# Planted Tanks > Plant Talk >  Emersed Hemianthus callitrichoides

## krabbie

Is it easier to grow HC emerged and then add water later? Or shall I start with them submerged? My past experience with them was that it's very difficult to get them rooted ...  :Sad:

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## Shadow

Emerse HC grow faster and no need to worry about floating. However, in my recent experiment, it melt when I submerse them. New leaves still grow subemerse but the old one melt. It might be becase of the excell dossing, either way will try it again to confirm.

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## krabbie

thanks .. pls keep me posted .. my new tank is coming this friday ... will probably start the planting before new year.  :Grin:

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## inkslinger

:Jump for joy:  new guy here , i too looking into growing HC for the first time , i just redid my tank with SMS sub and add a new drift wood and slope my sub 4inch in the front to 6inch to the sides and back and i was thinking of growing HC emerge first with just enough water to keep the front center wet for the HC to grow out then fill it with water and add my stems plants later when the HC spreads out, i have a 110g tank {60x18x24} and 6 t5 ho's that should be enough to kick start the HC to grow , i still need to add to my aquatic scape maybe some rocks and another pice of wood , I'm taking my time on this as i also changing my pluming to , hopefully Santa will have something good for me under the tree this year

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## inkslinger

will i got my frist 2 pots of HC and i put them in 2 bowls with SMS ,witch i put them in 110g tank, all it has right now is SMS and a drif wood an nothing elese right now i might put on 1 pair of t5 ho lights on for now how many hr should it be on and i need to put my glass back on top also and keep an eye on the sub so it does not dry up in the bowls . what do think should this work?? my tank should be up by next month or so

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## krabbie

Due to some problems with my cabinet, my tank is still empty.  :Sad:  However, do keep us posted on your progess. I am planning to start the planning by this weekend ... if the rectification can be completed by Sat.

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## hebi

hi inkslinger, why dont you cover the top of the tank with foil wrap, those that you use to wrap food. this way you can contain the moisture and temperature is more or less constant inside the sealed tank.

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## ah^siao

i planted my HC the submersed way then added water in later. During the submersed period, i did not dose anything. they grew well and when water is added in, some of the leaves melted away. The only problem encountered is abit of blue-green algae.

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## hammy

Hi all, just to share 2 pics of how they doing in my tank.  :Smile: 





The space in the background is reserved for higher plants, probably MM.

There might be a BGA outbreak, as what Ah Siao had mentioned.

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## hebi

thats a very nice HC lawn. mine didnt grew that thick, or maybe i didnt have the patience to let it grew that thick. haha

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## hammy

Thank you Hebi.
Am actually contemplating if I should fill the tank up with water and blast it with CO2... Holding back the idea for fear of leave rot, hahahaha.... :P

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## soulfinder78

how long did you grow it till this thick?

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## inkslinger

nice lawn hammy , how much light do you have on it and how long do you leve it on, do you add frets too

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## hammy

Hi Soulfinder78, I didn't actually take note of the time frame needed to achieve that but my rough estimate would be about 3 months or so.  :Smile: 

Hi Inkslinger, photoperiod on a 13W PL tube (Dymax) is 8 hours on this small tank of 23cm x 15cm x 18cm. And its "fert-free".  :Smile:

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## torque6

nice . emerse method is still the easiest from what ive 'read". Too bad, i only can to know this techique after i setup my first tank....zzz

Do you use misting by the way?

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## inkslinger

hammy is the key to growing submerge HC is it soil, I'm trying on a bowl of SMS and its been a 2 weeks i don't see any new growth my soil is moist and its in my my 110g tank with glass cover an i have 108w t5 ho on for 5 hrs. maybe i should switch over to soil and put the HC in a 5 or 10g tank with a glass cover instead
 :Exasperated:

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## krabbie

After months of preparation and rectification of the defects, finally my 322 tank is ready for planting last Sunday. Yea!  :Kiss: 

This is my third attempt with HC, but first time in emersed form. The first 2 tries failed miserably cos it just won't get rooted!  :Mad:  Anyway, today is the forth day and I can see some growth already. Hopefully this time shall be a success.  :Grin:  



I will be tracking my journal here in webshots.

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## hammy

Hi torque6, nope, no misting. But the soil is usually wet till the point of flooding...

Hi inkslinger, yes, i believe it has something to do with the soil type and chemical properties present in it. I'm still experimenting with the different types of soil.  :Smile:

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## daoism

man my HC is doing very badly. roots coming out. you left your light on straight for 3 months? actually i'm really new. what exactly is emersed?

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## Burky

That's a great view Selwyn... Can you please give me details about your substrate and water level and the temperature of this tank. 






> Hi all, just to share 2 pics of how they doing in my tank. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The space in the background is reserved for higher plants, probably MM.
> 
> There might be a BGA outbreak, as what Ah Siao had mentioned.

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## hammy

Hi daoism, yes, light (with photoperiod of 8hrs) is present from day one till now. And don't worry, HC is prone to rotting when establishing into the new environment.  :Smile:  'Emerse' in this context means 'grown *above*  water'. 

Thank you Burky. Substrate is aquarium gravel (JBJ) without any base fert. The brown 'stuff' you see at the back is actually dirt accumulated over time. With no worries of algae (for now), it is actually a pretty hassle free way of growing HC, hahaha... Water level is, as mentioned in the earlier post, till 'flooding' or waterlogged. Being emersed, temperature is as per ambient, i.e. between 29 and 31 degree celsius.

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