Java Fern Woe

[Exiled]

What do you think is the best way to anchor java fern to rocks? I can’t seem to get my java fern to take hold of anything. I've had the plants for about two months. I know I'm not supposed to bury the roots in the sand but If I don't get it to hold onto anything, it means that I have to pin the stems between the glass and a rock. Every time I do a water change I feel like I'm tossing a salad.

I currently have about 12 shoots of it in a Tanganyikan cichlid tank with sand substrate and moderate lighting with compact bulb and very gentle water current primarily localized at the top of the tank
Other specs:
Temp 76F
pH 8.2
GH 19
KH 13
NO2 0.0 ppm
NO3 <5.0ppm
NH3 0.0 ppm

Also—the tops of the plants are heavily branched out (looking like parsley) and even have roots poking out of the tops. Is the plant trying to create off-shoots?
Any help is greatly appreciated.

--All the best,
Lee

 

[Lenna]

Can you tie it to the rocks with fishing line? I've done this to grow my java fern on driftwood. It's starting to grip already and it's only been a week. The bits at the top are indeed offshoots, when they get big enough you can pull them off and graft them too, or just bend the parent leaf over and graft it on.

 

[Exiled]

Hi Lenna -- I've tried that, but just ended up with a big tangle of line, floaters, and a frustrated fishkeeper's scowl.
I'm glad to hear those are offshoots! So, I can snip them off the the leaves without harming the parent-plant? Maybe the offshoots will be better grippers. Besides fishing line is there some novel way of attachment that anyone can think of?

 

[Bol]

Fishing line and cotton thread are the methods usually mentioned.

I got really frustrated at mine once, though, and used a (plastic) cable tie. You most definitely can see it, but that sucka ain't going nowhere!

By the way, ...

I know I'm not supposed to bury the roots in the sand

Burying the roots should be fine (I know it is in gravel, anyway). It's the rhizome that you don't want to bury.

Edit: and about the 'offspring', you can pull them off whenever you like. Many times, they'll just eventually break off themselves. However, if you're interested in keeping the young ones, generally you want to wait until there are four leaves or so on them , or the leaves are 1.5-2" long.

 

[Exiled]

Hmmmm, mine don't have rhizomes.


edit: thanks for your edit-- It seems it's time to make them leave the nest. LOL I made a pun. Oh boy time for bed.

 

[Magnus]

Of course, your java ferns have a rhizomes. How else could the leaves be connected to each other?

 

[Silly me]

I used a stapelgun once, just stapel the root to the wood, worked fine

 

[Exiled]

Of course, your java ferns have a rhizomes. How else could the leaves be connected to each other?

No -- seriously ..... each one of my plants is just one leaf with a stem, leading to a little bit of roots. I guess the sellers separated the leaves to make more cash.

 

[luxum]

Hehe no wonder you're having such problems! Maybe you could rubber band a bunch together first and then tie the bunch down.

 

[clutterydrawer]

i used rubber bands to tie mine to pebbles cos fishing line kept slipping off and flaoting away and i thought my fish might get caught in it.

 

[Exiled]

Yeah that's what was happening to mine too. I'll try anchoring the leaves to small rocks first. Blah....Rhizomes.

 

[Lenna]

You could try to tie a leaf down horizontally, so that the veins on the underside a facing upwards. The new shoots will form along the vein in the middle. It will look like crap, but atleast you'll have something to tie. Eventually the new shoots will get big enough and the old parent leaf will deteriorate and you'll have a line of java fern.