aponogeton ulvaceus flowers and seeds

[Coldsummers]

Hi everybody, does anybody have experience propagating ulvaceus? Our plants have lots of flowers and i've been brushing them. One of the stems looks like it has seeds. Could somebody help me identify if these are seeds or not please. Also should i be keeping flowers in the water or out of the water? The one stem that looks like it has seeds the stem has started getting very soft and turning brown. The third picture was from 2 weeks ago Any advice is appreciated thanks!

Edited November 3, 2020 by Coldsummers

[Daniel]

Those are at least mature ovaries and probably seeds. They don't look like mature seeds (yet). I would let them go a little longer. Some people store the mature seeds in a dry place for a week or two, some just let the seeds fall the bottom.

[Coldsummers]

Thanks! I have the flowers up out of the water at the moment do you rhink thats okay or should i have them float around in the water? I moved them out because there's a strong current at the top 

[Daniel]

I would leave them in the water especially if that is where the plant put them.

[Green Thumb Aquariums]

I haven't had this particular plant flower, but I have had a similar stalk-style flower. I found that the flower itself needs to be out of the water. In one test when I left the end of the stalk in the water, the stalk kept growing longer and longer with no actual flower appearing. After the stalk was 5+ feet long, I supported the end of it out of the water and then the outer covering at the end dried up, split, and the flower emerged. Another time, as soon as the stalk was long enough to support the end out of the water, I took it out and again the flower emerged despite the stalk being very short this time. I've got a third stalk growing that I'm just about to support out of the water.

I suspect in nature the plant sends the stalk straight up until it emerges from the water and then it flowers. Perhaps the plant and/or stalk have more support in their natural environments. Or maybe there's enough other plant matter at the surface that the flower can rest on. It makes sense to me that the pollen would need to stay dry if it's to pollinate anything. 

[Coldsummers]

I have had two other stalks come up and the flowers have emerged from the cover. They're growing straight up so i left those two next to each other in the water to see if they do better that way