Who is growing Aq. Co-Op: Red Dwarf Aquarium Lily Bulb ?

[Tom__in_Maryland]

Who is growing Aq. Co-Op: Red Dwarf Aquarium Lily Bulb ?

are you burying the bulb in substrate? can you free float the bulb ?  

is it necessary to have dirt (growing media) around the bulb ?

Can you reuse the bulb after the growth cycle, and how does that go ?

[MickS77]

2 hours ago, Tom__in_Maryland said:

are you burying the bulb in substrate? can you free float the bulb ?  

Not buried just placed on top, with the stem growth pointed up. I don't know if it will grow floating, I doubt it because its a bulb plant.

2 hours ago, Tom__in_Maryland said:

Can you reuse the bulb after the growth cycle, and how does that go ?

The bulb will send out shots you can re-plant, thats what I did. 

This is my bulbs growth over the first month it was planted.

[ChemBob]

Mine sank right away. I believe the website said the bulb may float initially, but then will sink. I set mine on top of my substrate until it had leaves. It is slightly pushed into the substrate now just to keep it in place until the roots grab hold. 

[Andy's Fish Den]

I just sat mine on the substrate, the one end had a small nub already coming out of it, that pointed up. It sprouted leaves, grew roots down into the substrate. If the leaves die back, you can leave it in place and it will regenerate itself. Good luck with yours.

[ange]

Mine is half covered in substrate and has several daughter plants ready to be separated! She was planted in early August so this is at most 3 months of growth.

[Nataku]

Yes I have them growing in three different tanks. I initially just dropped them in the tank and let them sink - one of three floated for about a day, then sunk. The others went right down. One came with a small sprout already, it was the quickest to show signs of growth, sending out several more shoots and the start of roots in about a week. Oddly enough, shoots and roots came from the same side of the bulb. I just let it go, and it figured out which way to send the roots. After the first two leaves unfurled, I pushed the bulb down so it was half buried in the substrate. And there's  where I left it. Its since grown and sent more than a dozen leaves to the surface.

The other two haven't gotten leaves to the surface just yet, but they are also in deeper tanks, and I think rate of growth is definitely affected by the amount of light getting to the plant - deeper tanks equals less light. So slower growth. Frankly I don't think that's a bad thing. In the tank with the biggest plant, I've already had to trim surface leaves because it took over more than half of the surface area of the tank! I was willing to let it have half of the tank surface, but not more than that. But a couple quick snips near the base of the stalks clears that problem nicely and the plant certainly doesn't seem to mind the trimming, it just sends out more stalks. 

[varanidguy]

Do you guys typically leave the bulb and let the plants grow to their heart's content or do you harvest the plants and save/store the bulb?

[Ben_RF]

I have them in three seperate tanks.

Two of the three bulbs sank immedietly and I was able to just let it rest on the substrate until they took root.  The third one wanted to float, but I leaned a small rock against it until it no longer wanted to float.  That one too would take root shortly.

Some came with roots and others did not.  The one with the root took off like a rocket within the first couple days in contrast to one that had no leaf or roots.  The one with no leaf or root took three weeks for it to begin to sprout.  And it grew very slowly, but eventually began to grow fairly fast once its roots hit the substrate. 

I am growing these in inert gravel that I put root tabs in, and two other tanks that I use eco complete which I also supplement with root tabs.   A while back I grew one in a dirted tank too. 

The plant will come back if it goes dorment if it was able to receive ample enough nutrition.  If you are not feeding the bulb with root tabs or other sources of nutrients, it will just burn out and die off. 

[Ben_RF]

1 minute ago, varanidguy said:

Do you guys typically leave the bulb and let the plants grow to their heart's content or do you harvest the plants and save/store the bulb?

I let mine grow in the tank with the bulb while feeding it.  That way the bulb can keep the plant going.  The big thing is I want to make sure I take good care of the bulb.  

[varanidguy]

Just now, Ben_RF said:

I let mine grow in the tank with the bulb while feeding it.  That way the bulb can keep the plant going.  The big thing is I want to make sure I take good care of the bulb.  

Anything special you do to take care of the bulb or do you simply treat it as a typical root feeder?

[Ben_RF]

Treat it like a typical root feeder and supplement with root tabs. 

[StephenP2003]

Have any of you witnessed your lily or lotus go through a die-back period like a perennial? I've had some do it and some don't.  The one that died back has recovered well:

 

 

And then there's these two red tiger lotus bulbs I got from the same source (not co-op). Right next to each other, one is giving me super red leaves, and the other one on the left -- while I still like the look -- is just way different.

[Ben_RF]

4 hours ago, StephenP2003 said:

Have any of you witnessed your lily or lotus go through a die-back period like a perennial? I've had some do it and some don't.  The one that died back has recovered well:

 

 

Absolutely! I thought it was fairly normal.  

[StephenP2003]

22 minutes ago, Ben_RF said:

 

Absolutely! I thought it was fairly normal.  

See, I was under the impression that plants only responded to changing seasons, seasons which would be constant in my tanks. 

[Dandy Pearl]

I've had a bulb from the coop for a few months now and was nervous about planting it.

No Longer! It's going in the tank tonight!

Thanks for posting!

[starsman20]

Mines been in the tank for 5 days. No sign of life yet.