Bulb aquarium plants

Rest the bulb on the substrate or push in no more than the bottom third, with any visible growing point up. If it floats, let it float; it sinks once it sprouts. A bulb bought dry can take three or four weeks to wake in water above 72°F (22°C), and a bulb that turns soft or smells is dead. Bulb plants feed from the roots more than most aquarium plants, so a root tab under a lily or an aponogeton makes a visible difference. Medium light suits nearly all of them and CO2 is optional.

Several bulbs are among the fastest plants in the catalog. Aponogeton crispus, undulatus and ulvaceus and the red water lily all list fast growth and can put out a leaf every few days when established; they will shade a tank in a month. The tiger lotus and red tiger lotus stay compact only if you keep pinching off the leaves that head for the surface; leave them and the plant switches to floating pads and shades everything underneath. Trim leaves at the base of the stem, not halfway.

Aponogetons and some lilies grow hard for months and then die back to the bulb. That is dormancy, not death: leave the bulb in place, or lift it and store it cool and damp for a couple of months, and it usually returns. The crinums do not go dormant. The two lace plants, Madagascar lace and Henkel's lace, are the difficult bulbs in the list: they want cool water at 64–75°F (18–24°C), go dormant readily, and their perforated leaves collect algae in a bright tank. Aponogeton boivinianus and natans are the steadier aponogetons if the lace plants put you off.

The big aponogetons and the crinums reach 20 to 40 inches (50 to 100 cm) and need a tall tank. For a 10 to 20 gallon (40 to 75 liter) tank the dwarf aquarium lily and the micrantha lily stop near 10 inches (25 cm), the banana plant at 6 inches (15 cm), and the orchid lily at 16 inches (40 cm) if its surface leaves are pinched. Every profile lists height; check it against the water depth you actually have.