HELANTHIUM TENELLUM ´RED´ IN-VITRO

In the past, this grass-like plant was better known as „Echinodorus tenellus“.
It has been one of the most popular foreground plants for many decades and can be described as a ‘classic’.
In contrast to the purely green growth form ‚parvulum‘, the narrow-leaved growth form becomes violet reddish with good lighting – a nice contrast to bright green cushion forming plants such as Micranthemum tweediei.
Strongly cut back, Helanthium tenellum ´Red´ forms a dense „grass carpet“.
In aquascaping individual shoots set fine accents in a landscape.

Growth height
3 – 5 cm
Origin country
Südamerika

Usage
NanoCube
Type
Ausläufer

Family
Alismataceae
Species
Helanthium

Breeding
runners
Growth speed
mittel

pH
5 – 8
Water hardness
0 – 21 °dh

Hints

Helanthium tenellum ‘Red’ In-Vitro for SG Foregrounds

This grass-like classic, long sold as Echinodorus tenellus, ships as a clean in-vitro cup so you start algae-free and snail-free, which is a real advantage in our warm Singapore tanks where pest snails spread fast. Rinse the gel off the roots, divide the dense culture into small portions, and plant each plantlet a finger-width apart so the runners can spread sideways into a low carpet over the front and midground.

The narrow-leaved ‘Red’ form turns coppery violet under stronger light, giving lovely contrast against bright green carpets. It adapts to soft, slightly acidic water like our dechlorinated tap, though good lighting and some CO2 bring out both faster spread and richer colour. Expect a brief transition as the tissue-cultured emersed growth converts to submersed leaves; trim away any melting tips and let the fresh runners take over.

Our Helanthium tenellum care guide covers carpeting, and our emersed-to-submersed conversion guide explains the settling-in phase. Browse the wider Echinodorus range we stock in Singapore.