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Platinum glosso

Glossostigma elatinoides 'Platinum'

Also known as Glossostigma Platinum, Glosso Platinum

FreshwaterCarpetingRunnersCuttings

Care at a glance

Light
High light
CO2
CO₂ required
Growth rate
Medium
Placement
Foreground
Type
Carpeting
Temperature
59–79°F (15–26°C)
pH
5.0–7.5
Hardness
0–14 dGH
Max height
1.6 in (4 cm)
Spread
3.9 in (10 cm)
Nutrient uptake
Root + water column
Growth region
Submersed
Difficulty
Difficult
Origin
Cultivated (tissue-culture line; the species is from New Zealand and Australia)
Family
Phrymaceae

Overview

This is standard glosso culture with the margin for error removed. It needs high light, injected CO2, soft water and fresh nutrient-rich aqua soil; separate the tissue-culture cup into small plugs, plant them a couple of centimetres apart, and expect slower fill-in than the green form. Under weak light it grows upward instead of creeping and the carpet fails. Keep algae off it aggressively, since the pale leaves have no reserve to outgrow a coating. Trim the carpet before it thickens enough for the lower layer to rot, and replant healthy runners.

In the wild

Platinum is a variegated line of Glossostigma elatinoides known only from tissue culture; Platinum labels turn up on several unrelated aquarium plants from the same suppliers, and this row is specifically the variegated Glossostigma. The green species carpets muddy lake margins and slow stream edges in New Zealand and southeastern Australia, creeping over wet mud emersed or submersed in shallow water.

Good to know

Glossostigma elatinoides sits in the family Phrymaceae and is one of the smallest carpeting plants in the hobby, with paired spoon-shaped leaves on creeping runners. The Platinum line carries a stable variegation that drains the leaves to pale yellow-green through near white. The white tissue holds little chlorophyll, so each plantlet runs on the photosynthesis of its greener parts, which makes the line weaker than plain glosso.

Did you know

The whiter the cup, the worse the buy: the palest Platinum plantlets carry the least chlorophyll, so the showiest tissue is also the most likely to waste away after planting. A plug with plenty of green in it establishes far better.

Appears in

High-light plants · Foreground plants · Carpeting plants · Advanced plants

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