Buce Box (How to easily propagate Bucephalandra and other emersed plants)

[Courtneybst]

Just to clarify, are you growing your mosses directly on lava stone or on top of aquasoil with lava underneath, it isn’t immediately obvious your method from the post.

Hey Garuf, the mosses are grown directly on lava stone.

 

[Garuf]

Ps. To add to your list.
Rotala rotundifolia variants have all worked for me if a little scruffy by their nature.
All the tropica produced hygrophila will happily grow this way and is a good way to get stems for wabi kusa.
P prospinca “mermaid weed” gets real tall
Hair grass.
Mini Christmas moss
I use any clear box with a lid I can find and leave it on the windowsill. Will move over to a led set up eventually.

 

[Courtneybst]

Ps. To add to your list.
Rotala rotundifolia variants have all worked for me if a little scruffy by their nature.
All the tropica produced hygrophila will happily grow this way and is a good way to get stems for wabi kusa.
P prospinca “mermaid weed” gets real tall
Hair grass.
Mini Christmas moss
I use any clear box with a lid I can find and leave it on the windowsill. Will move over to a led set up eventually.

Thanks! I will add those that aren't already up.

 

[greenbliss]

This thread has inspired me to try growing emersed Bucephalandra again. I tried once but they simply rotted away, with the cause of the rotting being completely unknown to me.

 

[Courtneybst]

This thread has inspired me to try growing emersed Bucephalandra again. I tried once but they simply rotted away, with the cause of the rotting being completely unknown to me.

Awesome! Possibly heat? I've had a few leaves melt when it got a bit hot.

 

[Steve Buce]

Have a look at “Another world terraria” on YouTube , you might enjoy some of his content about buce growing

 

[Courtneybst]

Have a look at “Another world terraria” on YouTube , you might enjoy some of his content about buce growing

Oh yes! I got some inspiration from him for sure.

 

[Frenchie]

Wow really informative thread. Im going to try my had at setting up something like this.

 

[Wookii]

So a quick question to the group - for emersed growing of aquatics plants using Courtney's technique, or a propogator as I plan to - what sort of level of humdity is ideal for inside the box/propagator?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

for emersed growing of aquatics plants using Courtney's technique, or a propogator as I plan to - what sort of level of humdity is ideal for inside the box/propagator?

Pretty much 100%, so that all the <"plants are beaded with water">. The problem, in the winter, is that cold air is saturated with very little water, so if that cool, wet air warms up the <"%RH falls really quickly">.

cheers Darrel

 

[Wookii]

Hi all,

Pretty much 100%, so that all the <"plants are beaded with water">. The problem, in the winter, is that cold air is saturated with very little water, so if that cool, wet air warms up the <"%RH falls really quickly">.

cheers Darrel

Thanks Darrel. I'll be using an ultrasonic mister to try and keep the humidity up inside the propagator, so I just need to know what humidity level to target to know how frequently to run it. It'll be a bit of trial and error I suspect.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I'll be using an ultrasonic mister to try and keep the humidity up inside the propagator

That should work pretty well. <"Fogging units"> are used a lot in commercial plant propagation units.

People are often worried about mould problems when they do DSM, but as long as you keep <"an eye out for Pythium">, wet is definitely better.

cheers Darrel

 

[Wookii]

Hi all,

That should work pretty well. <"Fogging units"> are used a lot in commercial plant propagation units.

People are often worried about mould problems when they do DSM, but as long as you keep <"an eye out for Pythium">, wet is definitely better.

cheers Darrel

Is that something that springtails would deal with?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Is that something that springtails would deal with?

I don't know, I'll have a look on Google Scholar*.

* I couldn't find anything specific for Springtails (Collembola)

cheers Darrel

 

[Courtneybst]

I've used springtails since the beginning @Wookii and haven't had any mold issues. This is purely anecdotal though.

 

[Wookii]

I've used springtails since the beginning @Wookii and haven't had any mold issues. This is purely anecdotal though.

Thanks Courtney, I’ll have to source some and get a starter culture on the go. How often do you need to add them to your propagator?

 

[Courtneybst]

Thanks Courtney, I’ll have to source some and get a starter culture on the go. How often do you need to add them to your propagator?

I have PLENTY if you need to get yourself going.

Initially I added some a few times and they kept dwindling, not really sure why. But a couple months ago I added some and the population has maintained and I haven't had to add any more. Possibly there is more of a food source? Not sure.

 

[Wookii]

I have PLENTY if you need to get yourself going.

That would be awesome mate if you don’t mind - I’ll drop you a PM.

Initially I added some a few times and they kept dwindling, not really sure why. But a couple months ago I added some and the population has maintained and I haven't had to add any more. Possibly there is more of a food source? Not sure.

Could you not add the rice grains directly to the propagator to sustain them, or is that likely to cause more issues?

Also when you say you found a compost substrate to be best for them, does it need to be a particular type, or would something like coconut coir work okay?

 

[Courtneybst]

Could you not add the rice grains directly to the propagator to sustain them, or is that likely to cause more issues?

I did consider this but I didn't want to introduce mold that was otherwise not there and potentially spread it. Also didn't want them to take their eyes off the prize haha.

Also when you say you found a compost substrate to be best for them, does it need to be a particular type, or would something like coconut coir work okay?

I've never actually used coconut coir for anything so I'm not sure what it's like. I just used seedling compost because there was already some in a container growing some failed Monte Carlo.

 

[mort]

If you look at terrariums they often mix a layer of carbon pellets into the substrate. I think this is there to primarily prevent smells but also keeps the substrate fresher and by providing a drainage layer can help combat mold. If you combine this with the bioactive cuc, who take care of the dead material, I think it should help keep things healthy. I had a sealed jar with some aquarium plants and just the charcoal layer and I never saw any mold. It did so well that my brother who doesn't have green fingers nicked it and even he hasn't killed it yet.