Banana Plants

[Nevergone815]

ok so i was in my lfs and the yalways have these things called banana plants. i have owned some before and i loved them, i even did some research on them already.

the only thing is i think i kept them wrong as my fish ate them and they never rooted and i never understood how to reproduce them. i was tolds to jsut cut off the leaves or something when they get a certain size but i don't think that was right as he leaves jsut died.

could anyone give me good accurate info on these, like how to keep them and how to properly reproduce them. also a scientific name on them would be nice. thanks guys!

 

[iSnail]

Don't know much about them but I think they belong to the lily family. I've had one before but it didn't do too well in my tank (too much current). Try search for "Nymphoides aquatica"

I think they prefer a place with still/less current. Make sure you don't bury the roots (bananas). Depending on how much light you have in your tank, the leaves might shoot right up to the surface and pan out like a lily pad.

Regarding propagation, I've tried it and it works ----- Break off a leaf with a decent size stalk and just float it in water for a few weeks then you'll see roots coming out from the end of the stalk. You can put the leaf in a jar of water and leave it on a window sill for a few weeks (can't remember exactly how many weeks but I think it must have been about 4/5 weeks). Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[Nevergone815]

Don't know much about them but I think they belong to the lily family. I've had one before but it didn't do too well in my tank (too much current). Try search for "Nymphoides aquatica"

I think they prefer a place with still/less current. Make sure you don't bury the roots (bananas). Depending on how much light you have in your tank, the leaves might shoot right up to the surface and pan out like a lily pad.

Regarding propagation, I've tried it and it works ----- Break off a leaf with a decent size stalk and just float it in water for a few weeks then you'll see roots coming out from the end of the stalk. You can put the leaf in a jar of water and leave it on a window sill for a few weeks (can't remember exactly how many weeks but I think it must have been about 4/5 weeks). Hope this helps. Good luck.

thanks for the info, but i did the propogation the way you said and in a few days the leaves started to die. oh well i will need to try it again.

my tank has more current on one side and my other side is kind of still so i will give them another try. they did well in my older tank so it can't hurt. mine never shot strait to the top though, it jsut sat on the bottom and grew bigger and bigger leaves.

thanks for all the info! it really helped and i appreciate it