Bacopa Salzmannii ID

  • Thread starter Thread starter JPog
  • Start date Start date
  • Tagged users Tagged users None
JPog

JPog

Active Member
Founding Member
Journal
Joined
Nov 2, 2022
Messages
262
Reaction score
416
Location
New York
Everyone probably has a plant that just doesn't do well in their conditions. For me that plant is Bacopa salzmannii. I acquired a few stems that were labeled simply Bacopa salzmannii and others that were the SG variant. Both of them proceeded to fall apart in my high-light (150ish PAR) tank. This has never happened to me before, I mean I've never even had a crypt melt, Scout's honor :)

Any way I had a small piece of the stem left and planted them in my lower light tank (70ish PAR) and they started to slowly come back. They have been growing since my move, but they have a very muted, dusty, speckled look. The reason I'm asking the ID is with the move everything got mixed up and I don't know which version is growing here. Don't know if it's even possible to ID from the pic, but they are growing in 70ish PAR, KH4, PH 6.2 with co2. Full EIish dosing. I'm assuming higher light and less N will make them more uniformly purple, but I'm not that familar with the plant.

IMG-0116.jpg
 
Last edited:
Ok thanks guys, do you know if the the dusty, speckled look is healthy growth or is it fert-related.
 
JPog said:
Ok thanks guys, do you know if the the dusty, speckled look is healthy growth or is it fert-related.
Click to expand...
Looks pretty normal to me.

It usually has a kind of variegated speckled look. The SG version is more uniform in color.
 
GreggZ said:
Looks pretty normal to me.

It usually has a kind of variegated speckled look. The SG version is more uniform in color.
Click to expand...
i
Thanks Gregg, good to know. Now that I have enough stems I'm going to put some back in my high-light tank (where they originally disintegrated) and see what happens. One of the fun parts of the hobby. :)
 
Hmm this is interesting to me, maybe there are more than just two variants. I grew the normal version of bacopa salzmannii and it was barely purple even under 100-120 PAR or more and CO2 in my tank. It just had a slight purplish tint.
 
Last edited:
Freshflora said:
Hmm this is interesting to me, maybe there are more than just two variants. I grew the normal version of bacopa salzmannii and it was barely purple even under 100-120 PAR or more and CO2 in my tank. It just had a slight purplish tint.
Click to expand...

Aside from the SG variant are all Bacopa Salzmannii 'Purple' or is that just a retail term and all are simply Bacopa Salzmannii?
 
JPog said:
Aside from the SG variant are all Bacopa Salzmannii 'Purple' or is that just a retail term and all are simply Bacopa Salzmannii?
Click to expand...
When you see the SG variant next to the regular version there is no mistaking them. Yours is kind of purple, which is in the normal range of color.

The SG is very purple, and pretty much the same under any level of light. I had it for a while, but couldn't find a good way to scape with it.

Freshflora said:
Hmm this is interesting to me, maybe there are more than just two variants. I grew the normal version of bacopa salzmannii and it was barely purple even under 100-120 PAR or more and CO2 in my tank. It just had a slight purplish tint.
Click to expand...
This is not a surprise. I have seen it look much different in different tanks. Really same goes for Colorata. Different shades in different tanks. Why? Who knows. Fert level? Maybe? Many plants morph a bit depending on the conditions.

Or who knows could be a few variants floating around as well.
 
Joel Armstrong said:
Excuse my ignorance here please, but when a plant is identified as a "SG variant", what does SG stand for? 😬
Click to expand...
Sorry sometimes this hobby speaks in secret codes!

It's the Singapore version. And yes they can be quite different. The Rotala Red SG is a different animal than the common variants. And the Bacopa S. is too.
 
Freshflora said:
How long do you have your lights on for in the tank with this bacopa @JPog?
Click to expand...

It's complicated, LOL. It's lit for 16 hrs, but most of that is ramp up/ramp down with probably 4 hrs under the 70ish PAR. The rest is probably 20 to 40 PAR
 
GreggZ said:
Sorry sometimes this hobby speaks in secret codes!

It's the Singapore version. And yes they can be quite different. The Rotala Red SG is a different animal than the common variants. And the Bacopa S. is too.
Click to expand...

Thanks Gregg,

I'd noticed Dennis Wong referring to the Rotala Blood Red SG Variant. I'd had a very rough guess SG may have had to do with Singapore as I believe that's where he is located, but I didn't really think my guess would be correct.

Cheers
 
JPog said:
It's complicated, LOL. It's lit for 16 hrs, but most of that is ramp up/ramp down with probably 4 hrs under the 70ish PAR. The rest is probably 20 to 40 PAR
Click to expand...
Haha cool, exactly what I was thinking though. I’ve developed a hypothesis recently that longer lighting periods can play a huge factor (at least much more than I had thought before) in plants’ coloration. So maybe that’s why your normal actually looks quite purple. Started to think this more after seeing Cheattha’s amazing colors in his tank under a normal undersized WRGB I where he also runs I think at least a 12 hour photoperiod.
 
I read somewhere that the Bocopa sp will sometimes revert to its origional form like a lot of our hybrid plants.
 
Freshflora said:
Haha cool, exactly what I was thinking though. I’ve developed a hypothesis recently that longer lighting periods can play a huge factor (at least much more than I had thought before) in plants’ coloration. So maybe that’s why your normal actually looks quite purple. Started to think this more after seeing Cheattha’s amazing colors in his tank under a normal undersized WRGB I where he also runs I think at least a 12 hour photoperiod.
Click to expand...

So there seems to be some confusion on the SG Variant. It doesn't need low N, but it still needs good light to bring out best color?
 
JPog said:
So there seems to be some confusion on the SG Variant. It doesn't need low N, but it still needs good light to bring out best color?
Click to expand...
Lower N does make it darker purple. Around EI levels I’ve noticed it to be similar in color to my Rotala Blood Red SG. Not quite sure how it responds to different lighting as I’ve always had it at 100 par plus, but what makes me think you may actually have the SG version or a third varietal is it takes a LOT of light to make the normal version that purple. Here is a pic from Dennis’s website of the two next to each other and a good example of what the normal version looked like in my tank - https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0...763784957898028215_n_600x600.jpg?v=1627926209
Although maybe under a longer photoperiod like yours (9+ hours) the normal version can get darker too.
 
Freshflora said:
Lower N does make it darker purple. Around EI levels I’ve noticed it to be similar in color to my Rotala Blood Red SG. Not quite sure how it responds to different lighting as I’ve always had it at 100 par plus, but what makes me think you may actually have the SG version or a third varietal is it takes a LOT of light to make the normal version that purple. Here is a pic from Dennis’s website of the two next to each other and a good example of what the normal version looked like in my tank - https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0...763784957898028215_n_600x600.jpg?v=1627926209
Although maybe under a longer photoperiod like yours (9+ hours) the normal version can get darker too.
Click to expand...
OK, so Dennis is calling the two in the pic you attached "The more common Greenish varietal beside the deeper purple varietal." He's not mentioning SG. So is the "purple varietal the SG variant?
 
JPog said:
OK, so Dennis is calling the two in the pic you attached "The more common Greenish varietal beside the deeper purple varietal." He's not mentioning SG. So is the "purple varietal the SG variant?
Click to expand...
Yup the purple one is the SG variant and the other one is the common salzmannii.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top