Plant Recommendations Please

[CinnamonPearl]

I'm looking for some plants whose roots will be submerged in water but their leaves will continue to grow above the surface. But the plant has to be able to grow under a simple UVB bulb. I think that aglaonema simplex could work, and I also read that lagenandora do that, but I need to know if they'll survive in the low light. Thank you!

[deranged chipmunk]

not sure about aglaonema, but lagenandra species will grow emersed. although finding them isn't exactly easy. i have grown lagenandra thwaitesii emersed in several vivs successfully. a more common option would be any of the cryptocoryne species. the wendtii variety are very common in pet stores that sell aquatic plants. they also very readily available online. a more exotic plant that would grow well in that environment would be a bucephalandra species, but expect to pay a very premium price for a small plant. i could on and on with emersed plants, but believe it or not, one of the easiest ones to grow in these conditions would be a pothos or a philodendron. heck you can drop either of those into water and they will climb out on their own.

[CinnamonPearl]

Thank you for the recommondations. Which of those can be grown without the use of a special grow light? I know cryptocorynes need those.

[deranged chipmunk]

any plant grown inside a viv will need a bulb in the 6500k color range. i have grown crypts emersed in plastic tubs using only a 6500k cfl bulb. their main requirement will be humidity. and the cfl bulb i used, i bought at walmart for about $6, so i'm not sure about what kind of special grow light you think they require?

[CinnamonPearl]

I have aquatic plants in my aquariums and a lot of them require very high lighting to thrive, so it's only a force of habit that I would be concerned about the lighting in a vivarium. I think I'll go with cryptocoryne. Thank you for the advice!

[deranged chipmunk]

i've been keeping planted tanks for several years, so i do know about high light plants. crypts are definitely low light guys. crypts, anubias, java ferns, hydrocotyle, they will all grow well under low lighting conditions. in fact, i keep a bunch of crypts, some hydrocotyle and some anubias in my mantella tank. some grow emersed, some grow semi emersed and some are growing aquatically.