Hemianthus glomeratus
Hemianthus glomeratus grows naturally along the muddy banks of standing water on the east coast of North America. The plant is unpretentious and suitable for novice aquarists.
Hemianthus glomeratus is bright green in colour. Leaves are lanceolate to elliptical in shape, 3 to 9 mm long and 2 to 4 mm wide. A plant growing in a damp greenhouse has smaller leaves than a plant growing underwater. Also a plant growing in an airy environment often blooms, releasing white flowers.
Hemianthus glomeratus will look beautiful against almost any plant. The only thing to take care of is sufficiently bright lighting. The plant looks good in small aquariums, planted in the background, its tiny leaves visually increase the internal space of the aquarium. In contrast, it looks good in large aquariums when planted in the foreground, where it forms a dense carpet of grass.
Under suitable conditions, it forms large numbers of offshoots and very quickly covers the whole bottom with its shoots. Leaves Hemianthus glomeratus is very fond of nibbling snails and some fish species (barbs, cichlids, etc.), but in suitable conditions, the plant quickly grows and makes up for the lost leaves with new ones.
Water parameters: temperature 24-26° C, hardness dH 2-12°, pH 5,0-7,5. Requires filtration and weekly replacement of 1/5 of the aquarium water with fresh. CO2 fertilization at a concentration of 10-40 mg/l is desirable, which promotes faster growth, as well as root fertilization with mineral fertilizers.
The soil should be sandy; if gravel is used as soil, the plant grows more slowly and spreads considerably less widely. The lighting should be bright, with an intensity of 0.6 W/litre or more. The daylight hours should last approximately 12 hours a day. With bright light, this plant will become very dense and the stems will grow at an angle above the substrate. Poorly lit stems will grow straight and appear long. In bright light, the plant will start to produce oxygen. You should also make sure that Hemianthus glomeratus leaves do not become overgrown with algae, which significantly reduces its attractive appearance, by reducing the light intensity or its duration.
Hemianthus glomeratus is well tolerated by pruning, which encourages the growth of new shoots. It should be noted that it looks equally good when cultivated as well as in the wild.
Reproduction
Hemianthus glomeratus is propagated by dividing the stem and separating the daughter shoots from the base of the mother shrub. If the top of the stem is cut off, it will start to form numerous side shoots, which are gently separated and planted in a new location, where they will quickly take root and begin to grow.
