Thoughts on growing lemongrass in an aquarium?

[propel]

Can lemongrass grow in an aquarium? If so, is it betta safe? Planning on adding it to my betta tank.

 

[Fishfur]

If you mean like pothos, then I’d say it’s a maybe.

Cymbopogon citratus (Lemongrass) grows well hydroponically but whether it tolerates having its roots submerged all the time is not clear.

Hydroponic growing doesn’t necessarily mean the roots of the plants are submerged in water full time - flood & drain systems keep them very humid but out of water much of the time.

Any soil grown plant needs time to adapt if in fact it is able to because soil grown roots can’t function in water, so they rot. Much as emergent plants have to discard emergent leaves to be replaced with aquatic leaves that can function underwater, any normally terrestrial plant has to replace soil grown roots with new roots that can function in water. There are some plants that can’t do it & they can’t be rooted in water.

Lemongrass is safe - in fact it’s been studied for potential inclusion in commercial fish diets & it has some interesting antiparasitical & antibacterial properties that are being researched.

If you want to try it, be interesting to hear how it goes.

 

[propel]

If you mean like pothos, then I’d say it’s a maybe.

Cymbopogon citratus (Lemongrass) grows well hydroponically but whether it tolerates having its roots submerged all the time is not clear.

Hydroponic growing doesn’t necessarily mean the roots of the plants are submerged in water full time - flood & drain systems keep them very humid but out of water much of the time.

Any soil grown plant needs time to adapt if in fact it is able to because soil grown roots can’t function in water, so they rot. Much as emergent plants have to discard emergent leaves to be replaced with aquatic leaves that can function underwater, any normally terrestrial plant has to replace soil grown roots with new roots that can function in water. There are some plants that can’t do it & they can’t be rooted in water.

Lemongrass is safe - in fact it’s been studied for potential inclusion in commercial fish diets & it has some interesting antiparasitical & antibacterial properties that are being researched.

If you want to try it, be interesting to hear how it goes.

Yup, I did mean growing it kinda like pothos. I might test it with lemongrass but I've been looking into cyperus helferi too, instead of the lemongrass.

 

[Fishfur]

Yup, I did mean growing it kinda like pothos. I might test it with lemongrass but I've been looking into cyperus helferi too, instead of the lemongrass.

C.helferi is an emergent plant - one of only a couple of cyperuses that will grow both emersed & submersed.

 

[propel]

C.helferi is an emergent plant - one of only a couple of cyperuses that will grow both emersed & submersed.

Would I need to plant it in the soil at all or can the roots just be growing in the open?

 

[Fishfur]

Would I need to plant it in the soil at all or can the roots just be growing in the open?

Good question - I don’t know for sure but I can’t see any reason why it would object to having its roots free in the water.

It doesn’t grow all that much of a root system compared to many other aquatic plants.

 

[propel]

Good question - I don’t know for sure but I can’t see any reason why it would object to having its roots free in the water.

It doesn’t grow all that much of a root system compared to many other aquatic plants.

After some thinking I guess "like pothos" isn't the right term, more like growing emergent under a lid. I'll probably set it on some wood like I will with Java fern in the same tank, and leave about 5 inches of space to grow out above the water. Only downside is I'll have to trim the leaves once they get too long, unless they grow to the size of their container.

 

[Fishfur]

After some thinking I guess "like pothos" isn't the right term, more like growing emergent under a lid. I'll probably set it on some wood like I will with Java fern in the same tank, and leave about 5 inches of space to grow out above the water. Only downside is I'll have to trim the leaves once they get too long, unless they grow to the size of their container.

The leaves would grow to their full-size - they generally don’t notice things like lids, but because lemongrass isn’t an emergent plant, if the leaves are partially submerged it will die. Only its roots may be able to grow submerged.

 

[propel]

The leaves would grow to their full-size - they generally don’t notice things like lids, but because lemongrass isn’t an emergent plant, if the leaves are partially submerged it will die. Only its roots may be able to grow submerged.

I meant C. helferi, not lemongrass

 

[BPSabelhaus]

After some thinking I guess "like pothos" isn't the right term, more like growing emergent under a lid. I'll probably set it on some wood like I will with Java fern in the same tank, and leave about 5 inches of space to grow out above the water. Only downside is I'll have to trim the leaves once they get too long, unless they grow to the size of their container.

You want to keep the bulb out of the water or it will rot. As the roots establish move the bulb higher and higher from the water. A hang off the back basket or even in a filter works, but the roots need access to air and water with nutrients to thrive. I say bulb, being a grass I think it's technically a corm, but whatever lol

 

[propel]

You want to keep the bulb out of the water or it will rot. As the roots establish move the bulb higher and higher from the water. A hang off the back basket or even in a filter works, but the roots need access to air and water with nutrients to thrive. I say bulb, being a grass I think it's technically a corm, but whatever lol

I do plan on buying it already grown, but if I don't this is pretty useful.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

I do plan on buying it already grown, but if I don't this is pretty useful.

Much cheaper to buy it from an Asian grocery. It will root in the water and won't need to transition. You can probably get 3 for under 5 dollars.

 

[propel]

Much cheaper to buy it from an Asian grocery. It will root in the water and won't need to transition. You can probably get 3 for under 5 dollars.

I don't know of any Asian groceries near me, sadly.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

I don't know of any Asian groceries near me, sadly.

Bummer.
If you happen across one, there are so many cool veggies and fruits with many seasonal things. Also, tons of fun snacks, meats, fish blah blah grab a red bean bun, maybe a coffee or bubble tea and just wander lol

 

[propel]

The leaves would grow to their full-size - they generally don’t notice things like lids, but because lemongrass isn’t an emergent plant, if the leaves are partially submerged it will die. Only its roots may be able to grow submerged.

Also,do you have any advice on getting C. Helferi to go from aquatic to emersed growth?

 

[Fishfur]

Also,do you have any advice on getting C. Helferi to go from aquatic to emersed growth?

That’s something I want to try myself - I think I’ll just keep it in very shallow water & see how that goes. By very shallow I mean just enough water to keep roots & existing leaves wet so hopefully the new leaves will grow in emersed form.

 

[propel]

That’s something I want to try myself - I think I’ll just keep it in very shallow water & see how that goes. By very shallow I mean just enough water to keep roots & existing leaves wet so hopefully the new leaves will grow in emersed form.

I'll try doing something similar, just with putting it on the high point of some submerged wood instead.

 

[propel]

That’s something I want to try myself - I think I’ll just keep it in very shallow water & see how that goes. By very shallow I mean just enough water to keep roots & existing leaves wet so hopefully the new leaves will grow in emersed form.

I also just found some giant hairgrass at my LFS. Planning on using it as a substitute possibly.

 

[Fishfur]

I also just found some giant hairgrass at my LFS. Planning on using it as a substitute possibly.

It can look really nice if it’s willing to grow - needs fairly strong lighting & seems to strongly prefer to grow emersed.

 

[propel]

It can look really nice if it’s willing to grow - needs fairly strong lighting & seems to strongly prefer to grow emersed.

Well, emersed is my plan so that's checked. I'm getting a hygger day/night cycle light which I don't know how strong it is but it should be sufficient. Plus, the 24 hour cycle probably makes it grow better. Could I go open top with it or would it need the extra humidity?

 

[Fishfur]

Should be fine with an open top.

It’s not any of the plants that you’re wanting but just look at this crazy Brazilian pennywort I have which is growing emersed at warp speed. Its stems are too weak to stand up - it’s a creeper rather than a stem plant but since it took off, the growing tips are a foot or more away from the water now & while one or two leaves have shown a bit of edge drying, the rest are perfect.

The room is a little higher in humidity than average but not that much.

The brownish red leaves in the middle belong to, I think, one of the Ludwigias, which also love to grow emersed.

 

[propel]

Should be fine with an open top.

It’s not any of the plants that you’re wanting but just look at this crazy Brazilian pennywort I have which is growing emersed at warp speed. Its stems are too weak to stand up - it’s a creeper rather than a stem plant but since it took off, the growing tips are a foot or more away from the water now & while one or two leaves have shown a bit of edge drying, the rest are perfect.

The room is a little higher in humidity than average but not that much.

The brownish red leaves in the middle belong to, I think, one of the Ludwigias, which also love to grow emersed.
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Nice. Do you figure the extra space I plan on having in the tank itself could make up for my houses likely lower humidity than yours? And is it still possible to grow the hairgrass with open roots like I would the helferi?

 

[Fishfur]

I might speculate about the root question but I don’t know for sure as I’ve never tried to grow any of the plants that interest you that way. However, I think that chances are quite good that it wont be a problem.

And since they are plants that grow vertically rather than rambling like my crazy pennywort, I don’t think the humidity will be too big of a deal since they’ll be above the water, where humidity is higher, all the time rather than growing out and around into drier air.