Immersed to Emersed...

[Toobit67]

I know that converting a plant from emersed to immersed will cause some die-back or melting until the plant becomes accustomed to underwater life.... but what about the reverse?

I have a couple of Anubias nana that have been growing well immersed..  that i want to put in my new tank where they will be Emersed... what can I expect?

[Biotope Biologist]

Any disturbance will start with shock but in my experience Anubias species prefer emmersion over immersion. I suppose it depends on the medium you will be transplanting to, but I wouldn't expect much issue. 

[Jungle Fan]

Once your Anubias nana will reach the surface, at which point it will develop leaves with a shiny, waxy surface layer, the emersed form of its leaves, it will then also be able to get a supply of CO2 from the ambient room air which contains a higher percentage of CO2 even than water that is supplied with extra CO2 fertilization, it will be closer to the light source, and it will then be able to convert all of this into extra growth as long as you are still dosing liquid fertilizer so that the plant can still uptake the other necessary nutrients for growth  with its roots that are still in the water.

[gardenman]

You just have to keep the humidity very high. And I mean very high. Commercial producers will be misting the plants on a very frequent basis. There are YouTube videos showing both Tropica and Dennerle's greenhouses and production systems. Tropica uses greenhouses within their greenhouses to trap even more humidity for many of the plants. 

[Toobit67]

4 hours ago, gardenman said:

You just have to keep the humidity very high. And I mean very high.

Is that particular to Anubias, or does that go for any emersed plant?

[gardenman]

13 minutes ago, Toobit67 said:

Is that particular to Anubias, or does that go for any emersed plant?

Any emersed aquarium plant needs high humidity. Cory showed some he was growing emersed a while back in a video under a humidity dome. Commercial growers grow them in a greenhouse with misters, and sometimes even in a greenhouse within the greenhouse for those that really need extra humidity.

[Jungle Fan]

@gardenmanhas a very good point about the misting. Anubias in all its varieties is a bog plant that grows along the banks of rivers, and creeks in a semi-emerse state, meaning it can be either submersed during the monsoon season and flooding, or emersed during draught; regardless of season humidity in these locations is generally high. Many who grow Anubias in a paludarium with part water and a land portion use misters operated with distilled water to recreate jungle climate. Tropica also injects the air in its greenhouses with extra CO2, as do most plant growers, aquatic, or regular nurseries. Another point to remember is also that Anubias, the closer it gets to the surface and the more it is exposed to high light has a tendency to attract and get covered with algae, and by the time it naturally emerges above the surface through growth it can be well covered in such. Those who intend to use Anubias in paludaria generally do plant them at the desired location from the start, and the natural appearing algae is either mitigated by shade from plants above, or because the lights on a paludarium are generally located higher above the water surface because of the land portion above and the light level at the water surface  is therefore only at the Anubias preferred low to mid level,