Have you ever noticed that the look of a green carpet is attractive and irresistible?
Moreso, a planted carpet decorates your aquascape than a plastic carpet. It also shows some uniqueness, especially after it spread out nicely. The best carpet plant is monte Carlo.
But are you wondering how you can grow this plant?
Well, growing this plant is entirely possible and easy. This article will show you how you can plant your monte Carlo plant at your aquascape. You will learn how you will grow and care for it.
Does it sound good? Let’s get to it.
What Is The Monte Carlo Plant?
The Monte Carlo plant is a beautiful latest carpet-like aquatic plant that originated from Argentina. The plant was named after Monte Carlo city in Argentina. The Monte Carlo plant is scientifically known as micranthemum tweedei. The plant has other names like tweedies pearlweed, Montecarlo pearlweed, bacopita, and new large pearl grass.
In Argentina, Monte Carlo grows along the marshes, riverbanks, and streams. Monte Carlo is available in many countries, e.g., in the USA. However, it grows in the home aquarium. It thrives well in different types of tanks like nano, medium and large tanks. When grown well, you will get a beautiful aquascape that will decorate your aquatic home.
Monte Carlo is a small structure aquatic plant that is light green. The plant grows to a height of 2-5cm extended. It has round leaves of about 5-10mm. In addition, it has tiny flowers which have very short stalks.
How To Grow Monte Carlo Plant
Growing Monte Carlo plant is accessible in any aquatic location. This plant proliferates quickly and spreads very fast. Let’s have a look at how to grow it.
What you need when planting Monte Carlo plants;
- Monte Carlo plant
- Planting tank
- Nutrient-rich substance soil
- Fertilizer
Monte Carlo plant thrives well in small-grained substrate.
How To Plant Your Monte Carlo Plant
You can either get this plant from the nursery or Monte Carlo tissue culture. However, the latter is the best option because the plant is well taken care of and free from pests and bacteria.
After you have bought your plant, remove it from the container carefully not to break it. Take a bowl with clean water and dip the monte Carlo plant. This helps a lot in separating the roots quickly and also getting rid of nutrient gel.
Carefully split the plant into smaller pieces. Trim your Rockwool to about 10mm. Then place your trimmed plant and plant it on the dry substrate. Insert it deep enough into the substrate so that plantlets will not come out.
How To Care For Monte CarloPlant
Caring for the Monte Carlo plant is very easy and enjoyable. Keep on reading to know more.
Get Adequate Light
Monte Carlo plant grows well in medium or high lighting. For your plant to get the desired green color, give it enough light. If you kip it in a dark place without light, the plant will grow taller and face the direction where there’s light. The results will be improper growth because this plant is supposed to be short and dense.
Nutrients
Monte Carlo plant does not require a lot of fertilizers. However, you can use some nutrients to boost plant growth. For this, the nutrient substrate is the best choice. Examples of soil substrate are seachem fluorite black sand, fluvial stratum, and caribsea eco-complete aqua soil.
In addition, Co2 also aids the plant to grow faster, although it is not mandatory. You can inject Co2 into the tank of water once in a while. For planted aquariums, the best liquid fertilizer to use is seachem flourish.
Temperature
Suitable temperatures help the plant to form a good carpet structure. Ensure your Monte Carlo in water is at room temperature of 20°C-25°C or 68-77 F. It is also vital to check the pH in the tank. The required level is 6.0-7.5. Do not forget to check water hardness which is supposed to be about 15GH.
Get The Right Tank
As we said above, Monte Carlo is an aquatic plant. This plant grows at a high rate, and it covers a massive space in a short period. True that the best choice is Nano tanks; you can use other medium or large tanks. At least make sure that the smallest tank you will use holds 5gallons (20litres)of water. Go for the tank size that is the best for you.
How To Prune Your Monte Carlo Plant
Like many other plants, trimming is essential. For the Monte Carlo case, you have to be very keen on pruning because you have to maintain its carpet size. As this plant grows, if not taken good care of, it overgrows.
During pruning, you need to cut or uproot the overgrown plants. You can either propagate the plant or throw them away. To do this work, you need a pair of scissors to trim off the top part. Make sure you leave the plant less than half an inch after trimming. Do this regularly to keep your Monte Carlo in good shape.
After trimming, clear the waste plants from the water to avoid high ammonia, ensure caused by dirt.
Make a habit of inspecting your plants now and then. Once you spot a dead or unhealthy plant, don’t hesitate to remove it so that it won’t harm others.
Monte Carlo Plants Problems And How To Solve Them
Change color to brown. A healthy Monte Carlos has a green color. When you notice that your plant’s color changes to brown, and after some time, the plant dies, know that there’s a lack of enough light. Remove the already damaged plant and make sure your plant gets enough sunlight.
Also, if you fail to prune your plant, it will overgrow, and the light will not penetrate well. Follow the above procedure of pruning and keep your plant healthy.
When you give your plant excess nutrients, it will start to melt immediately after planting. When you encounter this, please change your water. On the other hand, if your plant lacks the required nutrients, it will have stunt growth and change color to yellow.
Parting Shot
Having a live and growing carpet is more attractive than having an artificial plastic carpet. Since it is effortless to develop and care for it, you can go ahead and set it.
Another advantage is that the Monte Carlo plant grows and spreads out very fast. If you take good care of it, you will see a significant change from a month.
If you want to transform your aquascape, go for the Monte Carlo plant. It is readily available and fun to plant.