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Has anyone ever kept temple plant? Anyone know a few things about it? I saw it at a fish store today and I thought it was kinda neat. Any info is appreciated

><>Dani<><

Heya Dani,

If by Temple plant you mean Stricta (Hygrophila corymbosa) I highly recommend it... Easy to grow under just about any conditions, a great corner/back drop plant and relatively fast growing...

The one thing that can be a little annoying is the roots it puts out form the stem, some don't mind this look but others find it a little ugly... The best bet is to just plant it behind either other plants or some form of decoration...

So far as pruning goes the best way (IMO) is to simply pull it up, cut of the bottom, and replant the tops. If you keep about 2 or 3 stems together in a bunch it makes the job even easier Cutting from the top and leaving the base will make it bushier apparently though (which would be overkill in my tank, so I've never tried lol)

The one word of warning I could give is this: I recently bought the emmersed form, only to find that it may have problems converting over to the submersed form (the submersed form has the nice, BIG leaves)...

http://www.tropica.com/productcard_1.asp?id=053

http://www.aquahobby.com/garden/e_corymbosa.php

Dex

Edits: damn my typing (and adding info)

Last edited by dextroze at 02-Nov-2004 03:14

Hi,
The Red Temple aquarium plant is found in the Tropica site:
http://www.tropica.com/default.asp

Look up: Alternanthera reineckii, lilacina (Purple variety)
or roseafilia (red[pink]var.)

Each demand bright light 3+watts/gallon to maintain the
red or purple color that most want in their tanks.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

There is a red temple plant, but the one they sell at my LFS is the plain green hygrophila corymbosa like Dex said. They sell it as "Temple Plant" or "Giant Hygro."

The green one is an attractive plant, easy to grow, not picky with conditions. I've never tried the red one as I don't have the light for it.