This really is a cracking plant and new to the scene too, having only arrived about 6 months ago, and never seen before in the hobby. New plants are always exciting as it opens doors to new aquascapes...
Pogostemon Erectus is a fine leafed stem plant which has conifer likes stems (very unusual) which are bright green and vivid. Extremely eye catching, it becomes an instant focal point and one of the reasons it has shot to fame. Like all stem plants if you keep the lighting bright it ensures the plant stays low and compact making it a great plant if you're looking for something on the foreground. Of course, you can still grow it as a background plant if your lighting is less powerful; expect it to grow up to 40cm in that case.
It's a fairly easy easy plant to grow, but you need to make sure you have decent fertilisers and of course CO2 is always beneficial if you want to get the best from this plant. Failure to do this always results on algae taking hold and settling quickly of the leaves. Temperature wise, 22-28° C is recommended so this won't cause problems for most of you. Always plant Pogostemon Erectus in a group of 3 pots or more as it will look best that way, and what is even more wonderful is watching it sway in the current - it's quite mesmerising...
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3 comments
I bought this in December but it only grew thin weak stems for the first month.
I Increased the lighting intensity and started dosing Neutro+ and since then has grown much stronger and faster. Three months on and I have a really beautiful clump about 150mm tall and across. I have not found this new growth to fragile at all, but I only keep small Tetra fish.
Pruning about 1/3 up seems to encourage new growth from the base which can be uprooted and moved, thereby increasing the stock.
It’s stunning now and remains my favourite aquarium plant.
that’s really great to hear – one of my favourite plants too.
I had Pogostemon Erectus a year ago. Great looking plant but tends to break easily and needs very stable environment (CO2, fertilizers, light). Also trimming of the plant is done by cutting the bottom of the plant. So you need to pull it out from the substrate to trim. The plant will stagnate with grow for a week or more until it redevelop it’s roots.
Developing of algae can be prevented by introducing Crossocheilus oblongus, shrimps, Gyrinochelius aymonieri to community and by lowering PH (adding wood).
I would recommend this plant in aquascapes with smaller fish. Micro reasbora, cardinal Tetra, betta splendes… Fish like ancistrus, botia, etc. tends to brake it.