Re: [AGA-Member] Echinodorus Ozelot Propogation?

["S. Hieber" <shieber@yahoo.com>]

You have several options.

You can allow the plantlets to grow in place until they are
a few inches in length and hae some roots developed, then
separate them from the stalk. I find the easiest way to do
this is to pry the plantlet at the base -- they then break
away rather cleanly. Usually there will be several
plantlets at eachnode on the stalk. The separated plantlet
can then be treated like any other juvenile ozelot. You can
leave the plantlet floating or plant it in substrate so
long as there is adequate nutrition and light, it will
continue to grow. Of course, it can more easily obtain CO2
if is floating than if it is submerged in an aquarium
without added CO2.

You can remove the staqlk from the parent plant. If the
stalk is outermost on the base, you can probably pry it
away as you would an out leaf. (You can also cut with a
small sharp blade but they pry away easily.) If it is not
outermost, and you do not wish to prune away the outer
leaves, you can cut the stalk as close to the base as
possible. If the parent plant is robust, the deterioration
of the attached stalk remanant should not harm the plant.

You will find the stalk to be much tougher and "woodier"
than an ordinary petiole. You can lay the stalk along
substrate, cover the roots, or cut the stalk into several
pieces and do the same with each of those -- even cut near
each node to separate each node form the others. Some folks
like to cut about an inch away from each node because the
sort piece of stak on either side of the node can help hold
the node in place in the substrate -- the roots sometimes
being too short to hold the 
plantlet(s) in place.Unless the plantlets are very small, I
prefer to separate them from the stalk, lest I end up
planting several plantlets (at one node) in one place.

If you submerge them, be sure that the are not in shade.

With an abundance of the little gems, I sometimes place a
few midlevel in the aquarium, wedged gently in place in the
crooks of driftwood. This I do purely for the appearance,
once the plant grows closer to full size, I will move it to
the substrate, so that it has more room to reach full
height.

RE temperature, these swords do well in a wide range of
temps and reportedly will endure a range of about 60F to
90F. I have never tried to grow them at the extremes.
However, if I expected high temps, and I was trying to grow
them out, I would probably leave them floating in tank that
had enough cover to keep the leaves facing the air mosit.
At higher temps there will be less CO2 in the water so
floating will help provide them CO2. I would expect things
to get dicey if the temp went past 90F.

I you are keeping them outside in, say a bucket, you might
try setting teh bucket about halfway into the ground to
moderate the water temperature.

Hope that is some help.

Good luck, good fun,
Scott H.
--- Kirsten Klinghammer <klingham@pacbell.net> wrote:

> I have a beautiful Echinodorus Ozelot which has been
> putting out flower
> stalks.  Although the plant is in a covered 38 gallon
> aquarium and couldn't
> grow much above the water surface, I thought I would see
> what would happen
> if I left the flower stalks be.  Much to my
> [inexperienced] surprise, small
> plantlets have been growing from the flowering nodes! 
> They look lovely in
> the tank, but it's getting to the point that they need to
> be moved out so
> that other plants will get enough light.  
> 
>  
> 
> How can I best support the growth of the Ozelot
> plantlets?  My thought at
> the moment is to cut off the flower stalk below the last
> plantlet (maybe
> it'll keep producing more?), then move the plantlets into
> a paludarium for
> mostly-emersed growth.  The paludarium isn't set up yet,
> but it will be
> outside on the deck under shade, and I expect a
> temperature range in the
> tank to go between 68-100 degrees Fahrenheit (likely
> daily) during the time
> I plan to have it set up this summer (here in sunny, hot,
> Northern
> California).  I'm hoping the temperature range will be
> okay, as I don't have
> any other good place to put these plants. 
> 
>  
> 
> When I move the plants, should I plant them in soil, peat
> pots, fluorite,
> gravel, sand, or some version of rock wool and plastic
> mesh pots?  I have
> friends who are interested in some of these young Ozelots
> once they get
> established, so I want to be sure that they will
> transplant easily.  Also,
> should I let them grow connected for a while longer after
> moving them (there
> are four or so plantlets per stalk), or should I cut them
> apart when I move
> them?  
> 
>  
> 
> I've been trying to look through the archives, my planted
> aquaria books and
> magazines, and on the internet to find more information,
> but I haven't found
> what I'm looking for.  I would welcome your comments.
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you!
> 
>  
> 
> Kirsten
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> ****
> 
> Kirsten Klinghammer
> 
> Rescue, California, USA
> 
>  
> 
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> 


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