How To Grow Baby Tears?

HI folks, today I got myself 2 small potted baby tears bunches. For now I just buried the pots in the gravel in the tank and they are a nice looking addition for my betta's home. I've seen though that baby tears can be grown into a carpet. How ? What do they need in order to thrive and spread ?
My substrate is just gravel, I have good lighting, the tank is planted but not overcrowded, I use Seachem Flourish and Iron every now and then. I'll attach a photo.
Any direction and advice would be deeply appreciated.

 

Hello!

Dwarf baby tears are actually quite difficult to grow. They need a very good, nutritious substrate which also allows their delicate roots to grow (so unfortunately, gravel won’t work ). They also need CO2; pressurized CO2 is the best way (liquid doesn’t really give the same effect) in addition to high light to encourage the plant to spread rather than grow in height (and you need to combo high light + pressurized CO2 so you don’t get algae).

 

Hello!

Dwarf baby tears are actually quite difficult to grow. They need a very good, nutritious substrate which also allows their delicate roots to grow (so unfortunately, gravel won’t work ). They also need CO2; pressurized CO2 is the best way (liquid doesn’t really give the same effect) in addition to high light to encourage the plant to spread rather than grow in height (and you need to combo high light + pressurized CO2 so you don’t get algae).

What kind of substrate are we talking about ? What about pressurized CO2 ? Can you elaborate? Thank you.
Also if I decide to just leave them like that,will they be ok or eventually die off?

 

What kind of substrate are we talking about ? What about pressurized CO2 ? Can you elaborate? Thank you.
Also if I decide to just leave them like that,will they be ok or eventually die off?

Basically the fancy substrate; ones from the Seachem line, ADA, Contrasoil, etc; while you want something nutritious, the granule size needs to be small enough so they don’t crush the roots

As for pressurized CO2, it’s a set up where actually use gas cylinders, that contain pressurized CO2, in combo with additional equipment in order to add gas CO2 into the tank (rather than a liquid CO2 supplement). A basic set-up would looks something like this:
:

 

Basically the fancy substrate; ones from the Seachem line, ADA, Contrasoil, etc; while you want something nutritious, the granule size needs to be small enough so they don’t crush the roots

As for pressurized CO2, it’s a set up where actually use gas cylinders, that contain pressurized CO2, in combo with additional equipment in order to add gas CO2 into the tank (rather than a liquid CO2 supplement). A basic set-up would looks something like this:
co2 aquarium setup - Google Search:

Wow, all that ? Well I guess no growing baby tears for me. LOL
How about I leave them I potted like that ? Will they survive and stay the same ?

 

Wow, all that ? Well I guess no growing baby tears for me. LOL
How about I leave them I potted like that ? Will they survive and stay the same ?

At the very most, you may keep them minimally surviving, but without a high tech set-up, they don’t do very well overall :/

 

At the very most, you may keep them minimally surviving, but without a high tech set-up, they don’t do very well overall :/

I'll be happy if they at least stay the same. No other expectations.
Thank you for your input. Very helpful. Every time I learn something here.

 

Wow, all that ? Well I guess no growing baby tears for me. LOL
How about I leave them I potted like that ? Will they survive and stay the same ?

Unfortunately I would expect them to die. The pot is okay for a while but doesn’t allow to roots to spread. The biggest issue is the lack of CO2 and nutrients, flourish isn’t a very concentrated fertilizer.
The good news is there’s a very similar looking, slightly larger leaved carpeting plant called micranthemum monte carlo that doesn’t need CO2. If you’re willing to switch to a soil substrate mentioned above and maybe switch liquid ferts, I think it would do pretty well for you. What light do you have?

 

Yeah, they are a tough plant to grow. Sand or soil capped with sand will work as a substrate, but you REALLY need CO2 for them to survive. If you leave them potted and don't add CO2, you'll eventually see them melting.