Scientific name - Ludwigia arcuata

Genus - Ludwigia

Geographic Origin - North America

Type - Stem Plant

Max. Size (height, width) - 25-50cm height, 3-5cm width

Lighting required - Moderate to high

Temprature - 20-28C

pH, hardness tolerance - 5.5-8 pH, very soft-medium hardness

Growth rate - Medium

Demands - Easy

Additional information - This plant is one of the mainstays of the aquatic plant hobby and should be widely available, it requires a relatively large amount of light (2+WPG) before it forms reddish leaves and stem, in lower light the plant will remain quite green.

This plant can also do quite well in non CO2 injected tanks where the fish waste and fish food will supply most of the macronutrients and the addition of nitrate, phosphate, and potassium are only required in high light CO2 injected enviroments, but overall the principal requirement for this plant to do well is light, the addition of micronutrients can help to supplement the red coloration of the needle type leaves.

Propagation of this plant is very easy as it has a natural tendency to branch, these branches can be trimmed off and replanted, or an alternative method is to "top" and replant, the bottom of the stem will grow new shoots and the newly "topped " stem will soon grow new roots.

Like most stem plants L.arcuata will look best when planted in groups, L.arcuata can look particularily effective when many stems are planted together because of its reddish golden leaves, because of its coloration it is best suited to plant it against a dark background or darker leaved plants where it can look quite striking. This is a great plant for its coloration and also very easy to keep.