Pogostemon yatabeanus

At the December GWAPA meeting, I was fortunate enough to obtain Pogostemon yatabeanus in the mini-auction that we have at every club meeting. P. yatabeanus is an Austrailian plant, from the same reknowned genus as Pogostemon stellatus, formerly Eusteralis stellatus. This particular species reminds me more of the broadleaf variety of P. stellatus, in that it’s a little bit larger of a plant, except that it stays a beautiful bright green instead of bronzing under bright light. It doesn’t seem to be particularly demanding if kept in your typical high-tech setup.

I currently have the plant in my 75G, planted in Soilmaster Select ‘Red’, with pressurized CO2, high-light, and regular dosing. In this environment, P. yatabeanus might be the fastest growing plant in the tank. Young stems stay rather slender with narrower leaves. Older stems can grow quite thick, with leaves that become longer and fatter, similar to how P. stellatus ‘broadleaf’ grows. When you trim P. yatabeanus and leave the lower portion in the substrate, 2-3 new stems start to grow out of the incision.

Due to this plant’s size, I don’t know if I’d recommend it for a smaller tank, but in a larger tank I think it’s the perfect ‘green’ companion to plants such as limnophilia aromatica, pogostemon stellatus ‘broadleaf’, etc… If you can get your hands on this plant, please give it a try.