# Dry Start Method



## Rtifs (Nov 6, 2009)

Background: I got some dwarf baby tears the other day and tried to place it into an existing nano NPT. Due to the great tediousness of trying to plant individual stems, I just sort of laid it down on the bottom, hoping that it would attach to the substrate. It still has rockwool attached to the roots. In the last 3 days it has been taken over by a cobweb like algae, I suspect due to the nutrients in the rockwool. I removed it this morning, to prevent the algae from spreading elsewhere. 

Plan: I’m planning to setup a 2.5 g nano today using the dry start method. Hopefully this will allow it to establish without the algae. Does anyone have any advice or experience with this plant and the dry start method?


----------



## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Keep th tank covered (with plastic-wrap) to allow the humidity to stay high and keep the substrate well-saturated.


----------



## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Rtifs said:


> Does anyone have any advice or experience with this plant and the dry start method?


I don't know whether you've seen my article "Small Tanks for Pet Shrimp". It describes the setup of my two DSM tanks. Both are 2 gal and contain Dwarf Baby Tears (HC or _Hemianthus callitrichoides_).

You can download the article free from my book's website:

http://www.atlasbooks.com/marktplc/00388.htm

Since setup last year, the tanks continue to do well. Shrimp have reproduced well in both tanks. I still have to change water every 1-2 weeks to keep them looking nice. But hey, its only a couple gallons, not 55! Also, the Dwarf Hairgrass (_Eleocharis acicularis_) and _Hemianthus micranthemoides _(bigger Baby Tears) are currently squeezing out the HC.

I think that the DSM is a great way to go if you want to work with uncompetitive plant species like HC.


----------



## Rtifs (Nov 6, 2009)

Thanks Diana, your tanks turned out great! Can you add stem plants for a dry start, or should they wait for submergence?


----------



## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Rtifs said:


> Can you add stem plants for a dry start, or should they wait for submergence?


Tom Barr says to add stem plants later as you add the water.* However, if you have the plants, it never hurts to try. I have seen _Ludwigia_ species growing both emergent and submerged in roadside drainage ditches.

*From FAMA article (Dec 2009), p. 61.


----------



## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

Cobweb like usually means fungal. Too much water pooling on the plants can do this. Temp/humidity control is the main issue of DSM, that and keeping a scaped/contoured substrate moist when some of them drain so well.

This thread covers some attempts at stem growth:
http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/7095-OK-..-How-do-YOU-plant-stems-in-a-dry-start?

Most plants can handle a DSM just fine, the trick is whether or not you like their response after the tank is filled. Some go through melting or autofragment. I didn't stay on top of trimming my glosso after filling, so now it's growing very healthy but about 10 inches tall.

Just ponder what a plant might do if its CO2 levels spontaneously got cut down to 1/10th of their level and they had a thick waxy cuticle reducing its transport further. Personally I'd think that cutting their metabolism while trying to keep CO2 levels as high as possible would ease the transition. Maybe some sort of way to limit CO2 pre-fill in order to encourage rubisco production would help too.

Diana, I'm surprise how flexible Ludwigia is. I recently saw L. palustris growing directly on the rusted steel of some old drainage ditch pumps with perhaps a fine layer of dirt in some corners that it was clinging to. The range of growth forms traveling along the drainage was pretty stunning as well.


----------

