# Growing emersed plants in sump - any plant I should avoid?



## Djoko Sauza (16 Apr 2022)

Are there any plants that one should avoid growing emersed with the roots in a sump? No fish would have access to the roots so I'm mostly worried about toxins leaching into the water, or something similar.

And of course any recommendations are welcome! In my case the water is very soft and nutrient depleted, light quite low and space to grow upwards limited. Pothos? Ivy? Hydrocotyle? Or even an orchid since nutrients will be so scarce?

Cheers


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## Tyko_N (16 Apr 2022)

Well this is what I have in my sump at the moment, so _Echinodorus_ obviously works quite well.




Since you don't need nutrient removal I would stay clear of the usually recommended ones, like pothos and peace lilies, and go with something a bit more easily managed instead. Hydrocotyle looks nice and flowers when grown emerged, _Phalaenopsis _orchids does well for me with just their roots in water (not the root stock, and be careful so you don't get water in the leaf bases). Other ones you could consider are _Ficus pumila_ (climbing growth and will need pruning eventually), boston ferns (might need pruning), more "aquatics" like Ludvigia and Hygrophila (which might treat you to some flowers), and mosses. If you have really low nutrient levels you can even try some carnivores like _Nepenthes _or _Pinguicula_, they would need placing above the waterline on some kind of wicking material though.


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## Djoko Sauza (16 Apr 2022)

Thanks for the detailed reply @Tyko_N  and wow, what an amazing Echinodorus! Which variety is it? Would you say it requires high humidity? Do you regularly trim its roots or let it grow wild?

At the moment I'm trying to get around 10 species (basically every houseplant and some from the garden!) to take root in water and see what sticks. I like your suggestions though, specially the carnivorous plants 😁

I came across an interesting option while researching hydroponics - foliar feeding. Something I didn't consider at all since I'm mostly an underwater gardener, it would possibly allow me to get away with using very nutrient poor water.

Am also considering growing some herbs such as basil or mint just because of how amazing it would smell during maintenance!


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## Tyko_N (17 Apr 2022)

Unfortunately I don't know which species the _Echinodorus_ is @Djoko Sauza , if anyone wants to try and find out this is what the flowers look like:



Anyway, it handles low humidity quite well provided the roots are kept constantly wet. The big plant sits in the refugium part of my sump (a good place to raise unexpected fry), so it's rooted throughout the substrate there, but I have smaller ones doing well with their roots dangling in the free water. The big plant needs to have the outermost leaves pruned of every now and then to not completely shade out everything beneath it, with the smaller ones I just remove the roots that are about to reach the bottom, removing excess flower stalks also seems to help the mother plant at low nutrient levels so could be worth doing in your case.

When I started using the sump I found that I could root the cuttings of pretty much everything I tried in there. In the early days this was mostly large quantities of _Ficus benjamina_, and now we have those everywhere in the house, so my advice is; be restrictive and use only the best cuttings so you don't get overwhelmed  Carnivorous plants tend to take longer to establish, but once they are growing they are very easy to give some foliar feed (ie some fish food). I haven't tried foliar feeding anything else, the problem tends to be them growing too much rather than to little... Here is what I have rooting in my biomedia compartment at the moment; plenty of african violets on the way in the background (no idea where I will manage to fit all those later), a small boston fern, some _Dendrobium_ orchids, a _Nepenthes x ventrata_, and a little _Pinguicula _'Tina:


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## dw1305 (17 Apr 2022)

Hi all, 


Tyko_N said:


> a small boston fern


_Nephrolepis_ spp. are rampant growers when they are happy and healthy, with very long stolons that get absolutely everywhere.

cheers Darrel


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## erwin123 (17 Apr 2022)

I have a Monstera  planted in my HOB filter - it has found the corner wall and is now creeping upwards. The other weeds (Nitrate vacuumers - judging by the amount of cuttings I have to toss) in my HOB are Polygnum 'Sao Paolo' and Ludwigia Super Red. I've very tempted to add a Ludisia Discolor to the HOB


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## Djoko Sauza (17 Apr 2022)

Thanks for the replies everyone. Anyone knows if there are some plants that shouldn't be used?


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## Tyko_N (17 Apr 2022)

Djoko Sauza said:


> Anyone knows if there are some plants that shouldn't be used?


Apart from those that quickly become huge (Pothos and _Monstera deliciosa _spring to mind) I would avoid any that prefer a dormancy period, like ivy or _Sarracenia sp._, as well as those that you can't keep low even with pruning, such as _Cyperus_ or parlour palms.


dw1305 said:


> _Nephrolepis_ spp. are rampant growers when they are happy and healthy, with very long stolons that get absolutely everywhere.


Good save Darrel, yes it's definitely one of those plants where you have to be fast with the scissors to avoid getting completely overrun. Mine is a straggler from the paludarium above the sump (having removed all the obvious ones months ago) and will be relocated once the runners start to appear.


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