Is garden creeping jenny the same as aquarium creeping jenny?

I'm just curious because they seem to have the same Latin name and I could save a bunch of money buying creeping jenny from the garden center rather than buying it at a LFS or online. If so is there anything I have to do to acclimate creeping jenny to growing submerged or can I just rinse the dirt off and plant it right away? Does anyone know if creeping jenny is a good oxygenating plant?

 

If they have the same Latin name than it’s the same species. I guess the biggest concern would be if they’re mislabeled or not lol

 

I thought you where talking about a person watching you through your garden XD

 

If they have the same Latin name than it’s the same species. I guess the biggest concern would be if they’re mislabeled or not lol

I'm going to go ahead and assume this is a very common problem in the aquarium industry?

If the big box hardware store with an outside lawn and garden center is selling lysimachia monelli dubbed creeping jenny as an immersed plant, can I grow it submerged?

I thought you where talking about a person watching you through your garden XD

I like it when they watch *shrugs*

 

I'm going to go ahead and assume this is a very common problem in the aquarium industry?

If the big box hardware store with an outside lawn and garden center is selling lysimachia monelli dubbed creeping jenny as an immersed plant, can I grow it submerged?


I like it when they watch *shrugs*

Get ready to be confused. I got a headache just writing this.

So, I don’t think Lysimachia monelli can be grown underwater. That plant seems to like dry arid conditions. The plant Lysimachia nummularia is most commonly called Creeping Jenny and that one can grow submersed. L. nummularia is also called moneywort, but you see, in the aquarium hobby there’s also a plant called moneywort (Bacopa monnieri) which is often grown submersed.

 

I see the problems common names can cause that was certainly confusing me before I made this post. I would like to mention I provided the wrong latin name and was referring to L. nummularia. It is often sold in garden centers as a ground cover for gardens. from my research it seems to be a bog plant, in it's natural environment it often goes through periods of being either submersed or immersed. Living fully submersed 24/7 is probably not the plants ideal habitat but seeing that L. nummularia is a common aquarium plant it seems to tolerate it.

I guess I could do a little experiment of my own and purchase a few plants L. nummularia plants from Home Depot and see how they fare growing completely submerged now that I know for sure that they are the same as the ones from the aquarium store. The difference is that my LFS sells a puny bunch of 4-6 stems for almost $8, while the garden center sells a fully grown full pot for $3.75. If I go through with this I will share my results.

 

I say go for it! Most plants in the aquarium hobby are not true aquatic plants, they grow partially submerged. Looking forward to your experience

 

So I did go out to buy a plant but decided on only 1 plant for this experiment to see if it fails or not. I first went to Lowes and their L. nummularia was in really bad shape the best looking plants were 50% dead. Having second thoughts about this project I checked out my LFS were I was reminded how incredibly expensive aquarium plants are (11.99 for a 4 short stems of nummularia). As much as I would love to support my local mom n pop fish store, I don't make a "support your LFS paycheck". I originally set out to do this for as cheap as possible out of necessity. I ended up going to home depot, I almost overlooked this plant because I didn't think it was L. nummularia at first. Maybe it is a case of false name or a variation of the species? I actually like the coloring of this plant so much more and crossing my fingers this experiment works and I can go back to buy more of these plants. 3.33 was a great deal for me.

Removing the dirt from the root ball was harder then I expected. The root system took a beating. I did not want a single piece of perilite to make it into my tank and that required breaking and pulling off a significant portion of the plant. I dug through the washed play sand until the layer of potting soil was exposed and then planted her. I'm going to let her settle for a few days before I start acclimating it to being submersed. I have not yet acquired a stand for my tank so right now it's just on the floor next to my desk but it will be receiving light from LED grow lights after it settles. I'm thinking 3 hours of low intensity light should be enough while it's not fully submersed?

 

Oh! I should've added this before, but when you have a new plant (especially if it's switching between vastly different conditions) you want to trim the roots. Most of the roots here will rot away, so you want to cut and leave about 1-2 inches left, and plant that. The trimming will help stimulate new root growth that is more adapted to the new conditions

 

Oh! I should've added this before, but when you have a new plant (especially if it's switching between vastly different conditions) you want to trim the roots. Most of the roots here will rot away, so you want to cut and leave about 1-2 inches left, and plant that. The trimming will help stimulate new root growth that is more adapted to the new conditions

OH NO!!!!! I did not trim the roots. I did everything I could to try and keep as much of the roots mass I could. All I did was rip off the very bottom to help release the dirt from inside the root ball. Am I destined to fail? Things were going well so I bought 4 more plants and they are already planted in the aquarium. I learned a new way to clean the rootball with out taking so much root off so the new 4 have much more root mass. I thought I was doing a good thing

 

OH NO!!!!! I did not trim the roots. I did everything I could to try and keep as much of the roots mass I could. All I did was rip off the very bottom to help release the dirt from inside the root ball. Am I destined to fail? Things were going well so I bought 4 more plants and they are already planted in the aquarium. I learned a new way to clean the rootball with out taking so much root off so the new 4 have much more root mass. I thought I was doing a good thing

No worries, the roots will probably just mostly rot. It'll grow back soon enough, but you'll definitely have some detritus.

 

No worries, the roots will probably just mostly rot. It'll grow back soon enough, but you'll definitely have some detritus.

IDK man "rot" and "detritus" sound very scary to this newbie I feel like I should worry lol

 

Several of the plants that are used in aquariums are "margin" plants. That means they live in wetlands near water, but not necessarily in it. However, because they are exposed to high levels of moisture, many will adapt to aquatic conditions. Because margin plants are exposed to plenty of light and carbon dioxide in their natural environment, they tend to like high lighting conditions and CO2 injection. However, they may do well under lower lighting and no added CO2, they just do not grow as fast.

Another margin plant commonly found in aquariums is the cardinal flower
Lobelia cardinalis.

Creeping Jenny is sometimes called Moneywort. However, in the aquarium trade, the plant called moneywort is usually Bacopa Monnieri. It is another margin plant. I have some in my aquarium that has grown about 3" above the top of the tank. I have to prune it occasionally to keep it from getting out of control.

 

I purchased a pot from a Walmart garden center for under $4 after cross checking the scientific names. Yes; they are the same plant. Doing wonderfully in my cousin's betta tank 3-4 weeks later.

 

IDK man "rot" and "detritus" sound very scary to this newbie I feel like I should worry lol

So any updates?