Bucephalandra 'Pygmy' Aquatic Farmer Tissue Culture

Common Name: Bucephalandra Pygmy

Buce ‘Pygmy’ is a versatile, low-tech aquarium plant featuring small to moderately sized foliage that can produce a wide variety of colors depending on aquarium conditions. This hardy variant is highly prized for its adaptable nature, often displaying shifts in tone that add dynamic visual interest to the layout. Highly versatile, it can be grown submerged or emersed, usually attached to hardscape such as driftwood or rocks rather than being buried in traditional aquarium substrate. It's a beautiful addition to the foreground or midground of freshwater aquascapes, where its slow-growing rhizomes create a dense, colorful colony over time.

By choosing the Tissue Culture version of this plant, you are guaranteed a 100% pest-free, algae-free, and pesticide-free start for your aquarium. These plants are grown in-vitro in a sterile laboratory setting, ensuring no unwanted snails or hitchhikers enter your system. While these plantlets start smaller than potted versions and require more time to mature, they offer the cleanest and most reliable method for establishing a healthy Bucephalandra colony in planted tanks.

Key Features & Notes

• Grown in sterile labs, these plants are completely free of pests, snails, and nuisance algae, making them the safest choice for delicate shrimp tanks.
• Depending on your lighting and nutrient schedule, 'Pygmy' can transition through various shades of green, bronze, and subtle metallic hues.
• This is one of the most durable species in the hobby and thrives in shaded areas. It is an ideal choice for aquascapes where other plants might struggle.
• It is perfectly at home fully submerged in an aquarium or emersed in high-humidity terrariums, vivariums, and paludariums.

Care Tips & Preparation

• Carefully remove the plantlets from the cup and rinse away the sterile nutrient gel under lukewarm, dechlorinated water before mounting. For instructions on how to properly plant tissue culture aquarium plants, click here.
• Bucephalandra is an epiphytic plant that should be attached to rocks or driftwood. Never bury the rhizome in substrate, as this will cause the plant to rot and melt.
• Avoid making drastic changes to your water parameters or lighting. Unstable conditions are the primary cause of leaf melt in new aquarium plants.
• While hardy, CO2 injection and quality water flow will yield much faster and more robust plant growth during the transition phase.
• Final size and coloration depend entirely on your specific aquarium conditions.

Additional Information
Listed information should be treated as general guidelines only. We encourage you to do thorough research to ensure healthy growth!

Family Name: Araceae
Origin: Borneo (Endemic)
Skill Level: Easy
Growth Rate: Slow
Light: Low to Medium
CO2: Recommended for TC transition
pH Range: 6.0 – 7.5
Propagation: Divide the rhizome with sharp scissors