# Can you "bonsai" an aquarium plant?



## dude26212 (Dec 2, 2010)

what im curious about is can i limit an aquarium plants growth by keeping the roots restrained in a shallow small container? or does the whole poppin out roots where ever they can mess up this idea. then again bonsai may only work on trees so askin this may very well show how lil i know about bonsai


----------



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Unfortunately no you can't restrain aquatic plants by constricting the roots like you can with bonsai trees. The difference is that aquatic plants can absorb nutrients from the water column directly into leaf and stem tissue skipping the roots entirely. If you shield the roots from nutrients this will only encourage the plant to grow more stems and leaves (because the stem/leaves are now the "productive" nutrient gathering area). The plant will focus all its energy into growing productive parts. The opposite is also true - rich substrate and poor water column = large root systems.

Bonsai trees work because the plants can only gather nutrients from the roots.

You can certainly trim plants to look like bonsai plants though. I've seen several bonsai trees that use manzanita wood covered with moss "leaves."


----------



## king kong (Jul 2, 2012)

Bonsai is a style more than anything. A plant used for bonsai has the same needs as a hibiscus growing in a 3 gallon pot. The only problem is the bonsai container is small so plants can become root-bound quickly. That creates a new problem.


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Bonsai are dwarfed by a combination of several methods. The small pot is part of the process, but more important is the pruning of top growth and roots. Bonsai are usually repotted annually (there are exceptions) and the roots are pruned at that time to make room in the small pot for fresh soil, and to encourage branching and development of fine feeder roots.

As Zapins says, aquatic plants don't work this way at all.


----------



## king kong (Jul 2, 2012)

First we must understand how the term 'bonsai' is used.
Is it a woody miniature looking styled plant?
Is it thought of as 'dwarfing' or slowing the growth rate of a plant?
Is confining or restricting the growth area of a plant?
Is it dwarfing the leaf size and branching of a plant by clipping?


----------



## Tugg (Jul 28, 2013)

Is it simply the recreation of caring for a small plant? (the constant pruning and attention)


----------



## king kong (Jul 2, 2012)

Tugg said:


> Is it simply the recreation of caring for a small plant? (the constant pruning and attention)


This is true but we need to define this a little more perhaps?


----------



## king kong (Jul 2, 2012)

To me this plant would be considered a bonsai.


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

I've been growing bonsai for 40 years. When I say "bonsai" I mean both an aesthetic style and the horticultural techniques for creating and maintaining plants grown in that style. The aesthetic and the technique are functionally inseparable, having evolved together in China and then Japan for about 1,500 years.

In the USA, we tend to use the Japanese word bonsai to refer to both the Chinese and Japanese traditions, but it is more precise to call Chinese examples penjing and Japanese examples bonsai.

This is pretty off-topic for an aquatic plant forum, LOL.


----------



## Tugg (Jul 28, 2013)

Michael said:


> This is pretty off-topic for an aquatic plant forum, LOL.


Lonesomeshark would disagree 

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...e-paludarium-build-lets-try-5.html#post664977


----------



## king kong (Jul 2, 2012)

Can you find the venus fly trap in the rock face forest in the back project?


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Tugg said:


> Lonesomeshark would disagree
> 
> http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...e-paludarium-build-lets-try-5.html#post664977


Lonesomeshark's paludarium is in a class by itself! Everything about it is superb!


----------



## dude26212 (Dec 2, 2010)

allright thank you everyone was just curious if there was a way to dwarf an aquuarium plant all i really have to shop at is a petsmart and was wondering if there was a more laid back way to growing hygrophila difformis or the bacopa plant they sell in a 10 gal then constant trimming and replanting an what not


----------



## king kong (Jul 2, 2012)

Ok Bonsai as in stunt growth. The plant industry do manage the growth of some plants with growth regulators. Ethephon has been used in US ornamental plant production for many years. Ethylene is a natural plant hormone that can influence plant growth.


----------



## Tugg (Jul 28, 2013)

They probably have some anubias or some other slow growers. Both of the others are inherently fast. If you have a PetSmart, what stops you from mail order?


----------



## tonnakpil (Jul 29, 2013)

I agree that it would be nearly impossible to do the art of Bonsai to an aquatic plant. But if you're after restricting plant growth that it would look a miniature aquatic plant, you might want to look at this:

This hygrophila polysperma "sunset" is in this mayonnaise jar for a few months now (i think around 2-3 months now)


And this is the same plant I've planted in a 20 gal tank. Planted about a month ago.


Substrate is basically the same. Compost at the bottom, mineralize soil and crushed gravel as cap.

Here's another one, bacopa caroliniana, same mayo jar, same age.



Here's the same plant in a 5 gal tank, same substrate mixture as well



This was unintentional and happened by accident.



Apparently it could happen in emersed plants as well.

Below is my emersed hygrophila corymbosa which has been growing for around 4 months now. Rarely trimmed.



And here's one stem which is growing in a much smaller tub. Has been accidentally "trimmed" once by my dog who i think is curious about the plant. Substrate is washed clay soil which i believe has very little nutrient in it, capped with aquarium gravel. This plant has been growing for more than six months now.



The two get the same amount of sun. The difference is the substrate. The lush growing plant is in a very rich soil with compost. The small plant, in a soil with less nutrient.





I am new to this hobby and in no way an expert. To be honest, all of these happened by accident. Why this happened, I do not know. But I guess this shows that restricting plant growth is possible. However still not the art of bonsai.


----------



## king kong (Jul 2, 2012)

Interesting, the confined dense environment is affecting the meristem growth points.


----------



## dude26212 (Dec 2, 2010)

allright so im gona try this in a quarentine tank by cutting the bottom off waterbottles and useing them as pots. figure if i keep the nutrients in the pot under a cap then the plants wouldnt be inclined to try takeing nutrients from the water. anyways im sure there may be experinces and science an what not that will say it wont work but why not try right? im sure the tank will benefit from live plants anyways. on side note will oil dri work well as a cap for this purpose or do i need a inert cap to keep the nutrients from leaching?


----------



## tonnakpil (Jul 29, 2013)

Not sure if oildri will work. I suggest that you replicate the conditions to have a high chance of having the same outcome. This is an an NPT. Soil substrate, gravel cap, no co2 injection and sun lit. Another key is that the jar is packed with plants. If you look at the top, you cannot see the substrate. Good luck. Please post pictures so we can see the results.


----------

