2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Ottelia alismoides (lat. Ottelia alismoides) - an aquatic plant representing the Vodokrasovye family.
Description
Otthelium is an aquatic plant, the height of which can reach seventy centimeters. This moisture-loving beauty is endowed with bright green large leaves of a rounded shape, which are snugly located under the water surface on rather long petioles. From the side it may seem as if the leaves are reaching for the water surface. And the bizarre edges of the ovate leaf blades of this plant are slightly wrapped.
Under favorable conditions, this green beauty will delight with almost continuous flowering. Its pretty pretty flowers, endowed with white petals and yellow cores, regularly self-pollinate, and after a couple of weeks, boxes filled with tiny seeds begin to ripen. After some time, these capsules burst, and all the seeds quickly sink to the bottom.
Where grows
The chalky calf can be seen in the waters of Australia, North America and Southeast Asia.
Usage
In our latitudes of the helium, the Chalice is grown mainly in aquariums. Despite the fact that it adapts very well to the aquarium conditions, the chalice-like calf still needs extremely careful handling, as it is surprisingly delicate and fragile. This plant will look most effective in the very center of the aquariums.
Growing and caring
Since the otthelium is chalky, it is rather large in size, it must be grown in sufficiently large vessels. Most often, it is planted in the center of aquariums - this is due to the fact that its leaves require a very impressive area under the water surface. And the cuttings of this plant do not need such expanse. By the way, the ottelia chastiform grows equally well throughout all the seasons.
This aquatic beauty will feel most comfortable in tropical aquariums filled with water heated to twenty-four to thirty degrees. It will grow no worse in moderately warm vessels, the water temperature in which is about twenty degrees. True, in the second case, the growth rate of the othelii altiform will significantly slow down, and it is unlikely to be able to please its owners with a marvelous flowering.
The water of the otteliya is often soft, with a slightly acidic or neutral reaction. In hard water, its delicate and fragile leaves begin to disintegrate very quickly. And in the muddy old water, almost the same thing happens, so it is necessary to regularly carry out water changes as well.
As for the soil intended for growing this plant, then it must include a sufficient amount of all kinds of nutrients and be properly silted. In the aquarium, it is placed in a layer of five to seven centimeters. If it is planned to place the chalice-like hotel in completely new soil, it will not hurt to put a clay-peat mixture under its roots. In the absence of peat, you can limit yourself to one clay - a single small lump will be enough. And the best substrate will be small pebbles or coarse river sand - in spite of the fact that the root system of otheliya is very well developed, its roots are still very brittle and fragile.
This aquatic inhabitant needs very bright lighting, because its large leaves shade the aquariums quite strongly, as a result of which the plants under such cover may experience a lack of light. By the way, only fluorescent lamps or phytolamps are suitable for organizing artificial lighting.
As for reproduction, in this plant it occurs exclusively by seeds. In order to avoid their loss ten days after the ottelia altiform bloom, peculiar cases of nylon should be put on the seed boxes - it will be much easier to extract the ripening seeds from them later.
