Description
- Aponogetons are usually sold as bulbs – usually light brown, hairy, fibrous rhizomes.
- Apons are extremely easy Plants to grow, DON’T LET ANYONE TELL YOU DIFFERENTLY!
- Native to Sri Lanka, Madagascar, & Indo-China
- Lighting – Very Low to Moderate =.5 to 2.5 max 3.0 wpg
- Temp – Medium: 73-83F or 23-28C
- pH – Neutral 7.0, but versatile
Arizona Aquatic Gardens are known to be the pioneers of the aqautic industry. This plant is a beauty. Check out the amazing features, both functional and visual, that this plant is able to provide to your home or office. Think about your little loved ones swimming in between the lush leaves or trying to hide away behind them when they get scared or spooked. The poissibilities are endless at AZ Gardens!
Tips for growing bulbs and our bulb warranty: (Applies to ALL Aquarium Plant Bulbs: ie: Dwarf Lily, Aponogeton, Barclaya, etc.): Try placing your bulb(s) in a folded “moist” paper towel (not sopping wet), put the paper towel in a plastic bag, an air-tight bag is not necessary, folded over or stapled is just fine. Place this bag on something warm where you won’t forget about it… i.e. on top of your cable box, or your computer! Wait just a couple days and “voila!” Your bulb should have some protrusion poking out of it, this is the actual plant stem, the roots will grow much later, now you know which end is the top, this will help you not to plant your bulb upside-down! You have just pre-germinated your bulb! Another way is to just drop the bulb into your aquarium without burying it, (allow it to just sit on top of your substrate), wait for growth to appear (usually within 5 days for some, and up to 2 months for others…like Barclaya) and then push the bulb into the substrate leaving just a smidget of the bulb’s crown exposed.
WARRANTY INFO: Our bulbs are squish and sniff tested before we ship them, however, we cannot guarantee that it will grow, if you want a guaranteed plant from a bulb, then we recommend you just buy the plant. That bulb will already be growing when you get it. The only reason we do not guarantee bulbs is because we cannot be at your home to make sure you have the perfect growing conditions to make your bulbs grow. It has been our past experience that roughly 90% of the bulbs we sell will germinate. But there is a chance they wont, hence the gamble.
Aponogeton bulbs start as a tiny green shoot. Your aponogeton will grow for months whether or not you fertilize it, regardless of aquarium pH, and regardless of your tank temperature or substrate.
Enemies. Most smaller Plecos will not eat Aponogetons. Larger plecos will just naturally knock or crush the apons. Most larger cichlids, and goldfish will just like to tear up the plants leaves and use the plants as “toys”. Apple or Mystery snails will pulverize apons leaves. Nerite snails will ignore the plants.
Fertilizer. Food stored in the “bulb” will get your aponogeton off to an amazing start. Your fish will also give off nitrogenous wastes, phosphates, and carbon dioxide that these fast-growers will inhale. Youll get bigger and better specimens if you fertilize them on a regular basis — frequent small amounts of fertilizer work better than infrequent large doses. One healthy aponogeton can easily fill half a 10-gallon aquarium with attractive green leaves.
Planting. If you toss your bulb in a bare tank, it will fall to the bottom and start growing. In a tank with gravel, it will root itself. Most people stick their bulbs into the gravel because they want their show plants in a specific place. Dont bury your bulb. Just stick it in far enough to hold it in the place you want to keep it.
Light. You cant grow plants in total darkness very well. Give your aponogetons 12 hours of light daily. USE A TIMER! Aponogetons WILL grow in poor light, theyll just grow slowly.
Maintenance. In the wild, these plants will leaf out, send up a two-to- four-foot long bloom stalk, go to seed, then die back during the dry season. Take a look at the bloom stalk on the top. If you want to prolong your aponogetons leaves, cut off that bloom stalk before it starts blooming. Otherwise, your show plant will go through a couple month resting cycle. If it goes into this phase with little stored energy, it may not return
Propagation. If you want hundreds of baby apons, dont cut the bloom stalk. When the tiny flowers open, brush them lightly with a sponge or a brush and act like a honey bee to fertilize them.