Propagating Ludwigia 'Mini Super Red' from Cuttings

How to multiply Ludwigia palustris 'Mini Super Red' with simple stem cuttings, and the light and nutrient balance that keeps this easy compact red plant deeply coloured.

Overview

Ludwigia 'Mini Super Red' is a compact selection of Ludwigia palustris. The trade names 'Mini Super Red', 'Super Red' and Ludwigia sp. 'red' all refer to the same easy plant, which develops a nice red colour far more readily than fussier red species.

Because it is just a selected form of L. palustris, it propagates identically to the parent species: by stem cuttings. The parent is a circumpolar perennial whose semi-succulent reddish stems reach 10-40 cm and root at the nodes as they spread.

Propagation Method (Cuttings)

This plant branches willingly and is easily replanted and propagated through the cut-offs. Topping a stem removes the growing tip, which pushes the plant to produce side shoots lower down, while the removed top roots quickly to become a new plant.

Step-by-Step

Cut a healthy stem at a node some distance below the final height you want, using clean scissors.
Trim the top 5-10 cm and strip the lower leaves so the bare stem can be buried cleanly.
Stagger your cuts shorter at the front and taller at the back to build a natural slope.
Replant the cut tops into the nutrient-rich substrate, spacing them so each can bush out.
As new shoots appear at the base of the cut stems, remove any outliers that break the slope.

Conditions for Healthy Growth

Mini Super Red grows even in lower light (around 40 umol PAR) but 70-80 umol PAR or more gives better colour and more side shoots. It can be grown without CO2 injection, though CO2 improves colouration, and it is not fussy about water parameters. Nutrients can be supplied at the root zone or in the water column.

Trimming & Maintenance

Trim roughly every two weeks once the group fills in. Cut off outlying shoots that do not match the slope of the cluster; over time this produces tidy, dense red clusters. The emersed grown form looks different from the submersed form, so newly planted tops need a short adaptation period under water.