For august 2014 the plant of the month is Sagittaria spp., specifically Sagittaria subulata or dwarf sag and Saggitaria platyphylla also called broad leaf sag. Found growing naturally in South and Central America and spreading rapidly throughout the United States both species of Sag are fast growing plants perfect for filling in the mid and foreground of your planted tank.  I absolutely love dwarf sag and incorporate it into all of my tanks because it fills in fast and always looks great. 

 

     Both species will appreciate similar conditions, a temperature between 68 and 82 F, ph in the range of 6 to 8 and a dGH and dKH within 3 to 12. These species are however extremely hardy and can still grow in conditions outside of those previously stated, an example of this later. Both species don’t require intense light, CO2 supplementation, or added fertilizer but their behavior in your tank will hinge on the environment.  I seem to always get the best growth out of these guys with a soil substrate rich in iron and enhanced CO2 levels like with most plants. If lighting is strong, these plants tend to stay lower, and propagate more readily throughout the aquarium which is often the preferred outcome. In contrast, low lighting seems to promote the plants to grow taller as they reach for more light.

 

     The larger of the two being Sagitaria platyphylla, grows large broad leaves capable of exceeding 2 feet, again, in most cases when the lighting is low. This makes it useful as a mid and even background plant in shallower tanks if you don’t trim tall foliage.

 

     Sagittaria subtula or dwarf sag typically has shorter, and narrower leaves making it great as a fore and mid ground plant especially if lighting is high. Its Fairley easy and attractive to create a dwarf sag carpet in the front of your tank, something that I do a lot. When keeping this plant I usually stick with moderate to strong lighting since they’re almost always the maximum distance from the light source and because I almost always am looking to get them filling in the foreground.   

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

       I’ve had success growing these plants in various tanks with different dimension, the available PAR paired with the distance from the light to the plants are the most important factors. Again, dwarf sag tends to stay fairly low under high light conditions so if that’s your plan, you’re going to want a decent amount of Par light that’s capable of reaching the bottom portion of your tank. As the planted aquarium hobby advances, more and more information is being generated as far as Par outputs and the requirements of different plants but much is still unknown.  With that being said, both sagittaria species can grow well under a wide range of light scenarios so no need to make and drastic changes in order to keep this plant, best to just experiment.

 

      Without getting into the science of light, I can get really good shallow carpeting growth out of these plants running 2 48 inch 6700K HO t5s that are 18 inches above the plants themselves. In my opinion the biggest perk of keeping a plant like Sagittaria is its ability to propagate naturally via “runners”. Typically, after a few weeks of just planting one, you will start to notice new plants popping up nearby from the substrate. These daughter, or propagate plants are an exact clone of the original and serve as a reproductive and survival strategy if the correct conditions are met.  I’ve also noticed that trimming off a few leaves from each plant will increase the rate of the auto-propagation, and will in turn help you to get that carpet effect that is so desirable.

 

     Both broad leaf and draft sagittaria are very hardy plants and can survive in both unstable and hot and cold environments. If you follow DIY AQUAPROS on facebook you may have seen the photo I posted of the DIY grow out pond I set up a few months ago. I planted just three dwarf sag plants and despite daily temperature fluctuations of almost 30 degrees, those three plants have already propagated and turned into almost 50. This extreme propagation may have been triggered by the adverse conditions in the unstable pond, the intense light it receives or a combination of both. Once you get your plants multiplying, you can also cut the runners off from the original and relocate them. Overall dwarf and broad leaf sag are great hardy beginner plant that I recommend everyone give a try, im sure you’ll love them!