# How to Grow Java Fern



## Turtle4353 (Jul 27, 2012)

Any help here? Tips would be great. I got two big java ferns but the big leaves died and now I have tiny leaves the won't grow. I have artificial lighting and miracle gro organic under the gravel


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## RedRaz (Sep 12, 2012)

Did you tie it to drift wood? I have heard it is best to keep Java Fern’s roots above the substrate when planting.


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## registereduser (Jul 30, 2010)

I found 2 teeny tiny java ferns in some other plants I bought and tied them down to some wood. Now one is about a half inch tall and the other has a leaf about an inch. This was several months ago. They grow very slowly.


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## Turtle4353 (Jul 27, 2012)

Ok. Thanks!


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## MooseKnocker (Aug 5, 2012)

If you can get it to grow enough would you be willing to sell some? 
My local pet stores do not sell any, or the ones that do have major snail issues.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

mine always goes terrible looking on me. I've given up. lol


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

I have java fern out the ears, almost literally. I am seriously pondering trying it out as a salad vegetable. Or you know.. giving a ton of it away.

Mine grows like mad, sprouts babies all over and stays very green aside from spore-spots and the odd elderly leaf. 

The secrets of rampant java fern growth: 

-- Absolute neglect. No ferts, no nothing. Tether it (or not) then leave it the heck alone. Well, that's what I do, anyway.

--_ Low lighting_. It actually does way better in the darkest bits of my tanks, and under weak LEDs that ought to be replaced. That's where it's growing like a weed. Oh, and in a heated bucket in my laundry with hardly any light at all. 

- Soft water/acidic water. It doesn't like alkaline conditions, probably as it evolved in high tannin blackwater under some serious forest canopy (hence it likes low light). 

-- NEVER put it in the substrate. It likes being tethered to driftwood. Though I have clumps growing loose and some tied to rocks too, and they're all doing about the same.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

^exactly
I have hard water, highlight
and my tridents just wasted away.
They've just began reestablishing themselves in a dark spot in my jar-tank
I also have one growing emersed which is doing much better than everythig else


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## MooseKnocker (Aug 5, 2012)

Aus said:


> I have java fern out the ears, almost literally. I am seriously pondering trying it out as a salad vegetable. Or you know.. giving a ton of it away.



If you are looking to give some away let me know! I've been looking and don't want to spend 15$ for a small bit.


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## Jupiter (Aug 30, 2009)

Mine seem to grow veeery slowly...I have them increase in number but they don't get very big.


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## phoenix91 (Mar 21, 2011)

I started off with a tiny bit and it's now covering half my 5 g, and i have 3 clumps of it in my 10g. I have the same conditions as above, quite low light and i hardly do anything to it, occasionally i take off the old leaves but usually just stick the vacuum end in among the plant and shake for the old its to come off.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

I'd be really happy to give some away.. but I live in Australia, and shipping plants OS might be difficult (or illegal?).

It is a pretty slow-growing plant, until it gets to the stage where it's sprouting baby leaves off the old ones. After that, it seems to speed up quite a lot.

I found it goes absolutely stupid with growth in my NPT (which has higher light than it prefers in my other tanks, too), just tied to a rock. It doubled in size in just a couple of months, to the point where I just had to take it all out so that the other plants weren't missing out on light. 

The NPT produces a little natural carbon, and a bit of tannins from the organic potting mix (and now some wood I just included), so I'm wondering whether this is what caused it to have such rapid/healthy growth.


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## starrlamia (May 3, 2012)

me and java dont get along that well haha, my big leaves are turning colours, and my babies are slow growing, I have an NPT but i guess i didnt get any luck with these guys


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## Dutch (May 1, 2012)

Just to elaborate on a previous comment that stated you shouldn't put it in the substrate, you can bury the roots but the thing you don't want to bury is the rhizome


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## Hopeseeker (Feb 6, 2012)

Dutch said:


> Just to elaborate on a previous comment that stated you shouldn't put it in the substrate, you can bury the roots but the thing you don't want to bury is the rhizome


Exactly! Mine have just the roots buried.(Anubias, too!) All are flourishing in my 10 gallon divided. I pretty much ignore them, except for pulling off babies and trimming really old looking leaves.


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