Propagating pennywort

[Sasquatch]

We bought some pennywort a little while ago and introduced it into our tank.

In our 10g ... it's not doing so hot. I planted three stems and they slowly lost their leaves and rootlets. They're starting to come back slowly, there are a few new leaves, but it's slow.

It's quite a different story in my 5g. I planted 5 stems in there and they took off. I've got two stems right now that pretty much cross the tank. Makes for a very nice arch effect in the tank because the stems are on opposite sides.

So I'd like to take some of the pennywort in the 5g and transfer it to 10g. I'm unsure about how to do this ... is it similar to the way I propagate my hygrophilas?

I've also had problems getting the stems to root. The bottom node tends to rot and the stem eventually breaks off. This happened in both tanks, but was more of a problem in the 5g. I'd like to avoid this problem in the 10g ... will leaving the rootlets intake help rooting?

Thanks for any advice.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

All stem plants propagate pretty much the same way, simply clip and plant.

[Evil Slimy]

In my experience it's difficult to have it root underwater. I don't know what specie you have, but I have brazilian pennywort in 3 tanks and in all 3 it does not like to grow roots beneath the substrate. It does however grow quite a few 'air roots' and does well as a floating plant.
To propagate it just cut off a piece of it.

[Sasquatch]

GB: That's pretty much what I do with my Hygrophila, I'll try it with the pennywort. Hopefully they'll do better this time being fresher cuttings not from the LFS.

Slimy: Yeah, it's brazilian pennywort and I've had the same problem in the 5g. There are plenty of "air roots" at each node, but each time I try to plant a stem, the bottom node rots.

After many attempts, I think i've finally managed to get the 5 stems to root ... or at least stick in the substrate.

Worst comes to worst, I'll leave them as floating plants ... I'm sure the bettas won't mind. :hmm3grin2orange: