Should aquatic flowers be deadheaded?

[mermaidwannabe]

One of my Anubias is blooming right now. When the flower is spent, should I deadhead it as I would a regular garden plant? If I don't, will it go to seed and zap the plant's energy -- or will it self-sow and I'll have some freebie Anubs showing up in my tank? The blossom looks like a shallow and flattened out calla lily.

Using the Flourish pays dividends.

-- mermaidwannabe

[homemadepopcorn]

I don't have any experience with this (I wish I had flowers in the tank :( ) but I would. Dead organic material + a fish tank doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

[mermaidwannabe]

Do aquatic flowers even go to seed like terrestrial flowers do?

I swear this thing vaguely resembles a calla lily, except instead of the single petal surrounding the stamen as a deep wrap-around cup, it lays out flat horizontally, with the stamen sticking straight up vertically.

I've taken some pics, but can't upload them right now.

--mermaid

[Lady Hobbs]

Never heard of dead-heading aquatic flowers but I would cut it off just as you do with houseplants after the flower has died back. I would think it may take nutrients from the mother plant......like dead leaves on a sword plant? But I don't know.

[mermaidwannabe]

If I leave the flower on there to naturally wither, could it go to seed and self-sow? I'm thinking of the possibility of having brand new plants spring up in the substrate which would then form their own new rhizomes. Has anyone had that happen -- new freebies from their Anubias blossoms dropping seeds? How do Anubias propagate themselves?

[hydra01]

no, it's pretty rare for any plant to actually self-seed in an aquarium. Anubius pollinate above water in nature and the seeds are carried by water, where they will attach to something in a river(example)and start growing.

Anubius are actually a bog plant, not a true aquatic, even though they do grow under water. (They will grow much faster in a terrarium setting).

99.99% when plants reproduce in an aquarium it's through asexual means.(runners,rhizomes, etc.)

Your best bet if you want more anubius plants, is to divide their rhizome by cutting sections of it off, and replanting those. I like to leave bigger sections because they grow so slow, it will take less time to fill out an area you want.