Mangrove Tips

Empress · Mar 8, 2017

Hi. I bought a red mangrove papsule a couple weeks ago and it's in a QT tank for now. I wished I'd taken a picture of it when I bought it because now I don't know if it looks any different or not.

It has no leaves yet. The very tip (about a half inch) is hard and brown. Is this normal? Will it still grow leaves? I really love this tree but not sure if it will grow leaves or not because the tip is brown. I wonder if I should snip it off? Any suggestions?

Intricateart · Mar 8, 2017

It's a mangrove pod. Here in Florida the mangroves shed the pods. All the little pods float away till they find a good spot to call home. They will sprout roots first then the leaves.

Empress · Mar 8, 2017

Intricateart said:
It's a mangrove pod. Here in Florida the mangroves shed the pods. All the little pods float away till they find a good spot to call home. They will sprout roots first then the leaves.

It's a long green stick-like stalk with the roots already attached. Not a pod. The tip of the green stalk is hard and brown. Will it leaf out?

Fishgeek88 · Mar 8, 2017

Over time it should pop leaves. How do the roots look? If any were damaged it needs to be put in freshwater or salt can creep into the fresh cuts and kill it.

Empress · Mar 8, 2017

Fishgeek88 said:
Over time it should pop leaves. How do the roots look? If any were damaged it needs to be put in freshwater or salt can creep into the fresh cuts and kill it.

Roots look pretty healthy as far as I can tell. Do I need to wipe down the stalk with fresh water?

Salty1962 · Mar 8, 2017

Give it some time, if the roots have started then it won't be long. Keep the lights on it and it will start growing. Mine took a couple of months and I have 4 layers on mine now. You do need to spray water on them to keep the salt off the top of them, I spray mine every day.

Empress · Mar 8, 2017

Salty1962 said:
Give it some time, if the roots have started then it won't be long. Keep the lights on it and it will start growing. Mine took a couple of months and I have 4 layers on mine now. You do need to spray water on them to keep the salt off the top of them, I spray mine every day.

Did yours have a hard brown tip before they started sprouting leaves? I guess that's what I'm really trying to find out. Thanks for your help.

Salty1962 · Mar 8, 2017

Empress said:
Did yours have a hard brown tip before they started sprouting leaves? I guess that's what I'm really trying to find out. Thanks for your help.

Yes, they start out as pods, seeds, and the leafs start growing from the tips. My pod body is still brown with leaf growth.