Can anyone else not grow java fern!?!

[The endler guy]

idk what it is about java fern but I just cant grow it! I have had 3  plants but they all died (1 in my old 20 and 2 in my 40 gallon), sent out the little baby plants (4-5 in my 40 currently) idk what it is, I can grow swords, anubius and val (kind of I have one triple runner that isnt growing at all)

[JoeQ]

On 12/13/2022 at 3:36 PM, Aiden Carter said:

idk what it is about java fern but I just cant grow it! I have had 3  plants but they all died (1 in my old 20 and 2 in my 40 gallon), sent out the little baby plants (4-5 in my 40 currently) idk what it is, I can grow swords, anubius and val (kind of I have one triple runner that isnt growing at all)

Java fern will handsomely reward you if you give it regular extra helpings of potassiumà

 

Edit; also by java fern sending out babies it is essentially saying that it is stressed.

Edited December 13, 2022 by JoeQ
Added note

[Patrick_G]

You are definitely not the only one! It's pretty easy to keep alive but it's not easy to achieve perfection. I have A LOT of Java fern, at least 5 varieties. Like @JoeQ mentioned it’s a potassium hog so make sure you’re adding enough of that. It also does way better with CO2, it’ll grow without it, but I find it goes through boom and bust cycles in a low tech environment. Also, if you’re having trouble with one variety, try another. In the US the big chain shops sell tubes of emersed grown, broad leaf Java fern and I’ve found it to be one of the most difficult varieties. The medium leaf variety sold by Aquarium Co-op seems much easier. 
 

 

[Tanked]

I won't say I can't grow it.  My single attempt began with a plant I bought knowing it was in sad shape.  It began to recover, put out babies and was gone.  I have had the same poor results with Asian water ferns that were supposed to be easy starter plants.

[The endler guy]

On 12/16/2022 at 10:27 AM, Tanked said:

I won't say I can't grow it.  My single attempt began with a plant I bought knowing it was in sad shape.  It began to recover, put out babies and was gone.  I have had the same poor results with Asian water ferns that were supposed to be easy starter plants.

ill just stick with amazon swords and anubias 

[tolstoy21]

I can't stop java fern from growing. I have so much java fern I'm going to have to buy a storage unit to keep it all!

How do you plant it? What are your water params?

I literally do nothing and it grows like mad (well more of a slow, smoldering madness, cause it grows slow).

[Kurt Brutting]

I purchased my Java Fern from swaps already grown under water. It makes a huge difference than farm grown. 

[The endler guy]

On 12/16/2022 at 8:48 PM, Kurt Brutting said:

I purchased my Java Fern from swaps already grown under water. It makes a huge difference than farm grown. 

I think that may be the thing because they were all purchased from Petco/smart 

On 12/16/2022 at 7:51 PM, tolstoy21 said:

I can't stop java fern from growing. I have so much java fern I'm going to have to buy a storage unit to keep it all!

How do you plant it? What are your water params?

I literally do nothing and it grows like mad (well more of a slow, smoldering madness, cause it grows slow).

Pretty run of the mill parameters (I’ll be honest not the most responsible I only have ph and nitrogen cycle test kits, but I think I may be getting aquarium coop test strips!)

[JoeQ]

On 12/16/2022 at 8:48 PM, Kurt Brutting said:

I purchased my Java Fern from swaps already grown under water. It makes a huge difference than farm grown. 

This actually does make a huge difference,  and one of the forgotten steps that lead to success for me. Buying plants already grown submerged is much easier than buying emersed growth.

IMO emersed grown plants need your tank conditions dialed in a bit for success.  Whereas with submerged plants there is a bigger window for error. 

[tolstoy21]

I literally do nothing with mine at all. Like no care in the least bit.

The only thing I can think to test would be the Gh, as in, make sure there is at least some mineral hardness in the water. 

Also, make sure the rhizome isn't buried. 

It could also be where you're getting the plants from. I find starting with larger java ferns is easier than starting with the couple leaf ones you find at places like PetCo, etc.

What I have been doing over the past 2 years is collected and potted all the little plantlets. Often I'll leave the broken off floating leaves in my tanks to make more plantlets.

I started with 3 'mother pots' which were larger plants than on average, and that got me going . . . . I hate to admit that I recently threw out as much as is pictured here since I ran out of space for it all. But, I've since regretted that and am working on attaching everything to wood or potting it up so I can maybe sell it at a swap in the future.

Below is only half of what I have from the three plants I started with.

 

 

This is my Java Fern grow out tank!

Hey how did this picture get in here?!?

Edited December 17, 2022 by tolstoy21

[tolstoy21]

On 12/17/2022 at 10:01 AM, Aiden Carter said:

I think that may be the thing because they were all purchased from Petco/smart 

Ah, missed this.

Yeah I had similar problems with the pet-chain-store java fern. These plants were sold in tubes with moisture in them so I'm guessing not grown submerged?

I don't know enough about java fern to be able to say if emerged vs submerged matters like it does in a lot of other plants. But . . . .since java fern is so slow growing, if you have melt back, and there are few leaves to begin with, you're left with a naked rhizome.

The Coop sells some healthy java fern, as well as some other online places I won't mention by name cause I'm on the Coop's forum!

I would buy a few of them so you can arrange them in a nice clump and not have to wait forever for them to fill in. I find planting in clusters of three to be effective visually for both aquarium and garden plants.

Edited December 17, 2022 by tolstoy21

[Kurt Brutting]

@tolstoy21 your Java Fern is amazing! 

[Patrick_G]

@tolstoy21 those Tetras look prime! 😀

[tolstoy21]

On 12/18/2022 at 3:53 PM, Patrick_G said:

@tolstoy21 those Tetras look prime! 😀

I'll be shipping them again in January if anyone is interested. I'll post them here again with a 'nerm' discount like I had last time.

[tolstoy21]

On 12/18/2022 at 2:29 PM, Kurt Brutting said:

@tolstoy21 your Java Fern is amazing! 

Thanks!

I literally do nothing to care for it. I mean maybe every once in a while if I remember, I'll hit it with a fert, but other than that, it just does it's thing. 

It's also been growing and sending off plantlets now for about 2+ years. 

If there is one thing I have learned it's that java fern (and anubias) take patients. I found the way to grow them is to just forget you have them. Like buy a good sized, healthy bunch and then just forget you have them for a couple years. Then when you go back and look at what there is, you'll be like 'Holy cow, where did this all come from!?"

You can't rush either of these plants, they are definitely a 'long game'. But in that long term, you will suddenly find you have more than you know what to do with. 

I keep java fern because I have a lot bare bottom breeding tanks that get torn down and set back up and java fern is easy to just move from tank-to-tank. It's one of the few plants I keep anymore and is more a convenience thing, but I do really like it.

 

[The endler guy]

On 12/18/2022 at 6:50 PM, tolstoy21 said:

Thanks!

I literally do nothing to care for it. I mean maybe every once in a while if I remember, I'll hit it with a fert, but other than that, it just does it's thing. 

It's also been growing and sending off plantlets now for about 2+ years. 

If there is one thing I have learned it's that java fern (and anubias) take patients. I found the way to grow them is to just forget you have them. Like buy a good sized, healthy bunch and then just forget you have them for a couple years. Then when you go back and look at what there is, you'll be like 'Holy cow, where did this all come from!?"

You can't rush either of these plants, they are definitely a 'long game'. But in that long term, you will suddenly find you have more than you know what to do with. 

I keep java fern because I have a lot bare bottom breeding tanks that get torn down and set back up and java fern is easy to just move from tank-to-tank. It's one of the few plants I keep anymore and is more a convenience thing, but I do really like it.

 

I have noticed that with anubias (I’ve only had 1 ever die on me, it just melted, all the other anubias was ok I think I used to much super glue around the rhizome) anubias definitely one of my favorite plants!

I especially like how the roots will always reach the bottom no matter the height of the plant

[tolstoy21]

On 12/19/2022 at 6:48 AM, Aiden Carter said:

I especially like how the roots will always reach the bottom no matter the height of the plant

Totally agree!

I once had a bunch in some manzinita wood, about mid-tank height, and the roots all grew down in these tangles with a awesome kind of mangrovey kind of look

With java fern, on the other hand, I find that since the roots are more hairlike, when they get out of control they tend to become mulm and detritus traps. I will occasionally pull mine out and give them a hair cut (or to be more accurate, a root cut!)

Edited December 19, 2022 by tolstoy21

[The endler guy]

On 12/19/2022 at 7:04 AM, tolstoy21 said:

Totally agree!

I once had a bunch in some manzinita wood, about mid-tank height, and the roots all grew down in these tangles with a awesome kind of mangrovey kind of look

With java fern, on the other hand, I find that since the roots are more hairlike, when they get out of control they tend to become mulm and detritus traps. I will occasionally pull mine out and give them a hair cut (or to be more accurate, a root cut!)

Sounds like the one in my betta tank!

[PineSong]

On 12/13/2022 at 3:59 PM, Patrick_G said:

Also, if you’re having trouble with one variety, try another. In the US the big chain shops sell tubes of emersed grown, broad leaf Java fern and I’ve found it to be one of the most difficult varieties. The medium leaf variety sold by Aquarium Co-op seems much easier. 

In my tanks, I've had better luck with the windelov variety of java fern than the 'normal' leaf variety, and I've had the worst luck of all with the needle leaf variety--in fact I think that one has literally been one leaf the whole time I've had it. As Patrick said, they don't die, but they don't thrive. Brown spots, no new growth, sad.

I have been adding extra potassium trying to improve mine and it has helped, but perhaps I need to dose it 2x per week as I do Easy Green because they are not doing great, they are just better than horrible.

[Jungle Fan]

My Java fern experience is more like what @tolstoy21 describes, I can't keep mine from growing in places where I want it, and some where I don't. I've given lots of plants and rhizomes away now. In my experience if you want to cover a wood stump with plants in a hurry there's nothing better than Java fern, Anubias, Bucephalandras, and moss. 

[tolstoy21]

On 12/23/2022 at 4:25 AM, Jungle Fan said:

In my experience if you want to cover a wood stump with plants in a hurry there's nothing better than Java fern, Anubias, Bucephalandras, and moss.

Not sure about a 'hurry' unless you have a lot of it. Then yeah. If you have a bunch of decent sized-plants, you can get a jump start.

This is my plan, to grow out as much of the floating bits as I can and then look for some very nice large-sized driftwood pieces and connect the fern to that. Then perhaps sell or trade some of it at a swap once its firmly attached and full looking.

I'd like to make very nice pieces that you don't normally at find at most LFS's that would be like a turn-key sort of instant aquascape for folks who don't have the patients to wait for the fern to grow in.  

In the meantime, while it grows out, I'll just enjoy it in my aquariums, and as it sends off more plantlets, I'll just rinse/repeat.

I'm pretty sure this will be a no-profit/cut-even venture, but it's a much better plan than composting it!

[Rube_Goldfish]

On 12/23/2022 at 7:45 AM, tolstoy21 said:

I'd like to make very nice pieces that you don't normally at find at most LFS's that would be like a turn-key sort of instant aquascape for folks who don't have the patients to wait for the fern to grow in.

That's what my LFS does. They've got plants in pots and all, but they've recently started selling epiphytes already glued to driftwood. Sounds like a good plan.

[Jungle Fan]

@tolstoy21 Of course there are other ways to cover a wood stump but trust me for "fast: in epiphytes and rheophytes Java fern and Anubias are my choice, everything else takes a loooooooooooot longer.