Radicans Sword

[edit] Overview

This hardy and vigorous sword plant is best suited to a large aquarium.

Keep the light to under 12 hours a day to limit growth.

Don't be shy about pruning this plant to keep it tidy and of manageable size.

Sword plants are primarily bog plants in the wild but readily adapt to submersed life in the aquarium, where they will reward attention to their simple needs with healthy growth and reproduction.

[edit] Feeding

Use a deep, nutritious substrate and a fertilizer that contains iron. Sword plants accept a broad range of water chemistries and normal aquarium water temperatures. While the use of CO2 fertilization isn’t strictly necessary, what plant doesn’t appreciate the ready availability of carbon dioxide to meet its nutritional requirements? When carbon is in short supply, sword plants will use carbonates from the water, but this is not ideal.

[edit] Breeding/Propagation

Sword plants reproduce readily in the aquarium through root division, adventitious plantlets, and seed. The stalks produce flowers if they reach the surface, but the runners will produce plantlets—daughter plants—as well, especially when submersed. Once these daughter plants have a half dozen leaves, they can be removed from the runner and planted separately.

[edit] Notes

When planting, remove any damaged or yellowed leaves: they will not improve. Also, trim away any damaged or rotted roots. A quick trim of even healthy roots will stimulate them to grow better, so don’t hesitate. It is this hardiness that has made the genus famously popular even among those who find it difficult to keep plants in their aquaria.

Category: Species