Bucephalandra Study Group

[Art]

Some time ago, I fell in love with the genus, Bucephalandra. They are a fascinating group belonging to the Araceae family and primarily endemic to Borneo, in Southeast Asia. Sadly, due to man's impact, they are becoming endangered and, given their slow growth rate, this is a real problem.



I began to farm them in a 10 gallon, emersed setup and began trying to learn everything I could about the genus. This thread is my hope to enlist others that are interested in Bucephalandra so that we can share what we know and put some real thought into how we grow and protect them.

Background materials​

I was able to find some material online that gives a good background on Bucephalandra.

• Bucephalandra - All In One by Vasteq

Believe it or not, there are really only two individuals focused on scientifically studying Bucephalandra and pushing forward on taxonomy - Wong Sin Yeng and Peter Boyce. They began to publish their work in 2014.

• Interview with Peter Boyce

Like Cryptocoryne, you need to flower a Bucephalandra to truly be able to identify it. To date, only about 20 species have been identified. If you look in the trade, there seems to be over 200 species with different names. How do you know what you're getting when you buy one?? What species is that "Midnight Super Star Ghost Dressed in Brown"?

Here is a proper identification of Bucephalandra catherineae (that I believe I have in my collection).

I've added the original Wong and Boyce paper to our Resources section. They did a followup paper on additional new species of Bucephalandra that year.

My ask​

If you are interested in deepening your knowledge and horticultural expertise with Bucephalandra, please chime in here and let's start sharing what we know.

Looking forward to talking Buces with you!

 

[techman81]

Great idea Art. I'm loving Buce as well and would love to learn much more about it.

 

[BenB]

For anyone interested in Buces and in the AGA, Ghazanfar Ghori's talk at the Denver convention was excellent. It went into every detail from cultivation to identification. Go back and watch the video.

I don't have a lot of experience with them, so I look forward to everyone's comments.

 

[gnatster]

Following along. I've been growing some emersed since July. Some have gone well, some not so well.

 

[Art]

So here is the makeshift emersed nursery. Took a lot of learnings from my past and tried to set it up for stability.

Bucephalandra growing is underway.

I have three growing domes with one having humidity control. An Inkbird hygrometer is keeping relative humidity at 90+%. When it dips below, it fogs the unit. I spray a diluted spray once a day at the moment. The tiny plants are in coco core media at the moment for transitioning purposes. Later will move them to a soil + sand mixture for growing once they transition to emersed leaves.

In keeping with my DIY, living in an apartment, situation, I am planning a DIY ebb and flow table for my balcony. Anyone have any experience with this?

 

[techman81]

Go Art go!

 

[techman81]

In keeping with my DIY, living in an apartment, situation,

You must have decent sq footage to have room for all this in your apartment. The apartments I've lived in definitely wouldn't have allowed for this, In fact I would have barely had room for an aquarium.

 

[Art]

Empty nesters and took over a closet. Wife is not happy about it.

Apartment living forces you to get creative.

 

[gnatster]

Started this little setup in July '25 for Buce and other stuff.



The containers are Ikea Samla 15.25x11x5.25". I added some 1/4" vent holes. Substrate is a layer of Controsoil covered with small lava rock. From GLA root capsules individual balls of orange were placed by each plant. Springtails are used to control mold.

Dark Red Micro, one large clump that I split into 29 individual plants. My very first try at this. Looking right to left, these were planted in 6 rows of 5. I can see why Buce are so hard to ID, with all the leaf variations from this one clump.



Kedagang Red and Super Mini Ghost. I've harvested some of each for other projects.



This one has been my most problematic.

L-R
Green Godzilla, Brownie Blue, Black Pearl, and Arrogant Blue. I've lost a few to melting, and the growth has been slow. I've had better submerged growth with the Black Pearl. I had to replant this box once due to a green slime growth.




Edit: If you made it this far, thanks.

Also, I have no clue as to what I'm doing here, just winging it from a few videos and articles, mashing it up with what's on hand. Comments, advice, or a good source for clumps of sustainable plants are welcome.

 

[Art]

Also, I have no clue as to what I'm doing here, just winging it from a few videos and articles, mashing it up with what's on hand. Comments, advice, or a good source for clumps of sustainable plants are welcome.

Thanks @gnatster. This is exactly why I started this thread. I think there is very little information on how to properly keep Bucephalandra in an emersed fashion. There are a lot of "it's easy", "do the same as anubias or cryptocoryne", or "just put them in a container with soil".

I'm hoping we can get some real discussion exploring the best substrate, identification, and building up enough stock so we can trade them sustainably. I'm hoping others with an interest in learning more about these plants chime in and help out.

Once my stock transitions to emersed form, I'll be moving them to an ebb and flow setup. I'll post here my journey.

 

[techman81]

Thanks @gnatster. This is exactly why I started this thread. I think there is very little information on how to properly keep Bucephalandra in an emersed fashion. There are a lot of "it's easy", "do the same as anubias or cryptocoryne", or "just put them in a container with soil".

I'm hoping we can get some real discussion exploring the best substrate, identification, and building up enough stock so we can trade them sustainably. I'm hoping others with an interest in learning more about these plants chime in and help out.

Once my stock transitions to emersed form, I'll be moving them to an ebb and flow setup. I'll post here my journey.

I'd love to start working on a set-up in the basement, but I have to get half of it remodeled for aquariums first, and then the non-finished side reorganized to make room for such things.

 

[Art]

So, when I was growing cryptocoryne, there was a lot of talk about substrate. Some of the dark water species had to be grown in very acid substrate to get optimal results. I remember having to hunt down beech tree litter and mixing that with sand and laterite.

I haven't seen the same type of experimenting with Bucephalandra. Perhaps it's because people assume they are epiphytes and so substrate doesn't matter?

 

[Art]

I'd love to start working on a set-up in the basement, but I have to get half of it remodeled for aquariums first, and then the non-finished side reorganized to make room for such things.

More reason for the remodel is always good.

 

[gnatster]

I spray a diluted spray once a day at the moment

What is your concoction?

I was using APT Dew, but my bottle had floaters, and I was advised not to use it. I've been putting two drops of APT 3 in a quart spray bottle with RO water. Mist every few days.

 

[snowballs99]

I actually started a few months long journal plantedtank on growing buce emersed.

My experience was it wasn't worth it due to how easily they can get mold/fungus randomly. It's also very hard to properly classify them and their colors emersed as they all look too similar.

They just look more impressive submersed, which is why the hobby likes them.

It's why I'm attempting to try them in no tech set ups with only a good light and aquasoil. I believe that should let you keep the most amount of species and the least amount of cluttered wires.

 

[techman81]

Once my stock transitions to emersed form, I'll be moving them to an ebb and flow setup. I'll post here my journey.

I was going to ask, if mold is an issue, why bother with a substrate, why not just grow hydroponically. I then saw that you're addressing this with "ebb and flow"setup.

 

[anewbie]

I have several varities growing in blackwater and they seem to grow much faster in blackwater conditions (ph 4.6 to 5.5 and ec 20 to 40); haven't noticed a temperature making a different. I have several growing emersed but my setup is not sophisticated. Unfortunately i haven't paid attention to species and i'm frequently unsure if a plant sold as a species really is that species. kedang for example look very different. Recently in one tank i noticed 4 to 6 flowering. While not unusual for submersed buce and anubia to flower the rate seems a bit higher. My tanks are fish tank for sa blackwater fishes so i don't do things like co2 injection or add much if any fertilizer still the plants seem to find enough.

 

[HarryL]

I have a hard time keeping the kedagang red algae free. I have them for over a year now, grew these from 3-4 stems. They look pretty good on the surface, but covered by algae underneath. I'm thinking it's the decaying leaves and roots down there causing this but I do vaccum them everytime I do water change.

 

[gnatster]

I was going to ask, if mold is an issue, why bother with a substrate, why not just grow hydroponically.

Some suggest growing directly on egg crate with submerged roots. I'm going to try that with my next batch.

 

[gnatster]

Discussion with a person who brings in large amounts of Buce. Buce talk starts at ~6:45.