# Bucephalandra project



## Hanuman (14 Mar 2019)

I have a shipment of bucephalandra arriving in a week or two. Around half os a kg of various species. I do not wish to make a scape with them but rather simply farm them perhaps for resale or even maybe simply exchange. The point is to propagate them and share it with others. Nothing serious really but wish them to grow a decent rate (yes I know buce grows very slow). The point is I just want to avoid adding on myself more work than necessary which is what will happen if I do a scape with them.

So here are my constraints. I only have a 60cm tank available. I also have an outdoor patio but really not much space outside. I also live in Thailand so temperatures here can get high. Lately reaching 36°C (96.8°F) in the shade. Ambient humidity is around 50% to 60%.

How would you guys recommend I set things up? Use that tank or something else? Grow them emerged or submerged? I am open to any suggestions even if that involves not using that 60cm thank. I just want to keep it simple and low maintenance where possible.

Here is a quick video on my place and available space.
*Outdoor*: the space you see on the left when passing the house gate is the parking for the car so I can't use that space. Only available space would be where you see the round terracotta pond with plants and small fishes.
*Indoor*: The 60cm tank I am talking about is the one on the left after entering the home door next to the Buddha head.


Any specifics you can share would be appreciated. I need ideas as I can't get my head around on how to do this the most efficient way possible.

Thanks in advance for your contribution.


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## Edvet (14 Mar 2019)

I think the best would be in a shallow tank tied to some lava stone with the stones submerged and the plants partially in the air. Use a cover to keep humidity high, and only give the some dappled light/mostly shadow.


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## X3NiTH (14 Mar 2019)

Half Kilo! That's a lot of Buce.

Do it vertically and build a living epiphyte wall, the wall behind your pond looks like an excellent space for it.


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## Hanuman (14 Mar 2019)

Edvet said:


> I think the best would be in a shallow tank tied to some lava stone with the stones submerged and the plants partially in the air. Use a cover to keep humidity high, and only give the some dappled light/mostly shadow.



That’s what I was thinking. At least that tank could be used for that and would not require addition investment. I also did buy some sort of propagator plastic container just in case. It was rather cheap but I guess the 60 cm tank I have should suffice. The good thing about growing emersed is that it would not need co2 injection and they would probably grow faster.


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## Hanuman (15 Mar 2019)

X3NiTH said:


> Half Kilo! That's a lot of Buce.
> 
> Do it vertically and build a living epiphyte wall, the wall behind your pond looks like an excellent space for it.



Not sure it’s suitable for buce. Buce leafs require at least a high level of humidity and roots need to be soaked. Plant also needs lower temperatures. It would require that I install misters with constant spraying. If misters fail it’s just a matter of hours before the buce die concidering the heat here. Thinking it twice not sure growing them outdoor would be a good idea unless in a suffciently big greenhouse where one could lower temperatures by increasing humidity.


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## Kalum (15 Mar 2019)

I'm considering taking some off cuts from my main buce tank and trying to grow them out in my spare quarantine tank, @Edvet suggestion sounds good but I'm wanting to be a bit lazier with it and not needing to keep an eye on water levels so thinking about running very high co2 levels since no live stock


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## Hanuman (15 Mar 2019)

Well if you put some corse sand/volcanic rock sand, enough water and partially cover the thing I don't think you will need monitoring water levels. The thing is with high co2 levels dissolved in water you will need higher lighting requirement = higher bills. Personally I want to make it as low tech as possible and use co2 available in the air but if not possible then I'll do like you.


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## Kalum (15 Mar 2019)

You can happily have a high co2 and low light setup which is how I'm running my current tank, it's the light that determines the minimum co2 levels and not the other way about thankfully


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## Hanuman (15 Mar 2019)

True, still it requires hardware etc etc. Without Co2 and growing emersed all that is taken care by the all-mighty


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## Kalum (15 Mar 2019)

This is very true, there's a few on here that are attempting buce experiments so it will be interesting to see how everyone gets on as all seem to be doing things quite differently. 

I'll stick a journal up when i get mine on the go as well and i'll keep an eye on what you decide and how you get on

I've found this to be really helpful and my current buce tank seems to fit in with what is listed here: https://www.advancedplantedtank.com/bucephalandra.html


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## Hanuman (15 Mar 2019)

Thanks for the link. I scrolled through pretty quickly just to check it and it seems pretty interesting. Will definitely read later tonight. I am inclined to take the least complicated approach that yields the maximum output. Not sure what that is yet but I have the feeling that link you sent will help provide some answers. I have also yet to talk with the farmer sending me the bucephalandra for him to give me some recommendations on growing buce. I will probably split part of the shipment I will receive between my project tank and my main display tank. This is to have a reference for growth speeds and development.

This is a picture that the farmer sent me earlier today. This is only part of the shipment that I will receive:


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## Kalum (15 Mar 2019)

Soo jealous! Would be good to hear what they have to say about their own set up if they are willing to share


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## Steve Buce (15 Mar 2019)

Kalum said:


> This is very true, there's a few on here that are attempting buce experiments so it will be interesting to see how everyone gets on as all seem to be doing things quite differently.
> 
> I'll stick a journal up when i get mine on the go as well and i'll keep an eye on what you decide and how you get on
> 
> I've found this to be really helpful and my current buce tank seems to fit in with what is listed here: https://www.advancedplantedtank.com/bucephalandra.html



 Interesting read


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## Ray_Norwich (17 Mar 2019)

I've been growing a few varieties of buce and anubias on little pieces of wood and rock in bell jars and they do really well with lush healthy growth.  They stay humid all the time, get a spray of rain water a couple of times a week and a squirt of orchid mist once a week.


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## alto (17 Mar 2019)

Hey Ray
(sorry I couldn’t resist  )
can you do a pic with the bell jar as well

I think it’s so easy for people to glance at the photo and forget the jar


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## Hanuman (17 Mar 2019)

Ray_Norwich said:


> I've been growing a few varieties of buce and anubias on little pieces of wood and rock in bell jars and they do really well with lush healthy growth.  They stay humid all the time, get a spray of rain water a couple of times a week and a squirt of orchid mist once a week.



Nice. I was thinking of adding a few buce to my new wabi kusa but thinking twice it might not be a good idea as I intend to leave that wabi kusa open.

This means you just gave me the idea of a new project. A closed jar with Bucephalandra. ahah Can you show the jar with the bell? Also what sort of lighting are you using on top of it?


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## Steve Buce (24 Mar 2019)

Buce in a bell jar looks pretty neat


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## Hanuman (26 Mar 2019)

Did anyone noticed the wood looks like a bunny or an animal of the sort?


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## alto (26 Mar 2019)

I needed that laugh


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## Ray_Norwich (26 Mar 2019)

Hanuman said:


> Nice. I was thinking of adding a few buce to my new wabi kusa but thinking twice it might not be a good idea as I intend to leave that wabi kusa open.
> 
> This means you just gave me the idea of a new project. A closed jar with Bucephalandra. ahah Can you show the jar with the bell? Also what sort of lighting are you using on top of it?




 
Sorry for the delayed response!  I've had them growing with just natural light, under a desk lamp and on this shelf that has a Twinstar 600s rigged up.  They do fine in all of these settings but really perk up under the Twinstar


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## Ray_Norwich (26 Mar 2019)




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## Hanuman (26 Mar 2019)

Ray_Norwich said:


> Sorry for the delayed response!  I've had them growing with just natural light, under a desk lamp and on this shelf that has a Twinstar 600s rigged up.  They do fine in all of these settings but really perk up under the Twinstar



You mist them everyday or open the jar regularly?

*EDIT*: scrap that. You already answered that before. Curious though how big is the jar?


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## Hanuman (28 Mar 2019)

Here is some update on the project.

I received all the bucephalandra plants by post on Tuesday. It took 7 days shipping from Indonesia. Here is what I got.
Bucephalandra "Green Spot"
Bucephalandraa "Melawi mini leaf"
Bucephalandra "Melawi"
Bucephalandra "Deep Purple"
Bucephalandra "Lamandau"
"Bucephalandra Moss"
Crepidomanes
Borneo Fern (Trident )

Here some pictures:





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


I got to talk to my bucephalandra grower. Here are some of the recommendations. This is what I was told so please don't shoot the messenger if you disagree with something:

*Temperature*: 26-28 °C (78.8-82.4 °F) for best results;
*Co2*: advisable. If no high-tech Co2 setup it is better to keep temperature below 28C and still inject Co2 with a DYI fermentation kit or the like;
*TDS*: under 100 is optimal; max 250;
*PH*: 5.5-7;
*Light*: medium lighting for optimal results;
*Fertilizers*: standard balanced NPK + Fe.
*Water*: preferably use RO water or rain water, this is to help keeping TDS under 100;
*Substrate*: use any kind of nutritious substrate. Aquasoil or the like will be fine as long as it buffers ph to 5.5-7. Bucephalandra feeds primarily from roots.
*Submerged growth benefits*: colorful leafs; flexible leafs;
*Emersed growth benefits:* fast(er) growing, less colors, stiff leafs.
*Before adding to tank*: wash plant throughly with tap water. Then do a 10/15 min potassium permanganate bath or hydrogen peroxide. Wash thoroughly again.

*Recommendations*: grow submerged due to it being easier and less prone to mold and bacterial infection. Emersed growth requires good ventilation and high levels of humidity. Growing emersed requires good husbandry to avoid mold and bacterial development. Plus if the plant is already in a submerged form it will require quite some time to adapt if brought to be emersed. Bucephalandara might fail to adapt completely and melt or even die if humidity is too low. It will also depend on variety. Some are more resilient than others.

Overall, if temperature, TDS, PH, light and co2 are not optimal then fertilizing won't do much.


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## Hanuman (16 May 2019)

Just wanted to give some quick update on the project.

The buce have been adapting slowly to their new environment but everything seems to be picking up now. Most clumps and rizhoms are producing new leafs. I have even spotted some flowers. Depending on the specie, meltdown has been more or less extensive. I suspect those species that have experience serious meltdown were not grown by the grower but collected in the wild and sold as is without propagation. I contacted the grower and after insisting my suspicions were actually correct. I was initially unaware of this. This is to show that there are still some people who care little about preserving the habitat of the plants.

Anyhow I have added 1 mid-sized zebra nerite snail and a dozen of cherry shrimps to help keep the tank clear of algae. I never feed. The tank also is filled with pond snails that also help keep things nice and clear. I have also added plant cuttings on the surface (as floating plants) from my other 2 tanks to absorb excess nutrients produced by snails, shrimps and contained within the substrate. I have also added a 100ml bag of Purigen in the filter to keep the water crystal clear and excess dissolved organic matter. Plant cuttings I have added are:

1. Ludwigia palustrus
2. Ludwigia repen
3. Rotala indica "red"
4. Rotala indica "green"
5. Hygrophilia Polysperma "Rosanervig"

They all produce long roots. I will be removing those cuttings progressively as they are growing fast and preventing light to get through to the Buce. I will share some pictures later on today when I get back home.

I also wanted to share this < channel I found on Youtube > on how to grow Buce emersed. I am sure this will be of help to those wanting to grow Buce that way. Videos are very informative in my opinion.


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## Edvet (16 May 2019)

Nice link


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## Hanuman (16 May 2019)

Here go the pictures:


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## Steve Buce (17 May 2019)

Thanks for the link


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## Hanuman (27 Sep 2019)

Not much updates here because this project has not gone the way I wanted it but that's because of my ignorance.

There was a lot of melt down for the first couple of weeks due to adaptation. Most plants then stabilized and started producing new leafs but they remained small and white/pinkish for a long time. This clearly was due to a severe deficiency which I ignored and only started to deal with around 2 months ago. Since then plants have started flowering regularly but the shoots with the old small leafs have not changed in size. I think I need to trim those to allow the buce to produce new leafs.


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## X3NiTH (29 Sep 2019)

Hopefully they bounce back, it can take a while though.


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## dw1305 (29 Sep 2019)

Hi all,





Hanuman said:


> remained small and white/pinkish for a long time. This clearly was due to a severe deficiency which I ignored and only started to deal with around 2 months ago. Since then plants have started flowering regularly but the shoots with the old small leafs have not changed in size. I think I need to trim those to allow the buce to produce new leafs.


I'd definitely leave the old pale leaves on.  The reason they haven't greened up is that they were deficient in a non-mobile element (presumably iron (Fe)), but Aroids only produce leaves very slowly and removing these will remove some photosynthetic tissue.

I'm pretty sure pruning won't make them produce leaves any more quickly, and eventually the plant will shed them, when it's ready.

cheers Darrel


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## Hanuman (30 Sep 2019)

dw1305 said:


> I'm pretty sure pruning won't make them produce leaves any more quickly, and eventually the plant will shed them, when it's ready.


Thank you Darrel.

I was not expecting the plant to produce leaves more quickly by pruning. I though that by pruning it would allow the plant to focus its energy into producing healthy leaves rather than maintaining crooked ones.

I will do as advised.


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## dw1305 (30 Sep 2019)

Hi all,





Hanuman said:


> I though that by pruning it would allow the plant to focus its energy into producing healthy leaves rather than maintaining crooked ones.


 Possibly but plants are usually pretty good at focussing their resources to gain maximum photosynthetic advantage. When the plant is ready it will withdraw any mobile nutrients and then shed those leaves.  

If it had been a mobile element the plant could have moved the deficient element into the leaves and plant would have greened up, but because it was a non-mobile one there isn't anything the plant can do to make the leaf greener. 

It is probably still a net contributor to plant health. 

cheers Darrel


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## Onoma1 (30 Sep 2019)

Hanuman said:


> I also wanted to share this < channel I found on Youtube > on how to grow Buce emersed. I am sure this will be of help to those wanting to grow Buce that way. Videos are very informative in my opinion.



Sorry to hear about the problems you have experienced.

I tried out the approach suggested in the Another World Terraria video about six weeks ago with some pieces of Buce (that were performing poorly in the tank) as an experiment to see if I could revive them. It seems to be working out reasonably well - if very slowly. I made a few changes to the suggested approach based on what I had available and some additional advice on this forum on cultivation of Buce:

1. Used  sterilized (microwaved) John Innes Number 3 rather than the substrate suggested;
2. I placed the Buce in a sterilized clip lid tupperware container;
3. I used an Ikea Krydda cultivation unit with very extended photoperiods; and 
4. I sprayed with Canna Rhizotonic at the start.

Initially, the leaves started to slowly die back, however, new ones slowly formed below the old leaves. The picture below has two types of Buce in it. The one to the left was a piece of Biblis. The new emersed leaves  on this one look more like Buce Pygmaea.  The other piece came from e-bay as 'Pear'. The leaves  on the second piece retained their original shape, however, are much larger.

At the moment I think this is working reasonably well and I will leave it be for a few more months to see how it develops.  I am clear that it doesn't look as lush as the ones on the Youtube but hope that a bit of patience may be rewarded.  

If you are experiencing problems - and you have invested so much in your Buce - I would suggest trying out this approach with a few fragments.


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## Hanuman (3 Nov 2019)

Onoma1 said:


> If you are experiencing problems - and you have invested so much in your Buce - I would suggest trying out this approach with a few fragments.


Problem is that growing them emersed makes them less attractive to the aquaria hobby. If for use in a terrarium it's fine but if the plan is to reintroduce them to the water then the plant will need to readapt again.

So far what I have noticed is that some buce species adapt better than others at being fully submerged. Perhaps in their habitat some species are more exposed to being seasonally submerged than others. The two Melawi species I have are the ones which are struggling the most at producing new leaves under water. Also those two as well as the Deep Purple were grown emersed when I purchased them which explains why those 3 species have lost most of their leaves.


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## tiger15 (3 Nov 2019)

Are there any Buce you can collect in Thailand, or they are endemic in Boneo?

I can't resist to comment that the Buddha head is too overwhelming drawing attention from the tank.  A small one or one that can sit inside the tank would be nicer.


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## Hanuman (3 Nov 2019)

tiger15 said:


> Are there any Buce you can collect in Thailand, or they are endemic in Boneo?


Bucephalandra are endemic to Borneo so they can't be found in Thailand.



tiger15 said:


> I can't resist to comment that the Buddha head is too overwhelming drawing attention from the tank. A small one or one that can sit inside the tank would be nicer.


I bought the Buddha head from a collector many years ago so it was only placed there because I had no where else to put it considering its weight and size (41 Kg). It was in a box on the floor after we moved in, and that alone for a buddhist is sacrilege. Buddha should always be placed above other things and never on the floor. Also you will never see Buddha heads in temples or people houses. You will always see a full body Buddha. A Buddha head-only is considered disrespectful and using it as a decorating object is rather objectionable (from a buddhist stand point), so putting it in a tank is a no go.
I have removed the Buddha head from where it was as I have found a new place to put it. Now I have my wabikusa and other plants sitting next to the buce tank.


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## Hanuman (3 Nov 2019)

And here is a picture I took today. Flower trio.


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