# foliar spray for immersed Riccardia ?



## Trevor Pleco (23 Oct 2013)

I'm currently growing riccardia on pieces of larva rock and wood in an immersed tank with an LED flood and spraying it when I remember. It's starting to grow really nicely, as it gets established could I start adding diluted liquid fertilizer to the spray, would that be asking for trouble or should I rather just simply use ferts from another tank's water ?


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## TOO (23 Oct 2013)

I know ADA recommend spraying with a Do!Aqua product: I think it is called Be Green. 

How do you find the emersed growth rate of Riccardia as compared to submersed?

Thomas


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## Trevor Pleco (23 Oct 2013)

TOO said:


> How do you find the emersed growth rate of Riccardia as compared to submersed?
> 
> Thomas


 
Interesting question... I'm a newbie on the riccardia front, as it was difficult to get here until recently.
With great excitement I purchased a dozen "stones" of it about a month ago. I placed them in a C02 tank to get established with strong light and good flow. However over the passed month I have seen relatively little growth and they have remained a darkish green. The riccardia I bought resembled confetti sprinkled over some stones and held together with a net, this must have been grown emersed and is presumably now taking some time to adjust to life under water. As there were many riccardia scrapings loose in the box when they arrived from abroad, I planted these emersed as described in my post and they have really progressed unlike the submerged stones. I've now moved the stones to an area of less light in the tank as I think algae was starting to get hold of them, difficult to see exactly, but the amanos look as though are feasting on the algae, hopefully not the riccardia.

Any advice on growing riccardia and the conditions it needs would be welcome..

Here's a pic of the stones after two weeks when I did see some new growth initially, but that seems to have slowed down.. perhaps my light was just too strong..


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## TOO (23 Oct 2013)

I have also heard about faster growth emersed. I have a couple Riccardia stones in Alpine Gardens, but they are really, REALLY, slow for me. Good light, lots of ferts and co2...but a great looking plant.

Thomas


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## foxfish (23 Oct 2013)

Any emersed set up I grow (lots) very rarely gets sprayed because it lives under a sealed top.
I would estimate between 2 - 4 times faster growth can be expected.
I am not exactly sure how the riccar gets its nutrition but I assume it draws up thought the substrate or from the condensation?


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## Trevor Pleco (23 Oct 2013)

foxfish said:


> Any emersed set up I grow (lots) very rarely gets sprayed because it lives under a sealed top.
> I would estimate between 2 - 4 times faster growth can be expected.
> I am not exactly sure how the riccar gets its nutrition but I assume it draws up thought the substrate or from the condensation?


 
2- 4 times faster emmersed than submerged I take it ?

Yeah, just using a glass top at the moment as the LED flood rests on it, so not 100% sealed I guess.


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## foxfish (23 Oct 2013)

Yes 2- 4 times faster but that is a very basic answer as it really deepens on what plant we are taking about & the circumstances.
In the summer I keep my emersed tanks outside  facing  west & they can get 18 hours of sunlight with high temps & high humidity.
In the winter they get a heat mat & 12 hours of artificial light.


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## Trevor Pleco (23 Oct 2013)

Ok thanks, thought you were talking about riccardia being 2 to 4 times faster emersed..


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## Trevor Pleco (2 Nov 2013)

I'm still keen to get some answers or clues as to why the riccardia I bought on stones, as shown in the pic earlier in the thread, has done very little over the passed six weeks, while everything else in this C02 tank is growing of control.. other mosses and fissidens included. If the stones were created and made up by the exporters from emersed grown shavings, is there a way one should rather gradually introduce them to a life under water, as currently they are collecting more algae than lush light green growth. I first tried them in high light areas of the tank and then moved them to areas of less light, but still no joy..


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## Iain Sutherland (3 Nov 2013)

hey trevor, looks like Riccardia Graefei to me, i wouldnt worry about it being little pieces as it is amazingly brittle and breaks when trying to do anything with it.  I had this in barb island under high light and co2 and it really struggled but in my shrimp tank it grows really well, yet others have a different experience like in georges tank.  I have found that it doesnt like being tied down tightly, when just pushed into holes in rockwork it took much better in both tanks.
Also not enough experience to be conclusive at all but i have a suspicion that it isnt a fan of heavy ferts.... like i said though its just a suspicion and like any liverwart it doesnt like overdosed liquid co2.
Its an beautiful plant when it gets going though.


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## Trevor Pleco (3 Nov 2013)

Many thanks Lain for your suggestions and wisdom... interesting !

I'm dosing Tropica Specialised, as mentioned all other plants are humming in a 760l/180Gl tank. The stones currently seem to be going dark green with more algae than new growth, so my amano squad is perpetually on them. I will move a couple of stones to another tank and see if things improve. It was imported and sold as chamedryfolia, but it may well be something else as the exporters also sent flame moss, but it was marked as Xmas. Interestingly the same import shipment also included riccardia on wood, much bigger healthier pieces and better value, which my LPS unfortunately did not get, but other folks that bought this up country have been very happy and got good growth quickly. Hence my thoughts that the riccardia sold on wood was already grown submerged and needed no adapting while the darker green shavings netted on the stones still needed to be acclimatized slowly to a life below the surface... ? However this might well be another species of riccardia, as you say.

The left over riccardia shavings that came off the net when I originally bought my stones are however doing very well in an emersed tank and being sprayed daily, as in a dsm approach.


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