A lush aquarium plant the color of red wine with oval leaves pointed at the ends - this is ludwigia ruby. The exoticism of its unusual shade on the green background of other plants attracts attention, giving rise to a holistic image.
Ludwig “ruby”: classification as a subgroup
A plant can reach a height of up to forty centimeters; its shoots spread along the surface of the water. The color intensity increases with the height of ludwig: from below the shade is less pronounced, and the higher the brighter, more ruby the branches and leaves become.
The plant is quite powerful, the stems are strong, and the leaves reach 4 cm in length.
Reaching the surface of the water, the branches form a floating bright ruby rosette, the leaves are tightly pressed in it, there are no obvious internodes.
Ludwigia ruby blooms with tiny yellow-green flowers, which against the background of bright burgundy leaves presents a rather moving picture. The plant was originally assigned to the group of creeping ludwigs (in terms of external similarity and growth rate). For many, this is still a creeping “ruby” ludwig, although subsequent studies have shown that this representative of the aquarium flora most likely belongs to Ludwigia glandulosa, but most likely this is a hybrid. A consequence of this fact was the assignment of the name Ludwigia aff. (affinis - close, related) glandulosa.
Ludwig "ruby": maintenance and care
In general, the plant does not require special care efforts. The temperature background should be maintained from 20 to 25 ° C.
The luminous flux needs a stable and strong enough - from 0.5 W / liter of water in the aquarium (or a little more). Fulfillment of this requirement will give an intense color to the leaves, and a decrease in luminous flux will lead to a complete loss of shade. A small portion of daylight also does not hurt.
A special requirement for the content of ruby ludwigia is the volume of water: the plant develops well and delights the eye with color intensity, only if the aquarium has at least 80 liters of water.
His nutrition should be stable and contain, in addition to a complex of trace elements, also iron, which will provide a bright wine color of the leaves. And the introduction of a small amount of clay into the soil will enable ludvigia to develop faster.
Natural slight siltation of the aquarium is a normal viable environment for it.
Planting
Aquarists need to know that the ruby ludvigia develops quite quickly, combining with many familiar plants. To place it, from the point of view of water landscape design, it is better in the center of the aquarium against the background of green neighbors, making sure that they have different shades and shapes of leaves.
Lateral shoots and aerial roots of ludwig can quickly fill the space, so they need to be removed periodically. This operation is painless for her, and the result is a new planting material.
Cuttings can be immediately placed in the sand layer of the aquarium, slightly deepening them.
If there is a drainage layer in the aquarium, small branches of ludwig can calmly take root in it and begin to grow. The only condition for life in this situation will be the size of the drainage fraction - the smaller the better.
If the volume of the aquarium is less than 80 liters, ludvigia can be placed in a special pot by attaching it to the wall of the aquarium and not forgetting about the conditions of increased illumination for the plant.
In this case, you need to make sure that it does not become too large, since intensive growth can lead to very fast wilting - the lower leaves begin to rot, and then the cuttings fall out.
Breeding
There are several ways to propagate ludvigia "ruby":
- dividing the lateral branch into several parts, leaving 3-5 internodes in each part;
- cutting off from the shoot the grown upper part, which usually begins to spread along the surface;
- removing aerial roots with a small new ludwig from the main plant growing in axil leaves.
You can plant cuttings both in the ground and leaving it on the surface of the water. The roots will appear in both cases. The cuttings freely floating on the surface of the water are a funny sight - a rug begins to form from above, and when viewed from below, bright red small plants are visible, shading the greens of neighbors and even changing the natural illumination inside the aquarium, adding a slight reddish tint.
Disease
Bending of the lower leaves occurs in low light conditions of both the aquarium itself and an individual plant. You can save ludvigia by cutting off the good parts of twigs and sockets and letting them go on the surface. It is advisable to change the water in this situation, and immediately bring the lighting back to normal.
Holes may appear on the leaves - this indicates a lack of calcium in mineral fertilizing.
Turbidity, dirt and high levels of carbon dioxide in the aquarium depress the plant. Weekly water changes (at least by a third) and constant aeration - only in such conditions does the ludwig “ruby” grow.
The leaves are pressed very close to the stem - an alarming symptom, you need to urgently measure the hardness of the water, the indicator can be critical. A pH of 4 to 7 is considered normal.
Observance of simple conditions will allow you to grow a beautiful plant. And “ruby” will be able to live in an aquarium of ludwig for several years.