Dustin's Blog — aquarium plants biology

Read Time: 5 mins Have a cool aquarium plant and want another one without having to buy it? You have a way to make it happen. Most aquatic plant species are easy to propagate, and we'll give you the know-how.  What is Propagation / How Does it Even Work?  There are a few types of propagation (sexual and asexual), but when most folks think of plant propagation, they're thinking of asexual plant propagation. So when we say propagation in this post, that's what we'll be referring to. Plant propagation is just growing new plants / increasing the number of a particular plant. Sexual...

Read Time: 5 minutes Hygrophila History, Biology, and Taxonomy - AKA how Petunias, Australia, and Diabetes are Related Taxonomy Hygrophila (sometimes called swampweed) is the more popular of the two aquatic genuses in the Acanthaceae family, which makes it a "cousin" to other commonly kept plants like Acanthus (Bear's Breeches), wild petunias (Ruellia), and the polka dot plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya). There are about 100 Hygrophila species currently recognized. Botanists and taxonomists are in the process of re-evaluating how to define the genus and its species, though, so the number might change in the near future. History (Or, how I came...

Read Time: 7 mins Welcome back to part 146,225,453 of aquarium concepts companies like to make complicated for absolutely no reason! You're starting a planted tank and you realize, "Oh, hey, my plants look good now, but I bet they'd look amazing if I fertilized them." You Google aquarium fertilizers and are blasted with dozens of products, ads, and advice forums and none of them say the same thing. Don't worry. Choosing and using aquarium ferts is a lot easier than it looks - and you may not even need them. Here, we'll answer some of the most commonly asked...

Read Time: 6 mins Welcome back to part three of our Aquarium Science Series! This is a big one for planted tank enthusiasts: what nutrients do aquarium plants need and why? There are a whopping 17 essential nutrients for plant growth, but we'll make it easy. Be on the lookout for a second half to this where we'll show you how and when to fertilize and supplement with these nutrients (and also the amazing way nutrients flow through plants). Some Clarified Definitions Nutrients- in botany, these are chemicals that helps a plant live, grow, and reproduce. Feel like this term...

Read Time: 4 minutes Okay, sure, the title sounds kinda clickbait-ish. Most people hear "fungus" and think either "athlete's foot" or "mushroom," but what if we told you fungi might help you grow aquarium plants?  Mycorrhizae: Pretty Fly for Fungi Land plants have a well-documented symbiotic (mutually helpful) relationship between their roots and a huge range of fungal species naturally found in soil called mycorrhizae. Mycorrhizae actually translates from Greek to "fungal root." The fungi infects the plant's roots, obtains "food" (carbohydrates) from the plant and, in return,  increases the plant's root absorption and nutrient uptake by increasing root surface...