Planting Dwarf Hairgrass

Finally the Dwarf Hairgrass (“Eleocharis parvula”) arrived yesterday, so it was time to set about planting it.

I bought 3 pots of it, which had been grown in fibre wool, so the first job was to seperate it out into plant-able clumps. I have heard that some people cut it down to individual straws, but that is painstaking and, I think, unnecessary. As I took away the wool the Dwarf Hairgrass (“Eleocharis parvula”) had been growing in clumps of around 10 straws, so I saw no reason to break that up further – especially as it would have led to further root damage.

Once ready for planting, photo right, I needed to decide where to put it! The original locations were now mostly taken up with the Amazon Swords (” Echinodorus Amazonicus”) and Echinodorus Tenellus (“Pygmy Chain Sword”) that were not part of the original design. The Amazon Sword (” Echinodorus Amazonicus”) in the centre of the tank was an easy choice, it had to go. It was already growing far too large and was not working with the “plain” idea. Carefully pulling it out showed that, even after only two and a half weeks, its root system was already going well – shame it had to be taken out. The next target was the Amazon Sword (” Echinodorus Amazonicus”) in the front left corner, as it was obscuring the view of the tank from the left side. I decided for the moment to leave the Amazon Sword (” Echinodorus Amazonicus”) on the right, as once the stem plants grow back it will blend in OK.

So, that gave me the space to put the Dwarf Hairgrass (“Eleocharis parvula”) where I had originally planned, just underneath the overhanging rock (photo top), and at the foot of the slope towards the rear left corner. I also planted a few clumps in between the Riccia stones, although I don’t want too much in there are it will make trimming the Riccia difficult. Lastly I added some small pieces alongside the Echinodorus Tenellus (“Pygmy Chain Sword”) planted between the rocks. Time will tell how they co-exist in close proximity.

Hopefully all the planting is now done again – at least all the plants in the original plan are in there, mostly in their planned places.