2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Alternantera Reineka lives in flooded areas and along the shores of reservoirs in Bolivia and Argentina. She feels great in bright tropical aquariums, making their design fascinating and extremely original. Despite the fact that this type of alternantera is less popular than the rest of its varieties and is an infrequent guest with aquarists, this aquatic beauty looks no less impressive
Getting to know the plant
Alternantera Reineck is endowed with stalks of impressive length. Its long lashes curiously spread along the water surface. And the color of the leaves of the colorful aquatic inhabitant can vary from pink-red to dark purple. The leaves are located opposite and perpendicular to each subsequent pair. In length, they grow up to four centimeters, and in width - up to one and a half. All leaves are broadly lanceolate, equipped with very short petioles and blunt-pointed apices. And closer to the bases, they taper slightly.
The delightful Reineck Alternanthera has a fibrous root system, and the roots are threadlike, thin and delicate. Roughly from June to September, pinkish or yellowish-greenish flowers without peduncles form in the leaf axils of a wonderful aquatic inhabitant.
How to grow
The colorful Reineck alternant is capable of developing in aquariums throughout all seasons, and the winter season is no exception. However, if you submerge it entirely in water, the growth of this aquatic beauty will be significantly reduced. So it is better to stop the choice on shallow vessels, since the stems of this green pet always strive to reach the surface of the water.
The best temperature regime for keeping Reineck's alternantera is in the range from twenty-four to twenty-eight degrees, and the hardness of the aquatic environment, along with its acidity, does not significantly affect its development and comfort. An excellent plant also tolerates a drop in temperature to twenty degrees, only at the same time it can sometimes slightly slow down its growth. But the water will need to be changed weekly (at least by ten percent of the total), since the colorful aquatic inhabitant is very fond of fresh water.
The composition of the soil, as well as siltation, are also not fundamental factors for the full growth of the wonderful Reineck alternant - it will draw almost all the nutrients it needs from the water. But coarse sand has a very beneficial effect on the development of the not very powerful root system of a colorful water beauty. No less important are fertilizing from nitrogenous substances in combination with various microelements. Approximately twice a month, it is useful to feed this wondrous aquatic inhabitant with iron vitriol (for each liter of water, it is taken at 0.1-0.2 mg).
As for the lighting, it should be as bright as possible, and ideally - sunny. In the event that it is not possible to organize the extremely desirable hit of sunlight by the Reineck alternator, it is allowed to resort to the help of fluorescent lamps. But the use of powerful incandescent lamps should be abandoned, since they can lead to burns on the shoots extending to the surface. By the way, the nature of the lighting always affects the color of the leaves of this green pet. As for the daylight hours, its duration in this case is suitable for the standard one - around twelve hours.
The Alternantera Reineck growing in aquariums propagates usually by cuttings. The stems, as a rule, are divided into several parts so that about five leaf whorls are preserved on them. The resulting cuttings will root much faster if placed near the water surface. Moreover, it is permissible to leave them floating for quite a long time, and after they stop growing, they are moved into the ground.
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