3 EASIEST low tech plants

Curious about my three easiest plants for low tech planted tanks? I love these plants and use them in so many tanks because they are extremely easy to grow, and cover every part of the tank - foreground, midground and background. Plus, they’re all really easy to find in local fish stores, though probably not at big box stores.

Hygrophila angustifolia

This is in my opinion the easiest aquarium plant to grow. If you are having a hard time finding something to take off, then this is the one to try. 

Hygrophila angustifolia or willow Hygro really does resemble willow with its narrow leaves and rusty stems. This is a popular background choice because of how quickly and densely it fills in. Leaves are long and bright green, with strong venation appearing in higher lighting. This variety, Hygrophila angustifolia rubra has slightly fatter leaves than regular swamp Hygro. 

There are many different species of Hygrophila, known as swampweed, that make for excellent background plants. There is a surprising amount of diversity when it comes to textures and shapes of leaves, but generally most aquarium species grow large and bushy relatively quickly.

Origin - Hygrophila can be found across much of the world, but most of the species in the aquarium hobby come from Southeast Asia. Some species thrive in non-native habitats like Hygrophila polysperma. Please be careful no to introduce them into nature, especially if you live somewhere tropical.

Size- H. angustifolia reaches 24” in height, which is pretty common for many Hygrophila species. 

Light - Low to strong. It’s often advertised as needing medium to strong light, but will do fine with low light, just won’t grow very fast.

Substrate - It’s important to provide some sort of nutrient based substrate.

Fertilizer - Fertilizer will help rapid growth of this plant, but is definitely not required.

pH - 6 - 7.5

Temp - 70-82°F  21-28°C 

Flow - Low flow to high flow

To propagate this plant, just take a clipping and plant it in the substrate. If you use this method, you’ll have a dense jungle of Hygrophila angustifolia in no time. Something to consider with this group of plants in general is that they grow ridiculously quick in high tech tanks. Some of the more vigorous species like water wisteria (Hygrophila difformis) are almost impossible to keep trimmed back.

Hygrophila angustifolia rubra

Cryptocoryne

Cryptocoryne, or crypt, is a diverse genus of plants that goes by the common name water trumpet. Crypts are rosettes, meaning that the leaves grow in a circular pattern around the base. They come in a wide range of sizes, from miniature to giant. Colors and textures of leaves vary depending on the species - anywhere from dark green to bright pink. Cryptocorynes generally make for really good foreground to midground plants.

Cryptocoryne pink flamingo

Even though crypts are a really hardy plant once established, they do often melt back when introduced into a new aquarium. So don’t be alarmed if you buy a lovely crypt and it sheds most or all of its leaves when you put it into your tank. That’s pretty normal, they will grow back! Also crypts are not fans of liquid carbon or algaecide products. Usage can sometimes result in loss of leaves or melting.

These guys are slow growers at first, but once they become established they really take off. They’re not too picky with water parameters, and can thrive in a wide range of conditions.

Origin - India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Borneo and other island

Size- The smallest one is Cryptocoryne parva, that gets to about 2.5 inches or 6 cm tall. Cryptocoryne aponogetifolia is the largest crypt, growing up to 1.5 feet long!

Light - low to high, they can survive really dim conditions and also thrive in high lighting

Substrate - A nutrient rich substrate is recommended for this plant. It is a heavy root feeder, periodically adding root tabs will boost their growth big time.

Fertilizer - It’s not going to hurt, but root tabs are much more appreciated.

pH - Most species have a pretty wide pH range from 6/6.5 - 8.

Temp - An incredibly wide range as a group, from 60 - 85, 15 - 30. Some like Cryptocoryne balansae prefer warmer temperatures.

Flow - Generally found quick moving streams in nature, crypts appreciate having moderate to high flow, otherwise algae growth is common.

Propagating Cryptocoryne takes a while. When a plant reaches maturity it will send side shoots out and baby plants will bud. Extremely healthy plants can send out a lot of shoots, almost to the point where it begins to take over.

I’m not going to go into a lot of details about these two, pearlweed and stargrass. They are a couple of my favorites, check out the video in the description afterwards to learn about those plants.

Cryptocoryne undulata

Pogostemon stellatus octopus

Now moving to another tank to look at Pogostemon stellatus octopus, a type of starwort or water star. Octopus is the variety, referring to the fine ring of leaves that look like octopus tentacles. 

A true stem plant indeed, this plant is a lot more stem than leaf. In a low light setting like this tank, leaves mainly grow on the top most portion of the plant. In larger tanks with higher lighting, Pogostemon stellatus octopus grows a beefy main stem with lots of shooters and leaves appearing at each node. The higher the light level, the more red this plant will pick up, often showing up well on the undersides of leaves.

This is such a hardy plant; a great choice for anyone’s first planted tank! It also grows incredibly quickly; another plant that I wouldn’t recommend putting in high tech tank.

There are a few other species of Pogostemon in the aquarium trade, most growing pretty tall.

Origin - Thailand, Laos, maybe other parts of Southeast Asia

Size- At least two feet, 60 cm.

Light - low to high, they can survive fairly dim conditions but grow like crazy in high lighting.

Substrate - Some sort of soil is recommended.

Fertilizer - Addition of fertilizer will help but is not necessary.

pH - 6.5 - 7.5 is preferred but can do well outside that range.

Temp - 70-82°F  21-28°C 

Flow - It’s fine with almost no flow to high levels of flow. Too much flow will cause it to bend over and grow sideways, but it will still keep growing.

As far as propagating Pogostemon stellatus octopus goes, all you have to do is pluck off side shoots from the main stem and plant them in the soil. This is one of the most prolific side shooters I’ve come across. Topping it will encourage even more shoots. Get ready for a jungle.

Pogostemon stellatus octopus

That’s it for my three easiest low tech plants. If you learned something, please hit that like or sub button, watch another video. It’ll help me in the whole algorithm world, you know all that stuff. Let me know if you have any questions. 💬