# Banana Lillies!



## LeroyTheBetta (Dec 18, 2010)

I couldn't resist getting 2 of these cute little plants today after all the talk about them on another thread!

Right now, they're relaxing on the bottom of my community tank and Bob the Bristlenose (he's only about 2 inches long) seems to really like the "bananas" ! He's been all over them for the past 20 minutes! hehe

Who was the banana lilly expert here? Was it you, p3?


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

Depends on what you mean by Banana Lily o_o 

If its Nymphoides aquatica, "Big Floating Heart", then I have two, yez. I love these buggers.

They need the same care as other easy plants, nbd.

Dont bury the tubers (weird root things) or itll die and get gross. Bury one slightly if you want, or you can give it a day or two and itll send out roots/shoots and will begin to stick to the substrate (in calm water).

It likes up to 82'F, though if you can keep lower, Id stick to 78'F. Fertilize with liquid fertilizer, give it florescent light, and it'll be a happy nana. :B

They begin to get long after a week or so with good light, its cute. They grow towards the "sun", so decide which way you want the tubers to face beforehand, because they'' grow in about a day or two to that direction.

Other than that, theyre easy peasy  I love them, Theyre so...derp.

Before and after about 2 weeks. Its even taller and more vibrant now. The lilypad things get bigger and bigger and look fantastic.


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## LeroyTheBetta (Dec 18, 2010)

Yep, those are what I've got. Thanks for the care advice. And I think I'll just leave them on top of the substrate as long as that'll be ok for them. Thanks Pew!


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

Yup! Piccers when you get theemmmm B: <3 <3


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## LeroyTheBetta (Dec 18, 2010)

PewPewPew said:


> Yup! Piccers when you get theemmmm B: <3 <3


This photo comes by special request:










I was only going to get one, but they were fairly inexpensive ($2.45 each) so I got 2. They are just relaxing here, in the open area in my 20 gallon, until I figure out where to put them. Bob the Bristlenose likes the "bananas". You can see Bob in the photo... behind the driftwood, just behind the very black molly. Bob's sucked onto the glass right near the gravel (that's his sleeping spot).

And, I found this on one site in an article about banana plants (might try to grow my own 'nanas now!):

Propagation occurs when adventitious plants are formed and firmly pressed into damp ground or the aquarium substrate. Fully formed leaves may also be pressed into substrate to form new plants.


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

Ooh! Yours are quite large! Whoever you got them from grew them well. Mine were a little dinky when I got them.

Ive considered it, maybs Ill do it...Who knows! I have for java ferns before  (Theyre easy too!)


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## HayrideHaunter (Dec 20, 2010)

oh nifty, now i know what my fake plant is supposed to be haha...it has those little naner things...and they confused me...cuz theyre impossible to bury or anything...so i was like "what??? why are these here?"

yay! theyre cute. i kinda want some.


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

Get onnneee !!!


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## HayrideHaunter (Dec 20, 2010)

I'm thinkin about it!!! Im just afraid I'm gonna kill my baby if I do it wrong haha...I love my little CT


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

You wont


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## HayrideHaunter (Dec 20, 2010)

heehee...mebe when i get a little extra cash...ill do a bit of research first too...i want marimos bad so...mebe ill get those guys too!


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## LeroyTheBetta (Dec 18, 2010)

HayrideHaunter said:


> heehee...mebe when i get a little extra cash...ill do a bit of research first too...i want marimos bad so...mebe ill get those guys too!


I'd love to have a little moss ball just adrift in my tank. The only ones I ever saw in a shop were too much $$... I think they were about $15 or $18 EACH! 

And there are lots of other plants I've seen that I'd like to try in my tanks. Just like in my yard (biggest yard I've ever had... 1/3 acre! lol) I have lots of shrubs & other plants... I keep going to the nurseries and getting more plants. I think to myself, "I'll put them in _somewhere_" and buy more and more. I still have LOTS of plants in pots.... I keep upgrading them to bigger pots as they grow. So, I can see this happening with my tanks.... I see a plant and think I don't have anywhere to put it. But get it anyway and float it until I can figure out what to do with it. In the meantime, my other plants will probably start to die from lack of light due to the floating plants. Well, that would solve my problem of what to do with them, wouldn't it! lol


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## HayrideHaunter (Dec 20, 2010)

haha I have way too many potted plants myself...I'm not allowed to have any more haha...i have to transport all my living things to my dorm...it gets difficult >.<


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

I hear you Dx


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## HayrideHaunter (Dec 20, 2010)

P3: I just realized...youre in Oswego!!! I live in Rochester hehe...I was just wondering today if there was anyone nearby! 

are you a college student? or is the "i hear ya" in reference to having too many?


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## phoenix91 (Mar 21, 2011)

I love my banana plant, it's so cute and always looks so healthy. Mine is in the process of shooting up another lily pad. i trimmed the other 1 because it had grown so long it's stalk was taking over the tank. 

Mine is busy sending out runners to have tiny baby plants too. You see the lighter colour shoots next to the banana bits, those are runners for new plants. i have 3 right now. I have mine with the bananas half pressed into the substrate.









I'm going to the lfs today so i might get another 1 if they have any.


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

B'awww. These things are so silly and cute! My lily pads are all gonna be breaking the top at the same time >_< Theyre all about the same height and getting huge, this is nuts.

And yeah, Im a student in Oswego :B


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## phoenix91 (Mar 21, 2011)

With all this talk of nana plants i went out this morning and got another one. It's pretty scrawny right now but it'll grow soon enough.


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

I want another, too! DX I love these.

I want to propogate and grow my own, but Im getting mixed info on how to do it...
And I think some methods only grow rooted lily pads, and I want the tubers,too!
(I think they may need seeding/above water fertilization for it, booooo)


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## phoenix91 (Mar 21, 2011)

i was told on the planted tank forum that mine was busy propagating. The person said that the 3 light coloured things at the banana roots were the mother sending out runners. apparently new plants grow from the runners and then you just trim the new plants off. I was also told that they flower but it's hard to get them to do it.


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## HayrideHaunter (Dec 20, 2010)

P3: niftyyy...I go to Nazareth haha...

I WANT AN ADORABLE NANER NAO


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

GET ONE, RIGHT NOW

:B

I think I know where that is!


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## HayrideHaunter (Dec 20, 2010)

its in Pittsford =P...like 45 min away or something...maybe a little longer...

I CANT. I no has money or transportation to teh pet store. Also Im not sure my local Petco sells them...i know they dont sell Marimos....I want one of those sooooo bad =O


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

Try online?!

If I can manage to get one to grow from mine, Ill send B: <3


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## HayrideHaunter (Dec 20, 2010)

online is tough at home...my parents are veeeeery skeptical about online stuff...but I may try and convince them to allow me to do that haha...after all it'd be my money...and im 19 =P


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## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

Petco gets them in from time to time. 

If the banana bits rot off, just bury the stem-head into the substrate so the leaves come up. 

Propagation by sucker off the running roots or by lily-pad drift.

From what I've read these will grow another banana structure under the lily pad they send up. I've had two send up lily pads in a 5 gallon tank and one of the stems went all the way down the tank and came back up. Was wrapped around the filter and the heater and grew about 3 inches in diameter before the leaf died and the plant went into shock and dropped all its leaves. It's growing again now.

They are quite cute plants but they don't like having their leaves roughed up, they will wilt and drop them for any damage at all.


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

^ They really do, any bumps or bruises and they cry and drop that leaf or tuber right off D;

I really wanna propagate now >_<


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## lessandler (Jun 5, 2011)

I have always admired these little plants. Do they require special lighting and could they go without fertilization? Or what kind? In the past when I have fertilized I felt it would create algae so I am afraid to. 

Also do they require substrate or can they be tied to a rock? And if they root in the substrate does that mean you cannot vacuum near them?

Thanks!

Thanks!


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

They Need a decent bit of light, nothing crazy, but a good few hours at least a day with a flouresant light will make them happy. Fertilizer is good, yeah, try aqueon's plant food, it works well! Over dosing on fertilizer would maybe give you algae, but in normal amounts with proper water changes, youll be fine.
Im not sure, but I think they can live with out gravel. I vacuum (gently) by mine with no issues. Over time they implant sturdier and sturdier, so it gets easier.

So long as it isn't in a place to get knocked about by current, etc, you might not even need to tie it.


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## sayurasem (Nov 20, 2010)

btw do those banana plants anchor it self on substrate? or just sink like that? does it have roots? or the banana looking is the root?


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

The nanas are the "roots", but they get these little sprouts that look like vines that come out in a few days.

They more or less will anchor themselves, yeah. It takes a while, though, and the current needs to be gentile. Covering it slightly (slightly) in gravel to anchor it will help it out.

They typically sink by themselves, but might hover above the ground a bit.


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## HayrideHaunter (Dec 20, 2010)

would they be alright with my tank light? I'm not sure how strong it is...I can look...i leave it on all day every day and it gets turned off at night so Marbles knows its time to rest...its fairly warm...probly warms his water a couple degrees


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

Is it florescent/cfl? If so then yuurrppp!


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## HayrideHaunter (Dec 20, 2010)

yup...7 watts of fluorescent =3


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## Tisia (Mar 15, 2011)

they were $3 at my lfs, so I just had to come home with a couple, I blame you people


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

Yeahyeahyeah nanas 4 evr


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## HayrideHaunter (Dec 20, 2010)

they didnt have any at mine...I GOT A MARIMO FINALLY WHOOHOOOOOO!!!!!...and an anubia


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