Propagating Didiplis Diandra - Flowering

Propagating Didiplis Diandra - Flowering
(Blood Stargrass) 

by Joy Twentyman-Crock

I originally obtained Didiplis diandra in an effort to fight algae in my 2.5 gallon tank. Since most of the plants in the tank are fairly slow growing, I felt that adding an appropriately sized fast growing stem plant might help the situation. This was one of the plants that was suggested to me as a likely candidate, and after some research I decided that the overall leaf size and shape would be perfect.

Didiplis Diandra is definitely a demanding plant, especially in terms of light. With 26 watts of compact fluorescent lighting over my 2.5 gallon tank, it has been estimated as having extremely high light. After keeping Didiplis diandra in this tank for several months I’m inclined to think that the lighting is actually much less, perhaps high light or even only medium high light. When Didiplis diandra is growing well and happy, the top leaves and stem will blush shades of red and pink. While it grew like mad and had to be trimmed every one to two weeks to prevent it from taking over the tank, it always stayed a beautiful bright green. I kept Didiplis diandra in the 2.5 gallon tank for several months, and finally came to the conclusion that while its scale was perfect for the tank it grew much too fast to be practical.

After evaluating my other tanks, I decided to move it to the 10 gallon. The 10 gallon has 60 watts of daylight compact fluorescent lighting, and had also been estimated as having very high light. Within the first couple of weeks in the new tank the top leaves and stems began blushing a beautiful shade of pink. I was very surprised a week later when I found that at least part of the color was a result of tiny little flowers along the stem at the base of each leaf. A brilliant shade of purple pink, these flowers are no more than 1mm in diameter and could easily be missed. To appreciate their true beauty a magnifying glass is almost a requirement. In addition to these more obvious signs that the Didiplis diandra was happier in the 10 gallon tank, the leaves had begun growing much closer together which is a sure sign that a plant is getting more light.

This plant is very attractive even when it is just growing well but not flourishing, but it is absolutely stunning when it receives a proper amount of light. It’s ideal for smaller tanks where this delicate little plant will help give a greater sense of size to the tank. I highly recommend this plant to anyone that can provide a high light tank with CO2 and plentiful nutrients. With enough light, it should provide you with some beautiful blooms to admire.

Bibliography

PlantGeek.Net 2002-2006, Plant Guide [On-line] http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide.php, February 13, 2007

Tropica.Com Tropica Aquarium Plants A/S [On-line] http://www.tropica.com/default.asp, February 13, 2007

AquaticPlantCentral.com 2005, Plantfinder [On-line] http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/plantfinder/index.php, February 13, 2007

Christel Kasselmann, Aquarium Plants, Malabar Florida: Krieger Publishing Company, 2003.