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Aquarium plant Vallisneria spiral
Vallisneria spiral is most often found in nature in the subtropics and tropics in shallow bodies of water with stagnant or slightly flowing water. You can also find this plant in rivers, lakes and ponds in Europe. This is one of the most unpretentious aquarium plants, creating the image of a natural jungle for fish.
Description of the plant vallisneria
Under natural conditions, this aquatic plant forms thickets at a depth of about 1 m. Its leaves up to 80 cm long are twisted into a spiral and collected in a root rosette. In aquariums, their length is less – about 50 cm. The plant is dioecious – male and female flowers develop on different bushes. In nature, it can multiply by seeds and daughter layers. In an aquarium, they usually contain only one type of plant and propagate it vegetatively – by shoots.
Vallisneria feels comfortable in aquariums
What you need to know about Vallisneria:
- grows at a temperature of 18-26 degrees;
- growth rate curls with temperature – the higher the water temperature, the faster the growth;
- propagates by cuttings, it has daughter shoots;
- the best soil is river pebbles 3-7 mm in size, 5 cm thick;
- moderate to bright lighting; if there is little light, the leaves stretch out or, conversely, the plant becomes smaller and dies;
- When cleaning the aquarium, it is not recommended to scrub the soil directly at the roots so as not to damage them.
Vallisneria is not capricious and looks picturesque in the aquarium, creating a beautiful underwater landscape.
How to propagate the vallisneria plant
This aquarium plant is easy to propagate vegetatively. It sprouts with daughter shoots. They are carefully separated and transplanted after 3-5 leaves and roots appear. And you can give the arrows the desired direction, where the daughter processes will take root and form new bushes. It is better to do this along the back glass of the aquarium, then a beautiful green background is formed. The plant’s ability to reproduce is up to 300 new bushes per year. If the plant grows too much, the bushes are thinned out.
If vallisneria lacks nutrition, then the aquarium plant begins to hurt. She may miss:
- gland;
- calcium
- nitrogen;
- phosphorus:
- potassium;
- wrinkle.
In each case, there are visible defects on the leaves – they turn yellow, but in different ways. It is necessary to carefully observe the plant and, having identified the problem, choose the desired top dressing.
Creating favorable conditions for this aquatic plant transforms the aquarium into a green kingdom, ready to shelter underwater inhabitants.