5 (Five) x 5 cm Pots of Echinodorus horizontalis - Popular Aquatic Plant

Offering  5  (five) pots of  Echinodorus horizontalis  potted in 5 cm plastic pots. 

Echinodorus horizontalis is a medium-sized sword plant originating from the Amazon depression in the north of South America. In contrast to many other Echinodorus species that grow in more or less sunny locations, Echinodorus horizontalis is most often found on shaded ground of marsh woods or temporarily flooded forests or the banks of rain forest rivulets. There it is subject to rapid changes of the water level. When flooded, it develops submersed leaves that have the same form as its emersed ones. 

Echinodorus horizontalis is a rather demanding plant when cultivated emersed in an aquatic plant nursery, it is susceptible to fungal diseases and has a lesser reproduction rate than many other sword plants. However, when cultivated submersed in the aquarium this plant grows quite well and even forms flower stalks with adventitious plants. Thus the survival of this beautiful plant in aquaristics depends almost entirely on hobbyists. 

As the species name suggests, the leaf blades of Echinodorus horizontalis grow more or less horizontally, be it emersed or submersed. They are longish-oval with a heart-shaped base and an acute tip. The lateral veins meet the longitudinal veins in an almost accurate right angle. The transparent patterns (pellucid leaf areas) within the leaves form a grid-like pattern in this species. The leaf stalk is smooth, its cross section is round. The leaves are of a light to medium green colour, new leaves are often of a light reddish-brown. They are relatively firm and rigid.

The emersed inflorescence has only a few whorls, the flower stalks lie down shortly after sprouting and form only a small number of adventitious plants. The flowers are relatively small and open only for a short period during the day. After pollination, the sepals enlarge significantly and enclose the developing nutlets like a sphere-shaped capsule. When the seeds are ripe, the sepals open again and release the nutlets. 

Whereas its emersed form reaches heights of over 50 cm, Echinodorus horizontalis only grows to 15 to 20, or maximally 35 cm high in the aquarium, which makes it a great plant for smaller tanks. Under normal aquarium conditions it does not grow out of the water. However, its leaf rosette may grow to 30 to 50 cm in width, thus the plant can occupy a lot of space. However, its rather slow growth lets it reach this size only after several months.

The light requirements of this sword plant may be rather low, however, it should not be shaded in the aquarium anyway. It prefers softer, slightly acidic water, a good supply of CO2 and a substrate rich in nutrients. When suffering from an iron deficiency, Echinodorus horizontalis tends to develop chloroses rather soon.   

Please do your own research via Google for more information about this plant.

Please note this lot is offered on a pre-order basis. It may take up to 10  working days before we ship the plants. In case if we can't get the plants from  our supplier within 10 working days the order will be cancelled and all the  money will be refunded to the buyer.  The plants are shipped with great care. We  can accommodate most circumstances of combining postage to cover costs if you  order some other lots as well. If there are any questions you have then please  get in touch before you make the purchase.