Propagating Ludwigia 'Marilia': Cuttings for a Bronze-Orange Stem Plant

Step-by-step guide to propagating Ludwigia sp. 'Marilia' from cuttings, with light, CO2 and iron tips to bring out its warm bronze-orange leaf colour.

Overview

Ludwigia sp. 'Marilia' is a variant of the genus Ludwigia, a group of roughly 82 mostly tropical aquatic plants in the family Onagraceae. Like its relatives it grows as an upright stem, and in the aquarium it is prized for warm bronze-orange leaves on a compact, midground habit.

As a stem plant it is propagated almost exclusively by cuttings: a trimmed top is simply replanted and continues to grow, while the cut base sends out fresh side shoots.

Propagation Method (Cuttings)

Cutting and replanting is both the normal trimming routine and the propagation method. Aquatic stem plants take replanting well and regrow their root systems quickly compared with other plant types, so each healthy top becomes a new plant.

Step-by-Step

Choose a healthy, well-coloured top shoot of 8-12 cm.
Cut the stem cleanly at a node, leaving the rooted base in the substrate to re-shoot.
Strip the leaves from the lowest 2-3 cm of the cutting.
Plant each cutting deeply into nutrient-rich substrate, spacing stems apart rather than bunching them.
Stagger cutting heights — shorter at the front, taller at the back — to build a natural slope.

Conditions for Healthy Growth

For Ludwigia, higher light drives both colour and bushiness: around 80 umols PAR or more produces better colouring and more side shoots than low light (about 40 umols PAR). At least some CO2 (10 ppm and up) improves colour and lets the plant branch into denser bushes after repeated pruning.

Balanced fertilisation matters — including iron and micronutrients — because higher nutrient levels result in more branching and side shoots, which in turn gives you more material to propagate.

Trimming & Maintenance

Trim roughly every 10 days. As new shoots appear at the base of cut stems, remove any outlying shoots that do not match the slope of the cluster; over time this produces tidy, dense groups.

Common Challenges

Weak or pale colour usually traces back to too little light, missing CO2, or thin fertilisation rather than to the plant itself. Increase light intensity, add modest CO2, and keep iron and micronutrients balanced to restore the bronze-orange tone.