Helanthium tenellum `Broad Leaf
Helanthium tenellum `Broad Leaf' grows naturally in water bodies of North America.
At first glance this plant looks very similar to Helanthium tenellum (former name Echinodorus tenellus) and it is easy to confuse them. The main difference is the width of the leaves and their coloration. Helanthium tenellum `Broad Leaf' has a broad leaf plate (about 2.5 mm) with bright green coloring. The leaves are lanceolate without a stalk. The height of the shrub is 4-6 cm.
Plant Helanthium tenellum `Broad Leaf` shrubs preferably in the foreground. The plant grows equally well both in deep water and relatively shallow depths.
Water parameters: temperature 20-28°C, hardness dH 1-30 °, acidity pH 5,0-8,0. Feeding with CO2 at a concentration of 20-30 mg / l is necessary. It is desirable weekly replacement of about 1/4 of the aquarium water fresh. Need highly effective water filtration, as the plant does not tolerate dirt in the form of fine suspended solids in the water, which settling on its leaves not only spoils their appearance, but also leads to fouling them adamantine algae.
It is desirable to use coarse river sand as a substrate. The soil should be silted up. When the plant is initially planted in fresh soil, it grows very slowly, but gradually, as the soil naturally silts up, the situation changes and Helanthium delicate begins to develop at a faster pace.
Lighting is bright, with an intensity of 0.5 W/l. The duration of the daylight hours 10-14 hours a day. The higher the intensity of illumination, the brighter the color of the leaves of the plant becomes. With low light, the leaves of the plant stretch upward and acquire a yellowish color. Particularly responsible should be taken to the lighting in the fall and winter period, in this period of time lighting devices in the aquarium should work for at least 12 hours a day. From too bright lighting, the leaves of the plant begin to form green algae, which eventually leads to their death. To prevent this from happening, the light intensity should be lowered.
Reproduction
Helanthium tenellum `Broad Leaf' is propagated by branching. Over time, the adult bush has whiskers at the ends of which young daughter bushes are formed. When the appearance of such bushes 3-4 leaves, the mustache is carefully cut off and the plants are transplanted to a new place in the aquarium. Being planted in a new place, the plant adapts for 1-1.5 months, and then begins to gradually grow.
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Systematic pruning stimulates the development of the shrub.
