# Moon Valley Pilea



## PeanutbuttER (Jan 1, 2011)

I thought this was pretty cool. A little while ago I posted this video of my pilea shooting pollen.



A couple months later I had some little sprouts coming up through my riccia. Figured they were hitchikers from the aquarium I got it from, but now I realize that the pilea seeds germinated and are growing happily. Kinda cool, there's like 6 or 7 individual plants at least.


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## Peter Keane (Jun 11, 2005)

That's awesome!!.. I once bought some tropical moss from someone on this board and had a huge begonia bloom from it.. It died off but can't wait for the next surprise. Good luck with your new plants and frogs.. Nice looking tank BTW!

Peter Keane


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## ryan10517 (Oct 23, 2010)

i love finding random things growing in vivs! its really cool. Just yesterday i realized that these little liverwort things growing in my clay are actually fern sporophytes (because one sprouted 2 leaves!) I can't wait to see them grow into adult ferns! 

My moon valley pilea has bloomed twice for me now. Hopefully i'll find some little plantlets growing soon.


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## mordoria (Jan 28, 2011)

How did you get the pilea pollinated? Do you have another type of pilea that polinated it?


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## PeanutbuttER (Jan 1, 2011)

mordoria said:


> How did you get the pilea pollinated? Do you have another type of pilea that polinated it?


I assume it selfed. Only one plant bloomed at a time. I think it's interesting to note that the sprouts have only appeared in the riccia. They didn't sprout anywhere there was leaf litter.


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## EntoCraig (May 17, 2011)

Looks like they are coming up everywhere! Im hoping that my moons will do what yours did.


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## PeanutbuttER (Jan 1, 2011)

EntoCraig said:


> Looks like they are coming up everywhere! Im hoping that my moons will do what yours did.


Yeah, they bloomed within weeks of being in the viv, so maybe you'll see it soon.


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## PeanutbuttER (Jan 1, 2011)

I just realized that there's no video!!! How come nobody said anything...

Here it is, mind you I had a cold that day. I don't always breathe that hard (I swear I'm not a creeper)
http://s781.photobucket.com/albums/... Build/?action=view&current=Valentines037.mp4

Also, thanks for the compliment on the viv Peter.


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## ryan10517 (Oct 23, 2010)

they're definitely cool plants, but i'm contemplating getting rid of mine for a couple reasons. Those stupid aerial roots look crappy, and mine is getting really big and leggy, and trimming is getting difficult to keep up with. I don't have any ideas for a replacement though...


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## PeanutbuttER (Jan 1, 2011)

You know, I have the same feelings. However, I went through one day and trimmed/plucked all the roots off and they haven't come back. Still, it does get tall and leggy. It's pretty resilient to "aggressive" pruning so it does seem like you can keep it small and bushy if you take the time, but is it worth the effort? If I didn't like the leaves (especially for the texture they add to the viv) I'd probably pull it out too. It's kinda a love-hate relationship.

Coming up soon I'll be re-doing my viv, so maybe I won't put any of the pilea back in and just put a second cocohut where it used to be. It's hard to find something to replace it.


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## myersboy6 (Aug 23, 2010)

is that all riccia moss on the bottom or a mix of different mosses??


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## PeanutbuttER (Jan 1, 2011)

Primarily riccia, with some duckweed growing in the bottom center and java moss encroaching from the right side. There's also java growing on the driftwood that you see in the top left of the top-down shot.


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## EntoCraig (May 17, 2011)

For someone like me who loves constant pruning and hands on, plants like this that take some 'training' are awesome. As a side note though, I have always noticed that in lower light, plants tend to stretch, giving it that leggy look. More light can shorten them up real quick after a nice trim. This may not be the case with this particular plant, as some plants simply just grow that way.

I have already pruned mine to make them nice and short and now have new leaves getting ready. I have VERY high light over mine, but I'll let you know if I can keep them at bay with trimming and the higher light.


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## ryan10517 (Oct 23, 2010)

i have 2 x 27 watt clf's over my 20 high, and mine is really leggy. Might just be this particular plant though


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## EntoCraig (May 17, 2011)

must be, that should be plenty of light. Try pruning.


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## PeanutbuttER (Jan 1, 2011)

Mine's fairly leggy (but at least it's not hairy with roots still) and I'm assuming it's from the lighting. I've got the same lighting as you (2 CFLs) and they're okay as far as getting the job done, but I wouldn't say that they're all that amazing. The lights also getting filtered by the mesh layer on top of an exo-terra. I'm willing to bet you would get denser growth with better lighting than CFLs.

myersboy6: Forget to ask, what frog is that in your avatar?


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## EntoCraig (May 17, 2011)

Mine has a T5 and a T8 above my 20 gallon, plus a glass lid and so far its staying low. High humidity is what causes aerial roots to grow. I really like the plant so far.


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