Whimsical Rotala Large-grained

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

The large-scale rotala, also called the red-leaved rotala, lives in nature in the picturesque reservoirs of India. This amazingly beautiful plant is perfect for growing in aquariums, moreover, it will simply become a magnificent design for their decor. However, large-scale rotala is quite difficult to care for and a very whimsical plant, therefore, in order for it to please the eye as long as possible, you will have to work hard

Getting to know the plant

Rotala large-scaled is the owner of rather long, weakly branched stems that grow vertically upwards and often grow up to twenty-five centimeters. And on the creeping rhizomes of an amazing plant, you can see a huge number of leaf buds.

Oval, shiny and very thin leaves of this water beauty are painted in pleasant pinkish tones. In principle, the tops of the leaves can vary in color, from greenish to reddish, and the undersides are always purple. In length, the leaves usually grow up to five centimeters, and in width - up to four. All of them are endowed with wavy edges and are located opposite each other.

Growing in terrestrial conditions, rotala large-grained blooms with amazing small pink flowers.

How to grow

The most favorable temperature for this delicate tropical beauty will be from twenty-seven to thirty degrees. With a decrease in temperature, young leaves begin to noticeably shrink, old ones die off, and the growth of a wondrous aquatic inhabitant may stop altogether.

An active reaction of the aquatic environment for the full development of large-scale rotala should be neutral or slightly acidic, and soft water is preferable.

When growing large-scale rotala, you need to constantly monitor so that various algae do not begin to form on it, and also to prevent this phenomenon in every possible way, since algae have a detrimental effect on this whimsical beauty.

Despite the fact that the root system is rather weakly developed in the large-grained rotala, it is capable of developing well only when rooted in the ground. If you send her into free swimming, she practically will not grow at all and will noticeably shrink. And if, in addition to this, the parameters of the aquatic environment are far from optimal, then a capricious plant can quickly die. By the way, the soil must necessarily contain the maximum amount of all kinds of nutrients. But in strong silting of rotal, the large-scale grains do not feel the need. An excellent substrate for its comfort will be fine river sand laid in a layer of two to three centimeters. As for mineral dressings, they must be minimized and carried out as carefully as possible - this is due to the fact that the capricious aquatic inhabitant is distinguished by a rather sensitive reaction to a number of different chemical elements, and especially to sodium ions.

The light intensity for this aquatic beauty should always be high. Rotal large-scale reacts extremely positively to direct sunlight, and artificial lighting sources are recommended to be placed as close as possible to the surface of the water in the aquarium. In this case, a combination of fluorescent lamps with incandescent lamps that are well known to everyone is allowed. And you need to try to withstand daylight hours within twelve hours.

Rotala is propagated by large-scale grafting by cuttings of stems. As a rule, for this, cuttings from seven to ten centimeters long are separated - shorter processes start to grow much more slowly. If the cuttings are taken from the middle of the stems, then they must necessarily have well-formed lateral shoots.

As a rule, in aquariums, large-grained rotala is placed in the foreground, or a capricious beauty is placed on the side shelves.