Amazon Sword growing out of water column.

[ParaVagans]

Hi there fellow hobbyist.

I have an Amazon Sword that is planted into the substrate at the bottom of my tank and has gown out of the water column. I would just like to know if this is common? I have a 30cm (11.8 inch) high tank and the plant has grown to over 50cm (19.6 inch). I really like how it looks and would like to know if you can somehow force this to happen. I also broke one of the stems and used sticky tape to almost graft the stem back in place. Has anyone tried this and had success? I will follow up on my results concerning the sticky tape fix. 🌿

[H.K.Luterman]

Amazon swords get HUUUUUGE, I've heard up to 3 ft tall. I think pretty soon your tank is going to be nothing but a giant sword plant! 😄

Anyways, I don't think it would hurt them to have some of the leaves partially out of the water. They might start to bend and just float at the top as they get longer. 

Here's my biggest one in my 75 gallon. You can see how the very tips of the leaves are starting to bend over at the surface.

Edited June 24, 2021 by H.K.Luterman

[ParaVagans]

Wow 3 ft tall! I would be so proud to achieve that especially in my 8 gallon.😄

You have a very healthy looking Amazon Sword but mine doesn't quite look the same.
I will attach a photo to show you just how abnormal mine looks.

I am no stranger to growing garden plants indoors under lights and a common thing that happens when you don't have a strong enough light is that the plants stretch and get very lanky. I think that is what happened to my Amazon Sword but the strange thing is that there is another Amazon Sword right next to it that didn't grow in the same way, so it could also be a genetic thing?

Could you also let me know what fish that is on the right. The orange one. It looks like a cichlid of some sort. I have always wanted to get a Flower Horn.

[tnnlynch]

Not that I have a lot of experience but that looks more like a pond plant than an amazon sword.  All the ones I have kept look like the one in the corner of your tank.

[ParaVagans]

They looked exactly the same when I bought them and they were both labeled as Amazon Swords. For some reason the one on the right just shot up. Strange right?? 🤷‍♂️

[GameCzar]

Maybe its an Amazon Longsword. 😉

Sorry, D&D nerd humor. 

[tnnlynch]

Seems more of a pole arm than sword at this point.  😁

Definitely strange.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I recently learned from another forum member that Amazon Sword is also Pickerel Weed. If you image search it- it does indeed grow out of the water. I'm not positive our versions would look like this or not eventually but it would be cool if it did (purple flower). Also, in the image search I did you can see a version of Amazon that looks like what we see in @ParaVagans tank!

[ParaVagans]

On 6/25/2021 at 5:29 AM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

I recently learned from another forum member that Amazon Sword is also Pickerel Weed. If you image search it- it does indeed grow out of the water. I'm not positive our versions would look like this or not eventually but it would be cool if it did (purple flower). Also, in the image search I did you can see a version of Amazon that looks like what we see in @ParaVagans tank!

Okay this explains it. Thank you @xXInkedPhoenixX for getting to the bottom of this.
The purple flower is very beautiful, my fingers are crossed that mine flowers.

To follow up on my sticky tape experiment where I tried to fix a broken stem, I decided to just prune that leaf.

[Colu]

On 6/24/2021 at 4:51 PM, ParaVagans said:

Wow 3 ft tall! I would be so proud to achieve that especially in my 8 gallon.😄

You have a very healthy looking Amazon Sword but mine doesn't quite look the same.
I will attach a photo to show you just how abnormal mine looks.

I am no stranger to growing garden plants indoors under lights and a common thing that happens when you don't have a strong enough light is that the plants stretch and get very lanky. I think that is what happened to my Amazon Sword but the strange thing is that there is another Amazon Sword right next to it that didn't grow in the same way, so it could also be a genetic thing?

Could you also let me know what fish that is on the right. The orange one. It looks like a cichlid of some sort. I have always wanted to get a Flower Horn.

The orange fish is blood parrot cichlid

[anewbie]

It is common but there are smaller sword plants. A couple that i like are echinodorus parviflorus 'tropica' (1-3 inch) and   echinodorus sp. Kleiner prinz (5-8 inch) (not to be confused with kleiner bar a different plant); but there are ton others. 

 

Also be aware the swords have a submerged form and emersed form so when they grow out of the water the leaves will look very different. This can at time be confusing as many plants are shipped in emersed form. Many shops grow their plants emersed since they grow faster. It is common to ship them with emersed leaves - when planted underwater the leaves will slowly die off (can take months) as the plant generate submersed leaves.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@anewbie I've been buying from a seller that grows the plants out of water, and I think it's kind of fun to see how the plant changes and morphs into something almost entirely different. Specifically for me lately Bacopa Caroliniana or even more of a change Red Needle Leaf. 

[ParaVagans]

On 6/25/2021 at 7:59 AM, anewbie said:

It is common but there are smaller sword plants. A couple that i like are echinodorus parviflorus 'tropica' (1-3 inch) and   echinodorus sp. Kleiner prinz (5-8 inch) (not to be confused with kleiner bar a different plant); but there are ton others. 

 

Also be aware the swords have a submerged form and emersed form so when they grow out of the water the leaves will look very different. This can at time be confusing as many plants are shipped in emersed form. Many shops grow their plants emersed since they grow faster. It is common to ship them with emersed leaves - when planted underwater the leaves will slowly die off (can take months) as the plant generate submersed leaves.

Okay thank you @anewbie if I understood this correctly. This plant in particular (Amazon Sword) has a range of subspecies, which are likely to be able to grow emerged or submerged each resulting in a variant in the plants overall look?

Just to clarify I did buy the plant submerged and it was around the same height as the one on the left just with less leaves. 

[ParaVagans]

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been helping me solve this question and for making me feel included on my first day on the forum. I have been talking my friends and families ears off about nerm stuff and thought that it was about time that I find a community that can relate and I couldn't have found a more helpful and respectful forum. I hope that I too can become a functioning respectful part of this nermunity. 🌿🐟

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

A lot of plants will have their submerged and emerged versions and they can look very different. As I was saying above I recently got Ludwigia Red Needle Leaf- which looks nothing like needle leaves when you get it. As you can see in this pic the broad leaves are from when the seller was growing them above ground, the top portion is the growth from since it's been in my tank and supposed to eventually turn colors. (you can also see my giant sword behind it, which for whatever reason has had explosive growth in the last month, the leaves are 12-15 inches- like yours I have 2 others and they are considerably shorter 3-5")

This is a great forum with lots of people who are very enthusiastic about fish keeping and are willing to help others. Not like a lot of other places on the internet!

Edited June 25, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[anewbie]

On 6/25/2021 at 2:07 AM, ParaVagans said:

Okay thank you @anewbie if I understood this correctly. This plant in particular (Amazon Sword) has a range of subspecies, which are likely to be able to grow emerged or submerged each resulting in a variant in the plants overall look?

Just to clarify I did buy the plant submerged and it was around the same height as the one on the left just with less leaves. 

Actually it is a genus of plants and there are different species in the genus. The different species have different looks (leaves shape; colour; height and 'bushy' ness). There are red flame swords; melon swords; pygmy swords; ..... when you look at them on the web you have to be careful because some are shown in submersed form and other in emersed form so the actual look in your tank will differ. An example is queen marble sword - this plant has a very different look emersed than submersed.

[H.K.Luterman]

My big sword looked similar to yours when I first got it, with the long stems. It took a while but eventually it converted to the thicker, submerged type leaves. 

And yes, the orange fish is a blood parrot cichlid, named Igor. 

[ARMYVET]

On 6/25/2021 at 9:44 AM, H.K.Luterman said:

My big sword looked similar to yours when I first got it, with the long stems. It took a while but eventually it converted to the thicker, submerged type leaves. 

And yes, the orange fish is a blood parrot cichlid, named Igor. 

That is one awesome looking fish!!

[CalmedByFish]

On 6/25/2021 at 8:44 AM, H.K.Luterman said:

 

And yes, the orange fish is a blood parrot cichlid, named Igor. 

Perfect name. He looks like an Igor. 

[JettsPapa]

On 6/24/2021 at 10:29 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

I recently learned from another forum member that Amazon Sword is also Pickerel Weed. If you image search it- it does indeed grow out of the water. I'm not positive our versions would look like this or not eventually but it would be cool if it did (purple flower). Also, in the image search I did you can see a version of Amazon that looks like what we see in @ParaVagans tank!

I believe you've been misinformed. While their leaf shapes are similar, Amazon sword is Echinodorus amazonicus or Echinodorus bleheri.  Pickerel weed is Pontederia cordata.  Their flowers look nothing alike.

[Randall from Texas]

On 6/24/2021 at 10:51 AM, ParaVagans said:

Wow 3 ft tall! I would be so proud to achieve that especially in my 8 gallon.😄

You have a very healthy looking Amazon Sword but mine doesn't quite look the same.
I will attach a photo to show you just how abnormal mine looks.

I am no stranger to growing garden plants indoors under lights and a common thing that happens when you don't have a strong enough light is that the plants stretch and get very lanky. I think that is what happened to my Amazon Sword but the strange thing is that there is another Amazon Sword right next to it that didn't grow in the same way, so it could also be a genetic thing?

Could you also let me know what fish that is on the right. The orange one. It looks like a cichlid of some sort. I have always wanted to get a Flower Horn.

That tall one on the right looks like my Argentine sword I got from a Petco.

[Daniel]

On 6/25/2021 at 12:15 PM, JettsPapa said:

I believe you've been misinformed. While their leaf shapes are similar, Amazon sword is Echinodorus amazonicus or Echinodorus bleheri.  Pickerel weed is Pontederia cordata.  Their flowers look nothing alike.

Just agreeing with @JettsPapa, Pickerel weed (a native plant common in ditches where I live) doesn't really look like Amazon sword. As you can see in the photo above. Amazon swords flowers are small and white and Pickerel weed has purple inflorescences.

[JettsPapa]

On 6/25/2021 at 11:35 AM, Daniel said:

Just agreeing with @JettsPapa, Pickerel weed (a native plant common in ditches where I live) doesn't really look like Amazon sword. As you can see in the photo above. Amazon swords flowers are small and white and Pickerel weed has purple inflorescences.

Thank you for the confirmation, but I have a related question if you don't mind.  I've seen other references stating that Amazon swords have small inconspicuous flowers.  I have an Ozelot sword plant, which as I understand is a hybrid of two Echinodorus species.  It's flowered a number of times, but the flowers are well over 1" across (see the photo below; you can get scale from the tank rim beside the flower).  Is this not typical for other Amazon sword varieties?

Or maybe my plant was mislabeled in the store?  I've googled photos of Ozelot sword, but those show mostly green leaves with small reddish spots.  The leaves on mine are considerably darker, with darker red spots.  I don't have a photo of the parent plant, but here's a picture of one I propagated from it a while ago.  It's appearance is very similar to the parent.

 

[Daniel]

On 6/25/2021 at 12:55 PM, JettsPapa said:

Thank you for the confirmation, but I have a related question if you don't mind.  I've seen other references stating that Amazon swords have small inconspicuous flowers.  I have an Ozelot sword plant, which as I understand is a hybrid of two Echinodorus species.  It's flowered a number of times, but the flowers are well over 1" across (see the photo below; you can get scale from the tank rim beside the flower).  Is this not typical for other Amazon sword varieties?

Or maybe my plant was mislabeled in the store?  I've googled photos of Ozelot sword, but those show mostly green leaves with small reddish spots.  The leaves on mine are considerably darker, with darker red spots.  I don't have a photo of the parent plant, but here's a picture of one I propagated from it a while ago.  It's appearance is very similar to the parent.

 

 

 

One inch flowers are bigger than I have ever seen on various types of Amazons swords I have kept. It is always possible that you have particularly healthy plants! I think the plant names we see on labels are just a best guess. I have worked at a plant nursery and seen not everyone uses the same name for same plant. Sometimes hybrids are more vigorous than either parent, so it is definitely possible that your plant is a hybrid. Whatever it is, your plant is really nice!

[Hobbit]

Ooo my sword plant is flowering right now! I’ll go measure the flowers.

They are about 1 inch!

Here’s a picture of the first flower:

Whole plant:

The flowers that bloomed later than this one were a bit bigger. Some had four petals instead of three.

It was sold as Echinodorus muricatus. Sword plant ‘Murica! 🇺🇸😁

Edited June 25, 2021 by Hobbit