Aponogeton Ulvaceus Question

[Martin]

Good morning everyone!

About a month or so ago, I had posted having problems with some of my plants dying back, among them, my aponogeton ulvaceus.  The poor thing just reached a point where it stopped producing new leaves (where it previously was growing like a weed).  I ended up trimming back a LOT of the browning leaves to where it only had 3 healthy leaves left.  Those leaves have held somewhat stable and there has been a new blade coming from the bulb that seems to have just decided to sit there.  It looks healthy, but hasn't progressed or decayed for several weeks.  I started looking into it as it is my favorite plant in the tank, and ironically, found a prior post in our very own forums here.  In the post, it mentions a dormancy period for bulb plants, which I never knew about.  Could this be what my aponogeton is going through?  If so, should I be clipping the leaves and leaving it to do it's thing?  It has been in my tank for about 3 months now and I'm really perplexed otherwise.  Thank you guys so much!

[KBOzzie59]

I'm betting on dormant period.

edit: actually read all of message.

I'd not clip anything as it will use that for nutrients while it is sleeping.

 

Edited April 23, 2021 by KBOzzie59

[anewbie]

I'd just leave it alone. This is one that tends to sleep a lot - it will eventually completely die back and then one day maybe 6 months later resprout. 2 aponogeton i have that have never gone dormant are cripus and boivinianus. I actually prefer boivinianus for several reason from a rich dark green to manageable size. Quite frankly in my tank the ulvaceus forms leaves that are sometime 30+ inches long which makes it a bit messy. It can also send up a very large number of leaves very fast. Puts my giant sword plants to shame.

[Martin]

Thanks guys, I'll just leave it be then.  @anewbie, its the crazy overgrowth of frilly leaves of the ulvaceus that I LOVE.  It's such a beautiful plant.  I will have to look into the boivinianus next time though!