Aquarium plant, ivy-shaped leaves 3-4cm, variegated

[Low Altitude]

Hi folks.

What do we have here? This robust, cheerful plant arrived years ago in a bowl with goldfish. It outlived the goldfish.

Its leaves are ivy-shaped at maturity and 3-4cm across, as you see in the photo attached.

It has grown slowly but uncomplainingly in low light, throwing out a long, trailing tendril stem with leaf axles every ~2cm.

Every now and again I give it a squirt of generic plant food when I change its water. I've twice had to thin out the root mass in the Ball jar in which it lives.

Would it grow in soil (not that it seems unhappy with its roots in pure water) ?

How would I encourage its growth? If ever there is a plant that asks little and gives a lot, it is this one.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Anubias variant or African Cichlid?

 

[JamieB]

Pothos. I’ve git it in my aquarium, and a big pot of it. Does well in water or soil, but can die back if moved from water to soil from what I’ve read, but cuttings can start in water easy. Good in low light, diffuse light, not so happy in direct full sun. My potted ones like cold coffee, coffee grounds mixed in the soil. Ignore the butterfly, I apparently deleted the other pics of it I had in my aquarium.

 

[Low Altitude]

Anubias variant or African Cichlid?

I googled pics and it could be anubias ('cichlid' shows me fish??) but my plant looks a bit closer to the pothos (also googled pics of that). I like the look of anubias though and will look out for some. Thanks!

 

[Low Altitude]

Pothos. I’ve git it in my aquarium, and a big pot of it. Does well in water or soil, but can die back if moved from water to soil from what I’ve read, but cuttings can start in water easy. Good in low light, diffuse light, not so happy in direct full sun. My potted ones like cold coffee, coffee grounds mixed in the soil. Ignore the butterfly, I apparently deleted the other pics of it I had in my aquarium.

Great! Yes I think that must be it. Thanks for the propagation advice. I'm going to use what to try and grow a few more stems (from leaf cuttings, I guess?) in water to get a bigger colony. I only have three stems at the moment, though one is an impressive three feet long. When I have a few 'extras', I'll try transferring them to soil and see what happens.

Thanks again!

 

[JamieB]

Mine seem to prefer moving water, just a bit of movement. So change a bit of the water often, just like if you still had a fish. Or if you do have an aquarium, place it in the filter. They love to pull nutrients from fish water.

 

[Low Altitude]

Mine seem to prefer moving water, just a bit of movement. So change a bit of the water often, just like if you still had a fish. Or if you do have an aquarium, place it in the filter. They love to pull nutrients from fish water.

Thanks! I will change the water more regularly. It's growing in the mason jar you see in the photo. My routine has been to top up the water as it drops, then every month or so tip all the water out and completely replace with fresh. On those full changes, I put a few drops of regular plant food in the new water.

I must confess that I had not been as attentive as i should have – the black mass you see in the jar in my photo turned out to be lots of dead root, when I looked closely after making my first post about it here. So I ran the root mass under the tap in the kitchen sink and gently teased it apart with my fingers. The dead black root fragments gradually washed away, leaving a much smaller amount of healthy root – a few tendrils. It will be interesting to see if the plants look more vigorous after a few weeks without the dead growth getting in the way of root function.

Sadly, we did not replace the fish when the last one died. My boy was a bit choked up. But that was a few years ago. Maybe it is time to think about fish again.

Thank you for your help and advice!

 

[JamieB]

A goldfish needs a bigger tank, think like a 30 gal for common types, or the fancy tails. Or look into Bettas, aka Siamese fighting fish. They like to rest on the leaves. So a 5-10 gallon tank with a male, or if you want a community of fish, female bettas get along well with other small fish, and you can keep females together. Do note, if you have fish you’ll need to see if the fertilizer is safe. For me, fish waste is all my plants needed.

 

[Low Altitude]

Can't believe that was 20 months ago.

Delighted to report that the pothos transplanted to soil perfectly agreeably and thrived immediately. Here is a photo of it today. I have trimmed it periodically to maintain a bushy 'ball' shape. I put the cuttings in water, where they readily grow roots and in a couple of months are themselves ready for transplant to soil – I'm about to re-plant several to create a new plant.

The pothos has been a joy to grow and propagate: robust and uncomplaining, it thrives in a corner of the room with little natural light. Fairly thirsty – will take water every 3-4 days – but doesn't wilt if i miss a watering. I suspect it would be bigger now if it were in a bigger pot with more soil – I'll check soon to see if it's rootbound – but actually, I'm quite pleased at its modest growth rate: I don't have room for a jungle !