no water) you will have better luck. If you want to have even better luck then once a day, every day, pour water in the tank to cover the HC and then immediatly drain it completely so the HC is again in wet AquaSoil only. Fertilize this water liberally.

Basically the best results come when the HC grows in moist substrate. Lots of Oxygen and so on. HC hates being submersed, haha!

Here are some pictures of my emersed HC. Submersed HC never gets this big and healthy:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ddasega/HCMarch2008

--Nikolay


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## MOR B.

niko what substrate do u use/


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## niko

MorB,

There is one single substrate that grows aquatic plants right. Nothing else comes even remotely close.

AquaSoil.

--Nikolay


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## beastboi

Okay Guys This Is Taking Way To Long... No Progress. I'm Just Going To Buy Some Potted Hc I'll Give You Guys A Update On My 2.5gal When I Have It Set Up :d


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## beastboi

Okay just like I promised here's a update.


































Any Advice?


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## Ebichua

That looks much better now  Good luck growing them into a nice lawn!


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## pympinfob

nice setup cant wait to come over and check it out!!!!


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## Revernance

Any updates?!!!


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## MiamiAG

Hi,

Very nice aquascape. Good luck with it.

I'd like to second Niko's observation. I used to grow HC in a hydroponic flood system and had good results. However, I used Grodan rather than Aqua$oil.


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## Zapins

I third their observations - the more light the better for HC.

Also the richer the soil the better - I use black compost for emersed grown HC.

Even so, HC is a slow growing plant and can take weeks to fill in nicely in a setup. There is also usually a delay between when the HC is first planted and when it starts to grow. 3-6 weeks of delay isn't uncommon in my experience before the HC really gets going.


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## MiamiAG

I wanted to add that CO2 supplementation to the emersed culture results in faster growth rates. I first tried with sprinkling oatmeal around the plants (thanks, Paul!). Later, I added a DIY CO2 supplementation system that seemed to work better.


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## Zapins

Oh yes, CO2 definitely helps. I tried pressurized CO2 on the emersed culture and it worked out well.


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## LordSul

Very nice aquascape! 

If this HC loves light then its gotta go mad when it sees sunlight.
What happens if you have the HC in moist substrate with ferts all the time + lots of CO2, and SUNlight?


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## Zapins

It will do very well 

Just make sure it doesn't overheat especially being enclosed in a container (traps heat).


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## Augus

I start my HC emersed over the weekend.
This morning going to mist HC and notice a lot of dark green stuff around HC, it was late so I did not look closer to see what it is.
Dark green like on the first picture in post #1. The leave are bright green but some dark green stuff around. I hope it not algae or they are dead from over heat from enclose seal tank.

This is what I have over the weekend, will try to take picture as soon as I get home today
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/photo-album/70800-journal-augus-10-gal-hc.html


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## MiamiAG

I would need to see a picture. Also, don't fully seal the tank. There needs to be some gas exchange happening.


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## Augus

Art_Giacosa said:


> Also, don't fully seal the tank. There needs to be some gas exchange happening.


 OH NO, don't tell me I cook them


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## MiamiAG

Don't worry. Plants are very forgiving.

What you're trying to do is maintain a high humidity until such time as the plant adapts to a lower humidity environment. This will happen slowly. Start by opening a corner of your plastic film. Then over a couple of weeks, open it a little more. 

Let the plants be your guide.


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## LordSul

I though of this idea:

Making 2 holes, just enough to fit silicon tubing. And we gave CO2 from one of the holes, all day under the sunshine. Of course to a closed container, but can be opened for moistening water every morning.

Any ideas, has this been done before?


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## p3md

Just a few clarifications with regards to some of the things mentioned in this thread.

I am in my 5th week of growing my HC emersed. 

When you say Fertilize liberally, how often and at what amount? Say on a 16x10x10 Inch Tank?
(Note: I have the components for PPS-Pro at hand.)

How do you guys administer the Fertz?

I use the plants as a guide, but I am not very sure if I am still under dosing on the Fertz. I am wondering if I can push the growth even faster. I wanna know how you guys do your thing.

Here are my Tank Parameters:
16x10x10 Inches
2 x 23watt CFL's
Black Volcano Sand
Fertilizer is PPS-Pro 5ml Macro and 2.5ml CSM+B weekly injecrted in the Substrate.

TIA


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## niko

P3md,

When I say "fertilize liberally" I mean don't try to maintain certain ppms of this or that fertilizer. Basically you want to make water that is rich in fertilizers. If you are into PPS you should be able to figure out how much of what will make this "rich" water. 

Don't worry too much about the fertilizers. What will really make the emersed HC grow is A LOT of light. I grow mine under 120 watts of light that is only 2 inches above the plant. Make your conclusions from there 

Also if you don't use Aquasoil don't expect the greatest growth in the Universe. The HC will grow but not near as explosive as with Aquasoil. No Aquasoil = be patient . The roots like acidic pH and that is what Aquasoil provides very well. You may try to adjust the substrate pH with acid but the headaches are too much I think.

--Nikolay


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## p3md

Oh Ok. Thanks.

I previously had 92 watts on this emersed HC tank but I half the lighting since my "old" HC leaves were yellowing. Come to think of it, it was also the time when I was dosing Fertz at only every 2 weeks. Go figure 

I will put back the other 2 cfls and increase fertz... we'll see.

Thanks again.

BTW, here is a picture (I hope the TS won't mind):

Week 4


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## BJRuttenberg

was my understanding that when using a nutrient rich substrate like amazonia aquasoil, there was no need to dose nutrients...


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## massymo

This is my HC in emersed colture, it's growin in pure peat and complete liquid fertilization (very simply), humidity 65-80% max, strong ventilation air fan and medium-low solar lighting...


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## massymo

and here... ))


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## niko

Massymo,

VERY nice HC!

What I conclude from all this is that HC loves to grow emersed. It never develops such big hunter green leaves under water. 

It loves to have its roots in slightly acidic substrate (or very acidic substrate, AquaSoil in my case gave about pH=5.5, water filtered through peat gives an immediate drop of at least 1.0). 

It likes good ventilation (I grew it without any humidity dome, basically a house plant).

From your pictures it looks like sunlight is very good for growing HC. In my setup I had only Fluorescent lights - 120 watts, no sunlight. The bulbs were very close to the HC - about 2 inches above the plant. Moving the light up even 1 inch really slowed down the growth.

And lastly HC absolutely loves to pig out on food. Maintaining 1 ppm N or 0.5 ppm P does not work very well. 20 and 2 is more like it.

So, for anyone that wants to grow HC emersed - read and learn. It's ridiculously easy. And will probably put you on the path of growing other plants emersed. My only suggestion is rig up a hydroponic system. That's extremely cheap and easy to do too - for about $10 you can have a growing area measuring 4' x 1'. Never worry about fungus or BBA again.

--Nikolay


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## massymo

hi,
-i cultived HC pure clay also...it grow very well...
-the strong sunlight produce small and compact leaf...low sunlight produce large leaf, I have tested it and low light is the best for this plants....
-the food is hydoponic system whit max 800 microsiemens...complete solution, microelements...etc..
-the fungus without ventilation grow fast!!!!! it's very dangerous if the plants live in little level water...hydroponic system recommended -ebb and flow-


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## monkeyruler90

wow, that was a massive HC carpet. looks awesome. 

so how long is the transition point from emersed to submersed? if i put something that grew like this outside will it be okay in my aquarium or is it just going to melt completely and am i going to have to start from scratch?


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## oscarjamayaa

wow . awsome HC carpet ... I hope mine will grow like that also


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## massymo

HC prefer acid substrate and medium-low lights irradiation. In basic water ans substrate will grow very bad.
For all members interested, my new site for rare aquatic plants is: www.rareaquaticplants.com


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## maknwar

massymo said:


> HC prefer acid substrate and medium-low lights irradiation. In basic water ans substrate will grow very bad.
> For all members interested, my new site for rare aquatic plants is: www.rareaquaticplants.com


I cant read that language. Can it be viewed in english?


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## massymo

Hi,
the site is in Italian Language, for moment i can't translate it in english..


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