Are these plants salvagible?

[Scapexghost]

I added these ludwigia plants to my 20 gallon on Nov 12th of this year and i haven't seen any noticeable growth from them. Instead they shed most of their leaves in the first few days and got overrun w/ hair algae. I decided to remove them and try another plant but after removing them it was clear they have a pretty solid root structure so maybe i was premature in removing them. 

Its a 20 tall with a nicrew classicled w/o a timer (around 12 hours of lights), no ferts, inert gravel, hard water, and a moderately heavily stocked tank. So should i give these guys another go? Would i need a timer and ferts to care for them, or would i simply have no chance of success w/o stronger lighting or co2?

[Flumpweesel]

I'd certainly give photo 8 ago planted horizontally looks like you'll get 3or 4 stems growing up from it. 

Number 4 doesn't look to far gone either.   A couple of the others might also grow if planted horizontally they might need a bit of floating to get the roots to improve.  

That stuff grows like crazy in my tank and is pretty robust once its happy. 

[Fish Folk]

On 12/15/2021 at 8:16 AM, Scapexghost said:

I added these ludwigia plants to my 20 gallon on Nov 12th of this year and i haven't seen any noticeable growth from them. Instead they shed most of their leaves in the first few days and got overrun w/ hair algae. I decided to remove them and try another plant but after removing them it was clear they have a pretty solid root structure so maybe i was premature in removing them. 

Its a 20 tall with a nicrew classicled w/o a timer (around 12 hours of lights), no ferts, inert gravel, hard water, and a moderately heavily stocked tank. So should i give these guys another go? Would i need a timer and ferts to care for them, or would i simply have no chance of success w/o stronger lighting or co2?

First note: when you add plants to any tank, they typically take a 1 or 2-week “vacation.” Furthermore, many plants melt back before establishing new growth. I assume your tank is on a light timer? If not, you can buy one cheap at a hardware store. How many hours of photoperiod are you scheduling now? What nutrients are you adding? What is your stocking?

I think the issue is one of aquarium depth and overall lighting. What size aquarium were you planting these in? What sort of lighting is set up on it?

I have found that unless lighting is optimal, Ludwigia sheds its lower leaves in favor of top end growth. I often grow it floating on top like hornwort. But watch out for unwanted algae growth…

[gardenman]

I'm in the "If it has any healthy growth and any healthy roots, it's salvageable" school of thought. Your plants seem to have both, so to me they're very, very salvageable. I've kept worse looking plants and they've lived and thrived.

[lefty o]

they might come back. 6-8 hours of light, and fertilize. 12 hours of having the lights on is waaaaay too much.