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Hey all,

I took out a big marble queen radican sword (e. cordifolius) out of my 42g last weekend to accomodate other swords from my 23g tank. It's been floating in a bucket of old tank water out in my patio this week and it's actually grown a leaf out of water. I thought about trying to sell it to my LFS this weekend (no more room in my tanks), but I'm thinking whether I should just put it in a pot under water and try to grow it emersed. Does anyone have any experience growing swords emersed after it's been submerged for a while? Is it difficult? Does it need to be put in a soil substrate and can I put it in partial sunlight or should it be shaded?

Thanks for any tips!

-P

Most swords (echinodorus) that are sold in LFS or by mail are grown emersed. The foliage is somewhat different from immersed (submerged) foliage.

You can use the bucket to grow your sword. Use a 4 To 6 inch substrate of muck or rich soil. Provide enough water that the old foliage is just below the water level. The sword will do the rest of the work. As emersed leaves appear, you can allow the water level to fall until it is just an inch or two above the substrate.

Remember that echinodorus (sp.) are heavy root feeders. Provide a fert tab (pond) once every two weeks.



__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Thanks, Bob!
I planted the sword in a terracota pot with about 2" of potting soil on the bottom & small pebbles on top, covered in some old tank water. So far there are only 2 emersed leaves (very light green ones). I wonder if the submersed leaves will eventually die off or not? Do I need to fertilize the water as well in addition to the substrate?

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-P

Swords develop a great root system. The reason that I recommended 4 or 5 inches of rich dirt was to give the roots room to grow. With two inches of substrate your sword may push itself out of the substrate as the roots develop. The crown of the plant should be just above the substrate.



__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

I see. I'll watch it - probably will add more soil under it this weekend. Thanks again!

-P