Designing an underwater forest is made simpler by knowing how to multiply a single plant into multiple plants. After years, and a lot of mistakes in my aquascaping journey, I have recently viewed propagation as a chore, but also a form of moving meditation. Watching a small cutting grow into a small forest is something that simply transforms the overall look of an aquarium.
My first attempts at plant propagation were needed rather than skilled. Having spent so much on a rare Bucephalandra variant, I stared in horror as my ugly fingers clumsily broke off a side shoot while I was trying to plant it. Instead of giving up, I decided to stuff the broken part into some rocks in a different corner of the tank and forget about it. Months later, I spotted new growth on the fragment that had just about been tossed away. This was a fortunate occurrence that amazed me astounding me, as well as fuel my interest and fascination in the durability and reproductive abilities of aquatic plants.
Due to their most forgiving methods of propagation stem plants stay the root of most planted aquariums.
Rotala, Ludwigia, and Bacopa are species that grow quickly and can be multiplied without limit using simple cuts. When I started my commercial aquascaping business, I had a 20 gallon propagation tank full of stem plants. Each week, I would harvest the top parts for client tanks, and then re plant the tops of the cut portions into the substrate. The lower portions sprouted new side shoots, becoming bushier, denser, and taller with every succeeding cycle. In a matter of months, a couple of plants were able to provide stock for several tank installations.
Stem propagation is deceptively simple. I learned that timing is vital. If a stem is cut too early before establishing strong growth, the parent and the cutting may struggle. When a stem is waited on too long, the lower portions can become sparse and leggy. With a lot of careful watching, I was able to develop a rhythm. I gave each species optimal cutting points in which stem portions typically had new roots at the leaf nodes but were lower leaves were yellowing from no light.
Rhizome plants are a different story altogether.
Species such as Anubias, Java Fern, and Bucephalandra all have a common central stem from which leaves grow on one side and roots on the other. These plants cannot be reproduced by simple cutting of the stem as they need the stem to be shredded. Making my first conscious attempt at propagating Anubias was very anxiety inducing. While doing some “plant surgery” on a healthy specimen that had taken months to establish, I needed to decide on taking the risk or not. These plants divided extremely well. The callous parts healed in a few days which was surprising, but the new growth that followed in a few weeks was astonishing. What had felt like an elaborate procedure devolved itself into basic upkeep.
Most fulfilling of all was the propagation technique I learned on carpet plants like Eleocharis parvula and Micranthemum tweediei. The hardest part was starting with tissue cultured canisters, which contained, at most, a few small plantlets. These plantlets were stratified so that each of them could be separated and planted in a grid formation. Placing the stems an inch or so apart is crucial. Given the right amount of light and good CO2 levels, these little plants can take over the entire area and serve as a carpet.
Watching this process unfold over weeks— individual plants reaching out to connect with their neighbors— feels like witnessing a coordinated effort, a vegetative intelligence slowly exploring and claiming territory.
Some of my most successful plant colonies were established as what I can only describe as botanical rebellion. Floating plants like Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum) and Water Spangles (Salvinia minima) reproduce so enthusiastically that, in a week’s time, If I’m not careful I will drown the plants beneath them in light and inadvertently do more damage than good. I have learned to harness this energetic insanity, using it to create dense networks of floating plants in nutrient rich grow tanks and then slicing out pieces of them to use in display tanks where they aid in water quality while casting shadows.
The supporting structure of my plant propagation over the years has changed significantly. My unused windowsills were just ad hoc collections of totes and buckets sitting on top of one another, but I spent the time and money to make idea specific propagation tanks with strategic lighting, filtration, and nutrient dosing.
In my terrarium, plants are grown above water in a substrate filled with saturated humidity. Some delicate species are encouraged to grow above the water via an emersed growth setup. In fact, many species are able to grow faster when their roots are in the soil due to stronger emersed rooting which make them easier to be kept in placed tanks.
The most important factor that warrants success for aquaculture temperature control, which I found changes between 24 and 26 degrees celsius, particularly staying within the lower 75-78 degree mark. I also learned that for aquatic life, too cold or hot can both be detrimental. An overheated aquarium heater with a reliable thermostat would keep my success rates up during the winter months when room temperatures would be all over the place.
My expansion in the venture helped dictate what other parts of the process I could control, so these modular propagation racks made from cheap plastic tubing would streamline basic air powered sponge filtration or LED shop lights. For restocking, I found myself converting upstairs bedrooms into greenhouses which my other housemates could care less for seeing as it negated our living expenses.
My business was completely different than having a fully functioning venture to one jut focusing on profit aquaculture.
Instead of making continuous purchases of bulk plants from vendors, I could make a single purchase of a high-quality specimen and use it to propagate endlessly. An initial investment of $50 on tissue-cultured carpet plants could generate thousands of dollars worth of landscaping materials within six months. This approach was not only economical, but it gave me complete control over the health and quality of plants used in client installations. I no longer had to deal with bringing in snails or algae from supplier stock because all plants were produced in my controlled environment.
Beyond the practicality of it, propagation brought me deeper into the identity of my craft and their materials. Getting involved in the reproductive cycle of these plants (thinking through their growth patterns, preferred environment, and amazing regenerative abilities) forced me to develop an intuitive understanding of how they would respond in different design scenarios. This understanding changed the way I approached aquascaping. I started moving away from treating plants as inert design components toward an appreciation for their constantly growing and changing essence as an integral part of the artistic representation.
To those venturing on their own propagation journeys, I advise starting with more lenient species such as Water Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis) or Java Moss (Taxiphyllum barbieri). These plants will propagate quite easily even if conditions aren’t the best, allowing for quick wins that bolster confidence for more difficult species.
Patience is the most important attribute a person can have when it comes to plant propagation. Some species take weeks and sometimes months to show any progress after being cut or divided.
With years of experience on propagation, I now tend to think of these plants as partners rather than raw material. Every species possesses a unique temper, differing reproductive strategies, and it’s own timeline. Now, working within these parameters is bafflingly more successful than trying to enforce a schedule. For aquascapers, the correct understanding of propagation comes with economic benefits, and an enriched experience with the living piece of art. The same way we are transforming into aquatic gardeners with each single stem to underwater forest, the world of plant propagation is giving us with growing beauty amd understanding.
