Description

Wabi-kusa began as a way for aquascapers to hold plant stock between layouts and became a form in its own right: a sphere of nutrient-rich substrate bound in moss and planted with aquatic species, grown with its leaves in air and its roots wet.

Kept in a shallow bowl with a centimetre of water it grows into a small emersed jungle, and many species will flower – which they never do submerged. Drop the same ball into an aquarium and the plants convert to submerged growth over a few weeks.

Care in a bowl

• Keep 1 – 2 cm of water in the bowl at all times. Top up every couple of days.
• Bright indirect light, or a small desk lamp for 8 hours a day.
• Mist the foliage daily for the first fortnight while it settles.
• Use dechlorinated water – chlorine burns the fine roots.
• A drop of liquid fertiliser once a fortnight is plenty.

Using it in an aquarium

Place it on the substrate and expect the emersed leaves to melt back as submerged growth replaces them. Do not remove the melting leaves until new growth appears – the plant is still drawing on them.