# Planted Tanks > Plant Talk >  How long does Hair Grass take to form a carpet?

## grey_fox

Hi there,

I have Hair Grass in my tank as a foreground plant. I have a question, how long does it take to form a carpet? I see a lot of new shoots, planlets growing and planted it 1 to 1 1/2 inch apart from each other.

The only thing I did not do was trim the Hair Grass after planting it. The new shoots are green and look healthy, however the original strands are all browing/melting away. Is this due to the fact that the plants were previously grown emmersed?

Just for assurance sake, since the shoots/planlets are growing, should I remove the dead leaves by gently yanking on it? The hair grass was purchased from Teos Plant Farm btw. 

Am I worrying too much or is there no cause for a worry at all?

Seeking advise.

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## ranmasatome

no worry at all.
Dont yank it. teo grows his HG emersed. if you want take a scissors and snip it.

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## Justikanz

Was advised that hairgrass needs a haircut in order to encourage them to spread. Try cutting them and let us know the result.  :Smile:

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## GaspingGurami

Don't pull. They're runners and pulling one will cause a string of them to be displaced, unlike plucking whiskers. Cut with scissors.

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## grey_fox

Since the hairgrass is already growing, should I still cut and leave the older strands to melt away?

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## kadios

Leave the job to the shrimps. If it is bright, 2 weeks may be sufficient to cover up.

Cheers!

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## seed75

snipping the tip of hairgrass theory was pass down by some known planter shopowner when i first started nature aqarium. was told that regular trimming/snipping will help speed up the growth/spread in the plant itself.

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## Jungle-mania

HG grows well in ADA soil, right now my dwarf HG grows so much that it spills out of the soil! I just simply uproot it and break the bunch into a smaller bunch and replant. Did this for several weeks and had a nice lawn.

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## grey_fox

Thanks guys, I believe the ADA soil must be rich in nutrients for your HG to grow in that 'berserk mode'. 

As for me, I wll further monitor, probably do a clean-up this coming weekend and trim out the dead strands.

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## Ting

I just planted hairgrass too in my 2ft tank. any idea what kind of environment is good for them?

my temp is around 27-28degC, average lighting, small fishes.

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## hypersushi

This is really strange. I'm having hairgrass for a few months now. It seems not to be spreading. It's not dying, neither is is spreading. I don't have a base soil but I do put fert tablets and I dose regularly. Other plants are OK. Toninas are recovering and starting to be back into health now that I've had my CO2 injection for over 2 months now.

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## |squee|

I find that in shaded areas hairgrass grows quite slowly. Planting them in thick clumps also hinders growth.

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## Ting

> Planting them in thick clumps also hinders growth.


ya that's what i notice too. that's why i tried to plant it in very small bunch. 

lucky thing i'm only planting the front part of my 2ft tank. phew... like that already makes me feel like planting padi field...  :Knockout:  

"planting rice is never fun..."

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## GaspingGurami

> ya that's what i notice too. that's why i tried to plant it in very small bunch. 
> 
> lucky thing i'm only planting the front part of my 2ft tank. phew... like that already makes me feel like planting padi field...  
> 
> "planting rice is never fun..."


I find having fine needle-nose forceps the most effective for planting HG. With the other fatter tweezers, I need to slowly ease the tweezer out from the gravel otherwise the HG will come back out with it. With a needle-nose tweezer, I just need to jab in the stalk and it stays in place!

I find the most difficult part of Planting HG to be the preparation: The separation of the bunch into individual stalks as the roots will get tangled with the leaves, and some smaller ones are chained to each other, then the trim and the "parade".

I prepare first by making a pad of wet newspaper, separating the plants (I bunch tiny plants 3-a-bunch and big ones having more than 5 leaves are individual) in a shallow basin of water as it is easier to part the roots from the blades in the water, then I lay the individual bunches neatly in rows on the wetted newspaper after trimming away excess roots and the tips of the blades.

This hard part over, I just need to pick up a bunch, jab into gravel, pick another... it becomes a rhythm, so I get it done rather quick and easy.

I've spent 30 minutes to see how Teo's workers plant a 1.5m square tub of HG. Yes, only 30 minutes! Earlier, he had prepared the clay by mixing in chicken shit, flooding the tub and then draining away the water after the clay has settled. Then with a bunch of HG in one hand, he picks out a stalk and throw it on the surface of this mud. He repeats this over and over, till the tub is covered by tiny hairs of grass, spaced 1 inch apart of each other. He didn't even poke the plants into the mud. 1 month later when I went back to see, this tub is already grown up into a lawn!

Perhaps this method is worth considering for those setting up a tank from scratch. Growing it quickly emmersed, then slowly flooding the tank to submerse the plants and then introducing the fauna. No need CO2, no need to fert, and no worries of HG getting pulled out before the roots are grown in!

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## zysfer

Good base fertilzers with regular CO2 regime and high light sure helps. I'm just afraid of the BBA only.

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## guan

by the way lawerence, 
u mentioned about the clay stuff, and chicken shit?
the clay is what clay?
and the chicken shit are u refering to those landscaping usage of the bone meal? or those raw chicken shit?

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## Ting

> I find the most difficult part of Planting HG to be the preparation: The separation of the bunch into individual stalks as the roots will get tangled with the leaves, and some smaller ones are chained to each other, then the trim and the "parade".


Ha, this part I couldn't agree more, spent almost my whole night just doing this. A bit slow cos watching tv at the same time, heehee

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## GaspingGurami

If you visit Teo's you'll know what I meant by clay. Actually it is just kakhi coloured mud from the pond and stream beds. Chicken shit smells like it (I kept chickens so I've smelt it) and it's these kakhi coloured pellets that smell like it which he casts to the mud to prep it first.

I'd not try it myself in a tank with fish and water.

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## grey_fox

Yeah Teo's farm smells of chicken shit, when I went there I thought there was a chicken farm nearby. His concrete tanks outside has a composition of clay plus other stuff.

Also, although nutritious for the plants, don't think clay & chicken shit mixture would be good for the tank's water. Just my thoughts, however if someone manages to use this as a base fertiliser, let us know the results!

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## PeterGwee

If you feel like killing your critters/fish, you can go ahead and do it. The amount of ammonia should be toxic enough to kill things.

Regards
Peter Gwee  :Wink:

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## grey_fox

:Razz:  yah that was why I was saying if anyone manages this, *let us know the results*  :Razz:

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## rav

> Hi there,
> 
> I have Hair Grass in my tank as a foreground plant. I have a question, how long does it take to form a carpet? I see a lot of new shoots, planlets growing and planted it 1 to 1 1/2 inch apart from each other.
> 
> The only thing I did not do was trim the Hair Grass after planting it. The new shoots are green and look healthy, however the original strands are all browing/melting away. Is this due to the fact that the plants were previously grown emmersed?
> 
> Just for assurance sake, since the shoots/planlets are growing, should I remove the dead leaves by gently yanking on it? The hair grass was purchased from Teos Plant Farm btw. 
> 
> Am I worrying too much or is there no cause for a worry at all?
> ...


 
I got the answer for you. In "worst" case scenario, 3 months to have a carpet. 4th months to be full.

I started my carpet with very minimum seedlings. The key is patience and to leave the plants ALONE! Anyway nothing beats watching plants grow  :Grin: !

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## rav

> yah that was why I was saying if anyone manages this, *let us know the results*


O yes I got a photo journal on the growth throughout the 4 months. I can post it if ppl are interested. LOL see watching plant grow is interesting =)

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## ervinelin

Here's how my Japan HG grew over a period of 4 months... (Growth was very slow in the initial 2-3 months before I upgraded my lights)


Starting


About 1+ month


About 4 months since start

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## Chris Wong

strong lighting?

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## nicklimzhiwe

Yo ervinelin, did you put an form of CO2 injection in your tank?

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