Java Fern – Narrow Leaf

Description

Java Fern – A Natural Aquatic Beauty

Our favourite plant! The Java fern is a uniquely magnificent, slow-growing, and beautiful plant. This is a rhizome plant (that has a horizontal “stem”), which propagates by growing its rhizome out while creating new leaves, or by generating baby plantlets through the leaf itself! A truly interesting plant.

Introducing the striking Java Fern, an essential addition to any freshwater aquarium. Originating from Southeast Asia, this hardy plant adds natural beauty, oxygenation, and shelter for fish. Its elegant, undulating fronds make it an excellent choice for both planted and bare-bottomed aquariums.

Add the enchanting Java Fern to your freshwater aquarium for natural beauty, oxygenation, and fish shelter. With proper care and maintenance, this hardy plant will flourish and create an inviting  environment for your underwater friends.

Characteristics

• Long, narrow, dark green leaves that grow up to 12 inches in length.
• The rhizome should be buried while the roots hang down into the water column.
• Can thrive either attached to decorations or free-floating using its unique root structure.

Care Guide

• Substrate: Use a substrate like gravel, sand, or aquatic soil as a base for Java
  Fern. It can also be grown on driftwood or decorative rocks.
• Lighting: Provide moderate to high lighting in your aquarium. This will encourage the
  growth of new fronds and prevent algae overgrowth.
• Water Parameters: Maintain a temperature between 72°F (22°C) and 86°F (30°C). Ensure the pH is between 6.5 and 7.5, with a KH of 4-8 dGH for optimal growth conditions. Java fern can still grow in much harsher conditions though.
• Nutrition: Feed your fish regularly to provide nutrients that will help support the
  Java Fern plant’s growth.
• Maintenance: Trim away dead or dying fronds as needed to maintain the desired size and health of your Java Fern.
• Propagation: Java Fern reproduces through rhizome division. To propagate, gently separate the rhizomes into smaller sections and replant them in your aquarium. Each leaf of the java fern can also sprout many baby plants — you may notice this at first as little black dots on every segment of the leaf.

First and foremost, ensure that the rhizome is above the substrate and not buried! This rhizome is the green horizontal “stem”, which requires light and oxygen from the water to survive. The black roots, however, may be buried if you like.

The Java fern is an undemanding plant and does not require much light and nutrients.

This is a slow-growing plant if you are not using CO2 injection in your aquarium. You will need to be mindful of algae growth in your tank as the leaves of this plant provide a good growing surface for algae such as black beard algae. Slow-growing plants uptake nutrients much slower, so algae can easily out-compete for the nutrients available to the leaves. If you do struggle with algae issues, we would highly recommend having fast-growing plants in your aquarium as well to maintain lower nutrient levels in the water.

Lighting

The Java fern does not require high light, as it is a slow-growing plant. Growth is typically limited by the lack of CO2 in the water. If your light is too high and you are not using CO2 injection, you will likely run into algae issues. If you have a strong light, we would recommend introducing some floating plants, or taller plants near the area of the Java fern to give it some shade.

Placement

The most common placement method is to attach this plant on to hard objects such as lava rocks or driftwood, as this is how it does best in nature. The roots will slowly cling to whatever object is nearby, whether it be gravel, rocks, or wood.

In order to attach the Java fern onto objects, the best way is to use cotton thread or super glue. The thread or super glue will slowly dissolve as the plant grows and the roots start attaching to the object.

The rhizome (horizontal green stem) of this plant must be above the substrate and not buried. It is important to note that the rhizome needs light and access to CO2 and oxygen from the water column just as the leaves do.

Interestingly enough, this plant will also thrive when emerged (outside of water), as long as the humidity is kept high! When transitioning the Java fern from the submerged to the emerged form (or vice versa) two things may happen; the plant will grow very slowly for a while as the leaves go through transition, the leaves may fall off, and new leaves will grow. After this transition period, the plant will begin to thrive again, but the entire process could take around three months!

Propagation

1. Separate healthy root systems with at least 2-3 leaf nodes from the mother plant.
   • If a leaf is not doing well, it may produce plantlets that can also be propagated. You will begin to see this as black dots on the leaf body between the veins.
2. Position the separated sections so their roots are submerged and securely rooted in the substrate or attached decorations or driftwood.
3. It is important not to bury the rhizome* (the horizontal green stem) as it needs to breath through the water column and it needs to breath.
4. Provide moderate to high lighting, and maintain ideal water parameters (72°F – 86°F, pH 6.5 – 7.5, KH 4-8 dGH).
5. Monitor growth, trim away dead fronds as needed, and harvest new sections for further propagation or sharing.

* The rhizome is the horizontal green stem that new leaves grow out of. It will continue to grow and split. When the rhizome is buried underneath substrate the plant will begin to die off, and the leaves will activate their distressed mode. When the leaves are distressed and the leaf is mature enough, they will slowly die off while creating many baby plantlets for dozens of future plants! This is truly a spectacular plant! If you want to propagate a lot more plants in a hurry, this may be one way to go. Make sure you keep the plantlets healthy though!