Restoring Apongeton ulvaceus

[Darwin88]

Hi,

I recently broke down my tank in order to start from scratch and hopefully do a better job of it this time around. I had a massive hair alage problem which I had tried to control using various mechanical methods, as well as using flourish excel but to no avail. I decided to use H2O2 to rid the tank of all algae before starting a new scape.

The algae has been obliterated. But so were the leaves of my Aponogeton ulvaceus and Amazon Sword. I expected as much from the A. ulvaceus as the leaves look very fragile, but I thought the swords might have survived. I've pruned the swords back I'll await new growth, but I'm not so attached to them that I'd be disappointed if they didn't come back.

My question is will the A. ulvaceus regrow after having all its leaves cut back to a few mm above the bulb head? I know terrestrial bulbs can fail the following season if their leaves are cut back after flowering as they need to draw next years food supplies in through the spent foliage.

The leaves were completely shredded and beginning to detach of their own accord so I pruned them all back. So, have I killed my favorite bulb plant, or do we think it'll make a mighty come back?

I'd be pleased to hear anyone's opinion.

Cheers

 

[Iain Sutherland]

Only time will tell but have faith, most plants are surprisingly resilient but it could take a loooong time.

 

[Darwin88]

Thanks, I've replanted it, we'll see what happens.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I decided to use H2O2 to rid the tank of all algae before starting a new scape. The algae has been obliterated. But so were the leaves of my Aponogeton ulvaceus and Amazon Sword. I expected as much from the A. ulvaceus as the leaves look very fragile, but I thought the swords might have survived. I've pruned the swords back I'll await new growth, but I'm not so attached to them that I'd be disappointed if they didn't come back. My question is will the A. ulvaceus regrow after having all its leaves cut back to a few mm above the bulb head?

Hydrogen peroxide is a strong oxidising agent, so it isn't surprising that it damaged the plants. The Aponogeton bulb should grow back if it was reasonably well established, and they actually grow quite quickly, so you should see new leaves fairly soon. If they don't re-appear in the next week or so, it may be in a "resting stage" when it may take a while to re-grow, but I would be surprised if it doesn't re-grow at all.

cheers Darrel

 

[Darwin88]

Yeah I've learned a lesson using that stuff. It was a last resort to be honest though.

Thanks for the reply, that's really useful. I'm quite fond of it, it's unlike anything I've come across before so fingers crossed I'll see some new shoots soon.

 

[Darwin88]

Just an update -



One A. Uvelceus coming back strong after massive H202 exposure...phew