Question on Mangroves.

[JmLee]

Hey i just got a Mangrove plant from a buddy of mine. But the tip of it broke off( it only has one leaf barely growing and thats the part that brok). Is it ok just to cut the top off because its just danging by a thread now. Or should i try to reattach it with a bit of tape and hope it will reattach it self. one more thing... how far into the water should the plant be in?. Just the roots or most of the plant?. Thanks guys.

 

[graveyardworm]

Doesnt sound good, from what I've read damage of that extent to such a young propagule is detrimental. You can try to save it though and hope for the best. First its very important that the salinty of your environment is the same as where it came from, and second if its been in water already you should place it at the same level it was submerged to.

 

[Dave Legacy]

Once the growth tip is damaged on a sapling that young, it's done. I encourage you to try to perform a miracle, because I hate to give up and you never know, but the chances of recovery are slim to none. It's amazing how delicate rhizophora mangle saplings are.

 

[JmLee]

aw man... well i guess ill try... Thanks guys.

 

[rwhhunt]

I planted 8 mangroves in my tank back in feb or so, and in about 6 cases there was complete defoliage, which did come back with time and a new light. In the last two cases the entire stem broke off; with these, one has produced three new stem heads with two leaves each, and have dropped nice red tap roots down, the last one hasn't produced any stems or heads, but has produced the largest tap root out of all of the mangroves including the most healthy ones! Just yesterday upon closer inspection there are three or four little red buds sticking out of the side, and it looks like they are going to explode out soon! So, it may be uncommon, but there is certaintly HOPE! I would just get a nice light on it, and make sure theres some nutrients in the water!

The large root in the foreground is the tap root from the headless seedling!

Here they are when they were in bad shape soon after I got them, shortly after this pics was taken, all of them completely defoliated, and some even whithered up there entire stem... (I was new to mangroves, and may not have acclimated them properly.... even though, I followed all directions and suggestions on this forum)

Either way, they look great now! and I am expecting a complete recovery from the last "headless" seedling! So dont give up, and it will hopefully sprout again!

 

[graveyardworm]

rwhhunt, what are you using for light in the first picture? Looks really bright. Is this the same one you are currently using?

 

[Triterium]

As long as there is a strong root system and the pod stays green and rigid, then no worries.

 

[rwhhunt]

Its a 42W Compact Flourescent bulb ($20) found on ebay for growing terrestrial plants (the auction claimed it to be 190MH equivalent, but obviously thats not the case; it is VERY Bright though...) It has a screw-in base, so it fits perfectly in that ballast from Lowes ($12), then I put some REALLY fancy Aluminum foil around the ballast to shield it from blinding you when you walk into may place!