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Okay, I got some bulbs about two months ago and planted them in my tank. Out of the 5, one grew. My tank is tall and it reached the serface after about three weeks. It continued to grow underwater and thrive, but one of the stems branched off and started growing above water. The part that is above water has turned white, with little buds on it. Is this normal? Is it Good? Is it Bad?

Tank conditions: Tapwater distilled for two weeks and treated with "Start Right" formula, before the bulbs were added, no filter until yesterday, no heater. light: 10-12 hrs (the tank is by a window) No fish in the tank yet.

Inky

It sounds like you have an aponogeton bulb, and the stalk growing above water is the flower stem. In another few days it should fork and sprout these spikey little yellow or slightly purple florets. This is perfectly normal and happens in my tanks all the time. When the flowers fade (takes a few weeks) the stem will die away.

You can either leave the flower stalk as it is, or cut it off near the bottom. Niether option will harm the plant at all, and in another few weeks, you'll probably have another stalk, and in more mature plants, multiple stalks will grow at once.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

In addition to Illustrae's comments - aponogeton bulbs will become dormant after six months of growth with the vegetation dying back. This is a natural phenomenon. Removing the bulb and placing it in damp sphagnum moss for a period of time helps to "recharge" the bulb provided that the moss does not dry out or that the bulb does not mildew.

Last edited by Bob Wesolowski at 12-Jan-2006 12:38

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

I only find that some varieties of aponogeton do dormant. The ones you buy in a bubble-pac as dried fuzzy bulbs usually only go dormant if conditions are not favorable. Mine have been going strong for about 3 years now, with no dormant periods at all.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Okay good! ^_^ Thanks for the info.

Inky