# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Most expensive plant I've seen - Pogostemon helferi (Downoi)



## HighWattage (Feb 11, 2003)

This is by far the most expensive plant I've seen selling now at $50 for one individual stalk including shipping. It sure is pretty. I'm really tempted to bid on it but i hear it's really fragile and may melt down in a new tank condition. uhmmm....To bid or not to bid, that is the question. BTW, here's the link.

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?liveplantsr&1078242738


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## HighWattage (Feb 11, 2003)

This is by far the most expensive plant I've seen selling now at $50 for one individual stalk including shipping. It sure is pretty. I'm really tempted to bid on it but i hear it's really fragile and may melt down in a new tank condition. uhmmm....To bid or not to bid, that is the question. BTW, here's the link.

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?liveplantsr&1078242738


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## Tenor1 (Mar 3, 2003)

Thanks for sharing that link. It sure is expensive and looks extremly small. I wish the high bidder all the best.

Regards,
Carlos

==============================
I try to keep the tank plain and simple but it never stays that way!


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## imported_Piscesgirl (Feb 19, 2004)

There is another thread about that plant somewhere in this forum. I wish it wasn't that expensive -- anyone have Singapore contacts? I really like the plant and would LOVE some of it!!!


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## victri (Mar 18, 2004)

I'm from Singapore and I've got a few of these in my tank. Average price here is SGD$20, which comes out to about USD$12. Not the hardest to grow, but I've read that they can be sensitive to tap water. I did run mine under the tap when I got them (I didn't read about the sensitivity issue then). Luckily the tap water here is pretty mild.

I'll be making a trip over to HI and CA maybe September. I know it's a long ways to go, but I'd be glad to help any of you bring over some of our cheap plants.

Vic
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My Planted Gallery


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## HighWattage (Feb 11, 2003)

Victri, I would love to get some from you. $50 from aquabid is really asking a lot for one stalk. I also hear that since this is such a rare specimen that the plant farmer in Singapore are limiting their supplies to control the price. I also hear that it's really slow growing like Loriebla Cardnialis.
(Sorry about spelling, I can never get these scientic names correct)


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## imported_Piscesgirl (Feb 19, 2004)

oh I want some I want some!!! But I'm no where near California or Hawaii -- is it possible in any way to mail it? Ohhhhh I want some!!!!


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## imported_Piscesgirl (Feb 19, 2004)

> quote:
> 
> but I'd be glad to help any of you bring over some of our cheap plants


Cheap!! Laughing!

I actually read that it grows wild out there....


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

What part of california?







I'm in southern Cali.


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## imported_Piscesgirl (Feb 19, 2004)

I could probably get a group together to buy some off of you if you could FedEx it. I'm not sure about how customs are, as I've been told the U.S. has gotten very tight with customs. But, how would this be different than the guy on Aquabid selling the Downoi? 

If anyone can get me some, I would be soooo appreciative!!


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## toledosun (Mar 7, 2003)

For those of you who want to know more about the plant and how it was introduced to Singapore from Thailand, you can go to killies forum and do a search on the word "downoi". The story is pretty interesting.


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## mm12463 (Mar 5, 2004)

Wow that is a lot for a plant. It looks pretty cool though.

Mike
http://fish.silver-fox.us


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## victri (Mar 18, 2004)

I've no idea about customs since I've never mailed plants overseas before. Not sure if it'll survive the mailing as the leaves seem like they might break easily. If anyone can find out more about the mailing regulations, I'll be ok with helping you send plants over if it's not too much trouble.

It's true that supplies for downoi are very limited here. There's no way to buy more than 20 of the plant at one go, and only a handful of LFS carry the plant.

Well, my holiday plans will bring me to Hon, LA, SF and Vegas around mid-sep. Anyone near those areas could probably keep in contact with me. Maybe you could get a group of people together and give me a wish list. I'll be hand-carrying the plants to minimize damage, so nothing too huge please.









Vic
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My Planted Gallery


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## imported_drgonzo (Feb 17, 2004)

vic,
it probably wouldnt be all that hard to scare up a shared order or trade or what-ever around here. that is an interesting plant that i'm sure many people would love the opportunity to grow it. myself included! perhaps through our generous hoast we could generate the proper phyto certificates and allied paperwork of importing plants to make this possible. i understand what it takes to import an orchid but i dont have a clue when it coes to aquatic plants. this could be fun...is there any body out there???
skip

the crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe' Frank Zappa


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

Looks like an Aponogeton. Its not a stem plant right? This guy in Singapore sells a lot of plants on aquabid to people in the USA, which is technically illegal, but what the heck! I always wondered what kind of shape they came in.

Robert
King admin
www.aquabotanic.com


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## imported_Piscesgirl (Feb 19, 2004)

Yes, I'm curious myself to see the feedback when the downoi is sold, what kind of condition it arrives in. If it is an apongonton -- wouldn't that be easy because it would be a bulb plant?


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## imported_SueNH (Feb 14, 2004)

Expensive but not shockingly so. I routinely see daylilies go over $100.

http://www.daylily.com/cgi-bin/auction.cgi?cultivarsaunder20&1078621743

That's a $300 garden plant right now.


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## imported_aquaverde (May 5, 2003)

Well, here's hoping _that_ trend doesn't transfer to aquatic plants. Yeow.


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## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

It isn't the most expensive aquatic plant I've seen. At the 2002 AGA conference in Dallas Claus Christenson offered two postage-stamp size packets of "pelia" for the auction. The last bid I saw on either was $80, and I think they went for around $100.

Now it turns out that "pelia" is a very normal sort of liverwort and very easy to grow <shrug>.

If the hobby continues to grow then I think that in the future we'll see many more expensive plants. The catch is that most aquatic plants grow and propagate so quickly that prices can't stay very high very long.

Roger Miller

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_"The indispensible first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want" -- Ben Stein_


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## Josh Simonson (Feb 4, 2004)

Yeah, the downoi looks to be a very short stem plant to me, putting out occasional branches and even reportedly growing from leaf cuttings. Seems that a few people successfully growing the stuff in the US could crash the price pretty easilly.

Unfortunately most people can only propagate aquatic plants by cloning, so the plants cannot be selectively bred for aquarium hardiness. If someone were serious about propagating such plants for the trade, they'd breed them sexually and test them in aquaria, advancing the most hardy to the next round. The final, hardy plant could be patented to give the grower exclusive rights to sell or liscence the propagation of their strain of the plant.

On a related and somewhat amusing note, I once saw on CNN an article titled "Cloned algae threatens coast!" The article went on about how an algae that was 'cloned' for use in SW aquaria had escaped and was growing off the coast of S. Cali. Obviously the reporter was trying to use the animal cloning debate to stir interest in their article related to the non-contriversial cloning of plants (IE cuttings). At the time CNN had discussion boards and immediately a bunch of people were decrying the evils of genetic engineering and saying they'd never eat cloned food... I made a somewhat inflamitory post giving the reporter and knee-jerk greens both barrels and the article was actually re-written with the word "cloning" entirely removed within an hour. I didn't get a retraction, but it was fun to catch CNN with their pants down and prompt them to change something like that.


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## tsunami06 (Feb 6, 2003)

Pogostemon helferi (downoi) is not an Aponogeton. It is a new variety of Eusteralis aka like Pogostemon stellata.

Carlos

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"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." -- Van Gogh


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## victri (Mar 18, 2004)

Here's a couple pics of the Downoi I have. Notice there's a tiny root growing out of the middle of the stem in the closeup photo. Propagation can be done by cutting the stem.



















Vic
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My Planted Gallery


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## imported_Piscesgirl (Feb 19, 2004)

beautiful, Victri! Thanks for the picture/example!


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## imported_Piscesgirl (Feb 19, 2004)

bump i don't want this thread to disappear


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## imported_Piscesgirl (Feb 19, 2004)

Well, if it shows up again, I may have to bid....


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## Shane A smith (Jun 15, 2003)

It is a good looking plant, does it just stop growing at a certain height or will it just grow slowly?

50gal 161watts PC 6500k/8800k Clay Substrate.


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## imported_Piscesgirl (Feb 19, 2004)

I'm not sure but the few pictures I've seen are all low in terms of height....foreground type.


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## victri (Mar 18, 2004)

I haven't had mine for long, but the tallest I've seen in other tanks only grow up to about 3 inches and then they'll start putting out side shoots.

Vic
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My Planted Gallery


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