Java fern care
Microsorum pteropus
Java fern grows in low light without CO₂ or root fertilizer, which makes it one of the safest first plants.
- Light
- Low
- CO₂
- Not needed
- Where it goes
- On wood or rock (not in the substrate)
- Growth
- Slow
- Care level
- Easy
- Height
- 6 to 12 in
- Temperature
- 68 to 82 °F
- How to plant
- Tie or glue the rhizome to wood or rock; never bury it
- Propagation
- Plantlets that grow on the leaves, or by cutting the rhizome
In a 20 gallon long
12¾ in tallHow to grow java fern
Java fern grows in low light without CO₂ or root fertilizer, which makes it one of the safest first plants. Attach the rhizome (the thick horizontal stem) to driftwood or rock with thread or plant glue; buried in substrate it rots. Fish rarely eat it.
Common problems
- Black or brown patches on old leaves are often spores or ageing leaves; brown, mushy leaves after a move usually recover.
- A rotting rhizome means it was buried; lift it and attach it to wood.
Plants that grow in the same light
Sources
Plant identity from Wikipedia: Microsorum pteropus. Heights, temperatures and care are typical ranges in aquariums from common planted-tank practice, not figures from that article. Drawings are our own; photo credits follow.
Photo credits
Real photographs from Wikimedia Commons, resized and cropped to fit; each is used under the license named.
- Java fern Pinpin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Cryptocoryne wendtii John Robert McPherson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Vallisneria Damitr, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Dwarf sagittaria Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Hornwort Stefan.lefnaer, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Marimo moss ball コムケ (Japanese Wikipedia), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Pothos Jubair1985, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
