Ammania Sp. Bonsai AKA True Rotala Indica is a fairly easy plant to grow once it’s been established, provided you’re growing it under optimal conditions. I’ve had this plant constantly flowering for quite some time now which has given me the opportunity to experiment with it’s flower and seeds; however I have not figured out how to germinate the seed on it’s own without being attached to the plant.

When I see ripe pink open flowers I take a small paintbrush and collect pollen from one plant and place it on another open flower in an attempt to artificially pollinate the plant; this has worked successfully for me so far in the past four months.

A few weeks later the plant flower will close, followed by the flower turning itself into a seed which then feeds off the mother plant growing tiny baby stem plants with surprisingly extensive root systems. As you’ll see below it there are easily 15-20 tiny stems in each seed but they are EXTREMELY difficult to even plant, for reference the pictures below were taken on my fingertip.

Here shows the life stage of the flower from a tiny flower bud, to open buds, to the seedling now growing off the mother:

 

At the last stage of it’s lifespan the Ammania Sp. Bonsai will begin to rot away after it’s produced a bunch of daughters as you see in the photo above.

As always here are the specs in which the plant is kept in:

Lighting – 4 T5 36″ SHOPLIGHTS (Nothing Fancy!!) The lights don’t even have reflector’s on them.
Light Bulbs – X 2 6700 Natural Daylight, X 2 Rosette ColourMax Bulbs.
Lighting Duration – Lights on at 10:00am, Lights off at 10:00pm = Full 12 hours, I gradually drop this down to 8 when the winter comes.
Substrate – 1 Cow Manure, 1 Sheep Manure, 1 Worm Castings, 3 CHEAP topsoil, 2 Peat, 0.5 Naturally Collected Clay
Humidity – Misting done via MistKing pump for 20 seconds at 1:30pm and at 6:30pm. Humidity stays between 70-80%
Temperature – 68-70 when lights are off and it is night time, 72-74 when all the lights are on in the plant room.
PH – 6.5 with the use of Almond leaves; being sure to keep on top of replacing them not letting the PH swing too much.

I also keep this plant in a submersed state in my main display tank, I try to not let the stems get too tall as I prefer to use it in a Bonsai effect. Once established in your aquarium Ammania Sp. Bonsai is really not all that difficult to grow, just be sure to have sufficient lighting, nutrient rich substrate, and pressurized CO2 supplementation.

Here are some pictures of the plant submersed in my tank.