A Field Trip through Florida Flora and Fauna

[Jeff Miotke]

I love this thread.

 

[HardeeParty]

One more.

Pluchea foetida:


Which has been growing slowly, completely submerged now for over a month. The top two leafs have grown entirely underwater.

 

[Koan]

introduce into the hobby for all to enjoy

Sacoila lanceolata.. Ludwigia suffruticosa

Ludwigia microcarpa

Yes please!!!

 

[HardeeParty]

Hyptis alata. One that I have unsuccessfully submerged a few times, but am trying again after finding some very young specimens in early vegetative growth, hopefully before their upland genes take root.



Ludwigia alata, well into its upland form with it’s pronounced winged stems.


Ludwigia suffruticosa. Now this is the good stuff. The ground creeping runners with tighter internodes, barely seeing any light, retain the soft stemmed growth that makes aquatic transition possible.


Ludwigia lanceolata, after a few weeks learning to swim.


Diodia virginiana. Often under appreciated, true green North American native true aquatic.


Lobelia feayana. This one I’ve been working on for a looong time. It’s emerging after months of extremely high humidity hot boxing followed by veg growth in full sun submerged in very shallow water. It’s like, a miniature Cardamine lyrata, with delicate creeping petals. It’s about double the size (overall, not leaf size) today.

 

[Koan]

like, a miniature Cardamine lyrata, with delicate creeping petals

Do you plan to tissue culture?

 

[Art]

We live close to each other. One of these days, I’d love to get a few cuttings and try growing them in my setup. Then we can see how they grow in different conditions.

 

[HardeeParty]

We live close to each other. One of these days, I’d love to get a few cuttings and try growing them in my setup. Then we can see how they grow in different conditions.

Absolutely. I owe @Burr740 some plants too and would like to send samples out to the group. @Mr. Shenanigans, have you killed what I sent you yet?

 

[HardeeParty]

Ludwigia observations from yesterday.

Ludwigia alata flower/fruit:





Ludwigia suffruticosa flower/fruit:




Ludwigia pilosa, not flowering/fruiting yet:






Suffruticosa stem mid-epic-battle-to-the-death with some Mikania scandens (also will grow aquatic, soon to reveal after trials).

 

[HardeeParty]

Ludwigia sp.





Senega sp.





Gratiola ramosa.



Drosera capillaris.

 

[HardeeParty]

Ludwigia linifolia:



Hymenocallis palmeri:



Lejeunea sp.



A fern hemisporophyte emerging amongst Taxiphyllum alternatun:



Some Eriocaulon compressum learning to swim:



My long term Lobelia feayana project growing beautifully and completely effortless underwater:

 

[Art]

Are all these ending up in your tanks?

 

[Phish Tank]

Love seeing your plant foraging! Do you do anything different when you bring in a wild foraged plant you want to add to your tank vs an emersed growth plant you purchase? Maybe an extra hitchhiker treatment?

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

have you killed what I sent you yet?

Massacred

 

[HardeeParty]

Are all these ending up in your tanks?

Not all of them, but I’m trying almost every obligate wetland species I come across. Most just like their feet wet but don’t swim. But then some surprise me. Like Senega cymosa.

A new wetland trailhead is about to open up 10 minutes from my house and I swung by yesterday afternoon to investigate. It’s pretty dry right now so there was a lot of exposed land to scour. Those tend to be the best conditions because everything is in very young vegetative growth, especially those which are typically submerged seasonally.

Senega cruciata:



Senega ramosa; the naturally occurring “miniature” S. cymosa.




Drosera capillaris:



Schoenolirion albiflorum; Florida endemic



Hypericum crux-andreae:



Sabatia grandiflora:

 

[Art]

How are you IDing these?

 

[HardeeParty]

How are you IDing these?

I use a few botanical keys. Most useful is The Flora of the Southeastern US by Alan Weakley. It’s the best regional resource.

Flora of the Southeastern US

fsus.ncbg.unc.edu

On a national level, the Flora of North America is a good all around key

FNA

floranorthamerica.org

 

[HardeeParty]

Love seeing your plant foraging! Do you do anything different when you bring in a wild foraged plant you want to add to your tank vs an emersed growth plant you purchase? Maybe an extra hitchhiker treatment?

Good question. Everything I collect goes into a heavily aerated 17 gallon storage bin of tap water in the garage before it hits a tank. I keep a shop light over it. It’s a holding tank more than anything, but it functions as a treatment tank as well.

They float for a week or so, giving them time to all adjust to similar conditions, loosen any dirt off the root structure, kill or expose any hitchhiking critters, etc. I treat the water with horticultural vitamin B1 drops (forgot the brand, I’ll find it). It contains a rooting hormone and was recommended by one of the AGA members and is (purportedly) not an uncommon practice internationally. It appears to help with rooting, anecdotally. I’ve done some control testing and while not drastic, does encourage node rooting on fresh trimmed stems when compared to a tank directly beside it without treatment. I remove all exiting roots during this time so the new structures are primed for cultivated conditions.

After a week or two, I’ll do a final rinse in a clean bin with untreated tap. Sometimes I’ll squirt some hydrogen peroxide while I’m mixing. The only thing I’m really concerned about contracting/spreading is Cyanobacteria. Especially in a hot garage where I’m always running a razor thin margin for error.

I have three farm tanks, one with straight RO, one with tap water, and one “finishing” tank that’s kept exceptionally clean to straighten up stems and make sure they’re in the best shape before leaving the farm (for sale or personal use). All tanks run co2. Fertilizer is dry salts. Lights are Week Aqua. Substrate is black diamond blasting media. The finishing tank has Fluval stratum.

 

[Phish Tank]

They float for a week or so, giving them time to all adjust to similar conditions, loosen any dirt off the root structure, kill or expose any hitchhiking critters, etc. I treat the water with horticultural vitamin B1 drops (forgot the brand, I’ll find it). It contains a rooting hormone ..... I remove all exiting roots during this time so the new structures are primed for cultivated conditions.

The only thing I’m really concerned about contracting/spreading is Cyanobacteria.

Thanks for such a thorough explanation! Hadn't heard of the B1 drops, interesting.
So cyanobacteria is the main concern. Maybe it's because I just found my very first ever planaria in my tank, but I would have assumed other critters would be the biggest problem.

 

[HardeeParty]

After a long and arduous transition, the local collections are finally getting adjusted and showing repeated healthy growth.

Ludwigia pilosa:



Ludwigia alata:








An unidentified Ludwigia hybrid sp.
The leafs maintain that convex curvature fully submerged with an olive coloration, strong textured leaf venation, and bronzing.





Murdannia keisak. Developing pale rose coloration:



Senega cymosa. The basal rosette is looking more indicitive of typical submersed growth when fully transitioned:

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

I loved the alata but it didn’t like my tank when I tried it.