Hygrophila sp. ‘Sarawak’

October 7th, 2007

At one of the past GWAPA meetings, I won Hygrophila sp. ‘Sarawak’ in the mini-auction. One of our members had obtained seeds for this plant, grew it up emersed, and finally started propagating it for other club members. When I obtained this plant, it was in its emersed form which has much larger green leaves than the reddish submersed form. In the picture below you can see the contrast of the larger leaf form at the bottom verses the leaves at the top.

Hygrophila sp. â??Sarawakâ??

Most of us know the plants of the Hygrophila genus as weeds that require frequent trimming and care. For this reason, I usually avoid plants from this family. I’m pleased to report that Hygrophila sp. ‘Sarawak’ does not share this same trait. It is much slower growing than say, H. polysperma, and so it requires much less upkeep. I’m still reserving judgment on how apt this plant is for aquascaping, but my first impression seems to indicate that it will bush up, making it viable. Watch future posts of my latest 40G aquascape to see how it progresses along.

Hygrophila sp. â??Sarawakâ??

4 Responses to “Hygrophila sp. ‘Sarawak’”

  1. Kelley Says:

    This is really beautiful plant! I am really looking forward to seeing how it does in your tank. Is it making the transition to submersed growth well, or is it melting?

    Keep up the good work on the blog!

  2. guitarfish Says:

    Thanks Kelley. Actually, it’s converting to submersed growth perfectly. The pictures in this post are actually submersed growth. It’s just a hardy enough plant that I pulled it out of the tank to photograph against a white background. I’ll be sure to post more pictures of it in the tank in the future. 🙂

  3. Oregon aqua Says:

    How is this plant doing? any pictures of it in your tank? I just got some looking for ideas on its use.

    Jeremy

  4. guitarfish Says:

    Jeremy, actually I don’t have this plant anymore. I just ended up not liking it very much because it was pretty hard to aquascape with. I hope you have more luck with it.