Nanas Petite

[ts168]

:wink: http://www.de-song.com/aqua/flora/Nanas.Petite.jpg

See how small this plant is?

[silane]

Indeed it is small, I have 2 nana petite, an excellent plant for small tank. :)

[STL]

I love anubias, especially the nanas and nana petite. Contrary to popular belief, it seems, while the petite's leaves are indeed small the plant itself can get rather large. The plant on the right is at least four inches long. Here is a shot from my "nana tree"...

http://www.showustlouis.com/plants/images/030405a.jpg

[Robert]

Hi,
your plants look really nice. Hopefully I get such small gem soon, too. It's almost impossible to buy them here in Germany and I never saw them in nature before. BTW, does it grow as fast as the normal Anubias barteri var. nana?

regards

Robert

[silane]

STL,

What's the plant that has black spot on the right top?

[Pconnieae]

What's the plant that has black spot on the right top?

I think it is Microsorum pteropus. The black spots are spores.

[STL]

It is indeed Java Fern. The leaves develop the black areas and then from the black areas come tiny little Java Ferns. As for the nana petite, it does grow slow but that is the only bad thing about them that I can see.

[gnome]

Hi,
your plants look really nice. Hopefully I get such small gem soon, too. It's almost impossible to buy them here in Germany and I never saw them in nature before. BTW, does it grow as fast as the normal Anubias barteri var. nana?

regards

Robert

Hello! This is my first post, and I'm very happy to have found this wonderful site!

To answer your question, Robert, I've found that the petit variety puts out new growth faster. It also seems to branch out more prolifically than the regular nana. My only real "gripe" concerning this plant is that under strong lighting, the leaves can get completely encrusted in green spot algae. For this reason, I prefer to keep this plant under low- to medium-light conditions. Having it in a low-tech tank might slow down growth significantly, but the leaves stay nice and clean. Additionally, maintaining it in a low-tech tank with some algae-eating shrimp will keep the plant and the wood it's attached to *completely* algae-free. This is definitely one of my favorite plants of all-time. When you acquire it, I think you'll love it, too.

By the way, Hello from sunny California!!! :sunny:

-Naomi :)

[Robert]

Hi Naomi,
sorry for my later reply! I seem to missed to read your answer, sorry. Thanks for this well written explanation! I got 2 small plants of this variety some days ago and now I'm curious how it will grow. There should be enough shrimps to prevent it from algae and there are also moderate light, cold water (23°C) and extra CO2 for it. I hope it will grow, until now I can see just some new roots.

best regards

Robert

[gnome]

Hey, Robert!

Are you attaching it to driftwood, or rock, or growing it in the substrate? What I do is to secure it onto driftwood with rubber band. Usually, by the time the rubber band degrades and breaks, the roots are well-attached. Maybe it's just my imagination, but it seems like it grows faster this way.

I've never actually tried planting it in the substrate, but if it's a rich substrate (like ADA AquaSoil), it might work even better. I tend to maintain more nutrients in the water column so I think it likes its roots exposed.

Sounds like you have the perfect conditions for it. CO2 will help it to grow faster, and the not-too-strong lighting will help slow down any algae that might try to get a foothold on the leaves. Certain snails are good for keeping the leaves clean. I like Planorbis corneus (ram's horn snails). They are good algae-eaters, and do not harm plants. I have even seen them devour black brush algae from nana leaves; the leaf itself was unscathed.

Glad you finally got a hold of some 'petit'... You'll really love it!

-Naomi

[livionakano]

Does anybody here have any experience in prunning petites?
I mean, cutting a single plant in two (or more) different plantlets, like in regular A. nana
How many leaves do you keep in every new plantlet?

Best regards,

Livio

[gnome]

It's just as simple. The tip will continue to grow just fine (it's good to have at least 5-6 leaves for each section) and the severed ends of the "middle" pieces can grow out one or more new branches. I did have one experience where I had one rhizome rooted on a piece of African bogwood, and the tip was growing right off the end, so I cut it and attached it to a bare nook in the wood. I think I shocked the heck out of it when I soaked the whole thing in an alum solution and later rinsed it under *very* cold water. The leaves of the part that was rooted (and had the tip snipped off) got yellow and riddled with holes. I thought I killed that whole piece, but eventually, it grew out new, healthy leaves, branched out (from the severed end as well as the middle of the rhizome) and now it looks fine. I could probably go and pluck off the old, sickly leaves, but they're almost completely hidden under the new growth.

Another way you might be able to do it is to "snap" off some of the branching pieces. If I have a piece that's really bushy, I've noticed that sometimes you can just pluck off little sections.

-Naomi

[livionakano]

Thank you very much for your advice, Naomi
Actually, those little Anubias seems to be so fragile that I was afraid of hurting them doing that
I have two piece that surely have more than 15 leaves - may I could make my two petites turning to six :-)

[gnome]

Thank you very much for your advice, Naomi
Actually, those little Anubias seems to be so fragile that I was afraid of hurting them doing that
I have two piece that surely have more than 15 leaves - may I could make my two petites turning to six :-)

You're very welcome! This plant is a lot tougher than it looks. I'm sure you'll have no problems with propagating it. If you're worried, try dividing one piece, and leave the other piece intact until later. And like I said, try the "snapping off" method if either piece has branches. It feels less-traumatic (for you, that is. I don't think the plant cares one way or the other :D ).

-Naomi