# Wisteria dying for no apparent reason?



## Lettuce (Jul 12, 2014)

I have a 5 gallon planted, heated, cycled tank with a betta in it. The substrate is ecocomplete. The light is a 15 watt 6500k bulb. PH is 7.4-7.6. Water temperature is 79 degrees.

List of plants:

Melon sword
Wisteria
Dwarf Hairgrass
anubias (wasn't labeled at the store so idk which kind)
crypt (also not labeled)
Some kind of long pointy grass type thing that is very tall
3 stalks of narrow leaf anacharis

Out of all of these plants, the wisteria is dying. The others are all perfectly fine.

I don't really know what's going on, because wisteria is supposedly one of the easiest plants to take care of. 2 or 3 of the wisteria stalks are doing just fine, but the rest are falling apart, getting soggy with leaves falling off. It doesn't seem to matter if it's floating or planted, as both have the same issue.

I don't know what I am missing here. I dose flourish comprehensive like every 2 days for nutrients, and the light is on 8 hours a day.

I see so many awesome pictures of wisteria thriving in people's tanks, and growing so much that it has to be frequently trimmed so that it doesn't overcrowd everything else, but mine doesn't grow very fast if at all, and is just dying. I bought it submerged, so no issues with transitioning. I bought it from petsmart and petco, but it was perfectly green and healthy then.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Can you post photos? How long have you had it? Are you sure it's the submerged form? Being in an aquarium when you bought it doesn't mean it was grown that way.

I know it won't help, but I can't grow Philodendron or Ivy. Give me an African violet, Streptocarpus or an Orchid and I'm Hell on Wheels. Which is my way of saying not all of us can grow plants deemed "easy."


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## Lettuce (Jul 12, 2014)

Well it's got the "finger" leaves instead of the round ones, which tells me they were submerged for a while when I bought them.

http://i.imgur.com/NUjqh8z.jpg

There's a picture of what some of the floating ones were doing. for others the leaves were just kind of turning transparent and falling off. The stems are turning brown at the lower segments and getting soggy.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Can you reduce the size of your photos to 72 dpi? Or 600 pixels wide? They are so big when I pull them up I can't really tell anything. 

Edit: Did it for you.  Nice tank!


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## kjg1029 (Jun 14, 2014)

mine died then came back with a different looking leaf, it was more round and full, then when it looks spikey. I've had a hard time with my penny wartxc but I still have one stem of it growing!!! Fingers crossed lol.


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## Lettuce (Jul 12, 2014)

Yeah I was hoping they would just come back but with the stems also falling apart that doesn't look likely.


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## kjg1029 (Jun 14, 2014)

oh man, that's a shame!..i wish I knew why:-\


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## kittenfish (Dec 1, 2013)

I'm not sure what's wrong with your plant, but you might want to start doing macronutrients (N, P, K). Flourish comprehensive is really just your micros and I think wisteria likes a lot of potassium (K). Are you seeing pinholes on the leaves, or do they just melt?

Another possibility to consider is that some species of plants just can't grow in the same tank, something about releasing chemicals to cut down on competition.


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## aselvarial (Feb 21, 2014)

I had issues with water wisteria too. it died, died some more, and then the next time I got it, it lived. No idea why.


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## SabastiansMom (Jul 25, 2014)

Gee mine looks great...it's the ludwigia is crashing hard, losing leaves but the stems seem fine so I've left them.


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## dropped (Aug 29, 2014)

Too much fert, plants will grow rapidly when they get alot of fert, however if they cannot sustain the growth they soon die. I use this method on weeds in lawns by dropping a few grains of fert on a weed it grows really fast and dies.


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## TerriGtoo (Jul 2, 2013)

aselvarial said:


> I had issues with water wisteria too. it died, died some more, and then the next time I got it, it lived. No idea why.


 
I too, have never had luck with wisteria. Tried several sellers thinking it might be something with their stock. nope, all dies within about a 10 day period. It is frustrating because as was mentioned it is supposed to be an "easy" plant.
And then of course I have "harder" plants and they grow like weeds. Go figure.

If anyone figures it out. I'd be interested in knowing why we have problems with it.


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## Islandgaliam (Jan 27, 2014)

I have never never been able to grow wisteria, probably killed 10 plants on separate occasions, until this last bunch. It was grown immersed and already had the "fluffy"leaves. Think the new ferts could have helped as well...this is a pic of the top of the tank I pulled a couple out the other day to add to a different tank, and they are like 3 feet long


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## Lettuce (Jul 12, 2014)

That's what I want!


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## Islandgaliam (Jan 27, 2014)

I want to trim them up, but I don't want to disturb the guppy fry. And I think the yellow one had hers cuz her belly is was smaller today than yesterday


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## Reccka (Jul 20, 2014)

kittenfish said:


> Another possibility to consider is that some species of plants just can't grow in the same tank, something about releasing chemicals to cut down on competition.


I'm really wondering about this now. My wisteria started doing the same thing as OP's and the only thing we have in common is that we both have wisteria AND dwarf hairgrass. :-? Hm.


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## kittenfish (Dec 1, 2013)

After some googling it seems that it's much more likely to just be competition for ferts/CO2. Allelochemicals would have to build up over a long period of no water changes and are removed by activated carbon, so they're unlikely to be a problem in the aquarium.


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## Tony2632 (Aug 30, 2013)

Very odd you cant grow wisteria. I actually hate the plant to be honest. It grows way to fast for my taste and it's a pest plant. I just plant it in the substrate and place a root tab near it. Next thing you I have a 5 gallon bucket full of trimmings.


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## Lettuce (Jul 12, 2014)

I'll probably look into root tabs, I'm sure my sword will appreciate it too.


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