Buce - rock or wood?

[leap]

I have some gorgeous Buchephalandra that I want to get off to the best start possible.

I can now see why it could become an expensive addiction!😛

Seems to me most mount the plant on rock. I read Vasteqs excellent article about the plant - his observation seems to be that it grows better roots on rock.

However I plan to attach it to a focal point of driftwood in a generally low tech (maybe a spot of excel) tank.

It'll be placed midway to high up in the tank so it might get more light than if it was on the bottom.

I am wondering if anyone has grown it successfully on wood?

Also - how does it cope with excel?

 

[Mick.Dk]

All Buce's, I have worked with, have grown happily on wood as well as most rock.
They are generally not fond of very high light intensity.
If plants can get their true roots into a rich substrate, they seem to grow a bit faster. But don't cover the "rhizome" (=stem), since this can make the whole plant rot and die.
All in all to be treated and cared fore like you would Anubias - which they resemble very much.
- and good luck with your Buce's.....they are gorgeous plants !!

 

[Martin in Holland]

Buce seems to grow quit easy, slow but easy. I even placed some in between some moss just by wiggling it in between the moss and it grew even faster than before, maybe it grew faster in the moss because it was closer to the light (My tank doesn't have much light), but it could also be that it could find nutrients easier in the moss than before when it was attached to a stone.

 

[zozo]

Buce is an ephyfite 🙂 so it's root system is developed to grab to suitable surfaces. Which it will do with it's bigger roots into cracks and with its hairroots on a microscopic cellular level. So if you give it time enough it will attach eventualy on any surface if there is room for these cells to grow in and cling to. Obviously it will attach faster to a rock with cracks than to a smoothly polished river pebble. In nature it is found in the splash zone of streams, i guess mainly on rocky surface.

I did the same as Martin, placed them together with moss on wood and it grows happily and actualy since there are more roots after 4 moths faster every day.
Here you see it and its nice wig of roots hanging down. (sorry for the bad pic, have to do with my phone for now)

 

[Martin_Rishøj]

Actually they are Lithophyte😉. But in the aquarium they grow just fine on most things. They also do just fine in high light if there are enough nutrients. I wouldnt recommend growing them with tomuch moss around the roots. In my experince the most important thing for them is having enough water flow.

 

[zozo]

Actually they are Lithophyte

I guess you are right.. 🙂 I've found some pictures from Borneo seeing them growing on gravel, mud or forest floor and some also on wood. But those pictures are somewhat rare to find 90% you see growing on rocks.. Now i do have no idea if this makes them facultative lithophytes or true lithophytes in disquise. I still didn't figure out what the criterion is.. Like ferns and mosses, they also can grow in rock as many other spieces of epiphytic/lithophytic plants.

 

[leap]

That looks like one very healthy Buce Martin, great root growth too. It's beautiful...what's it's name?
Interesting about them liking water flow and the splash zone in streams - mmmmm....I wonder if they like quite oxygen rich water?
After deliberating about rock or wood it turns out my tank is too narrow to take anything other than a measly thin twig! So I built up a rock face type of background and will mount the Buce's on that.
Tomorrow is the Buce day! Very excited about getting them in at last!😀

 

[Martin in Holland]

That looks like one very healthy Buce Martin, great root growth too. It's beautiful...what's it's name?

I don't know which Buce you are referring to as I have 3 different once in my tank, actually it doesn't matter which one if you want to know the name, because I'm in China and names are not often used here and that's also in my case.