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Wabi Kusa is an aquaristic trend from Japan and is also very popular in Europe. No wonder, because the marsh plants that grow together are not only easy to care for and efficient, but also beautify every room look. The following article provides information about Wabi Kusas, their planting and care.
What is a wabi kusa?
Wabi Kusa comes from Japanese and means beautiful grassy landscape. In this case, however swamp plants meant the grow together in a ball-like portion of potting soil, usually soil. Ready-made Wabi Kusa balls can be purchased commercially, but the following article also describes how to assemble and plant a Wabi Kusa with a soil ball yourself.
The plants are pulled over water and are thus in one emersed state.
The aquarist Takashi Amano from Japan, who is celebrated as one of the most influential personalities in the scene and shaped nature aquariums, also popularized Wabi Kusa. Wabi Kusa is based on the beauty principle Wabi Sabi from East Asia, which stands for the imperfect and ephemeral.
Possibilities of Wabi Kusa
Wabi kusa are great for that efficient planting of large aquariums suitable, because a large area can be planted with them in a short time. Takashi Amano already recognized this. Instead of placing each aquatic plant individually with tweezers, you can simply place wabi kusas on the bottom of the aquarium. Here Wabi Kusas submers and emers can be used.
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Submerged growth form of Wabi Kusa
After planting wabi kusas, the swamp plants can switch to a submerged growth habit and root to the ground.
Emersed growth form of Wabi Kusa
Wabi Kusa can still be used emersed as solo balls. For this purpose, the Wabi Kusa should be left in their planters or placed in the above-water area of an aquarium. The emersed growth form is particularly well suited to using a Wabi Kusa as a decorative and design object and thus beautifying the aquarium and your own living space.
The planting of a Wabi Kusa
Planting a Wabi Kusa can be done easily and independently at home. Suitable plants and step-by-step instructions for planting are presented below.
Suitable plants
Any aquarium plant that has an emersed and submerged growth habit at the same time, can be used for planting in a wabi kusa. It should be noted that already emerging marsh plants, for example in the form of commercially available pots, as these are particularly easy to plant. On the other hand, a submerged plant regression should be avoided, since the conversion from the submerged to the emersed form can be difficult and unsuccessful. Plants from your own aquarium should already be growing above the water surface if they are to be used for a Wabi Kusa. This ensures that these have also already switched to an emersed growth form.
Plant species particularly suitable for use in a wabi kusa are ground cover and stem plants as well as mosses. However, mosses are more useful plants that provide moisture storage and a basic structure. Pure underwater plants such as Ceratophyllum, Blyxa or Vallisneria cannot be used for a Wabi Kusa.
Plant a Wabi Kusa yourself
Planting a Wabi Kusa yourself is easy. The following shows step by step how to do it. Moss, soil, marsh plants, cling film, a planter, a small bowl, fine plant tweezers, scissors and thread are required as tools.
Step 1: Shape the soil
First, the soil is squished with water in a small bowl. When crushed, the individual soil balls are crushed. For this purpose, the soil should be kneaded until a slightly muddy mass is formed. However, this mass should not be too wet that it falls apart. This slightly muddy mass is then formed into a round shape with your hands so that it fits perfectly into the planter.
Step 2: Wrap the Soil Ball in Moss
So that the soil ball formed in the first step remains stable and keeps its shape, it should be wrapped in moss. Moss also serves as a moisture reservoir. Threads are used to wrap the moss, which should be tight so that the soil ball cannot fall apart. Forest moss or aquaristic species can be used as moss.
Step 3: Plant the Soil Ball
The upper half of the soil ball can now be planted with the swamp and water plants. For this purpose, a hole is drilled into the Soil-Ball with the tip of the fine plant tweezers, in order to then insert the plant stems. Emersed growth forms can be planted with longer stems, while submerged plants should be planted with short cuttings.
Step 4: Place the planted Soil-Ball in the planter
In the last and fourth step, the planted Soil Ball is placed in the planter. The water level in the planter should be a few centimeters high so that the soil substrate remains moist. This should be within the first four weeks Planter covered with cling film which must then be slowly opened and loosened so that the plants in the Wabi Kusa can get used to the room air. Regular airing of the plants under the cling film is recommended to prevent mold from forming. When planting submersed growth forms, these should be left under the cling film until they have switched to the emersed growth form.
Care and Light by Wabi Kusa
Wabi kusa are considered easy-care. In the emersed growth form, it is recommended to spray wabi kusas with soft water up to twice a day, as they need a certain level of humidity. But Danger! Too high humidity should also be avoided, as this causes the plants to crumble into mud. For this reason, there are a few things to consider when choosing the location, which makes caring for a Wabi Kusa easier.
Choice of location for Wabi Kusa
Rooms with a year-round, constant climate are ideal locations for wabi kusa. Also particularly suitable Rooms with a certain humidity, such as bathrooms, offices or bedrooms. On the other hand, rooms that are heated a lot, such as living rooms, should be avoided, as there is dry air in these, which the emersed marsh plants in particular cannot tolerate well. In the layout of the room itself, close proximity between radiators and wabi kusas is to be avoided. Otherwise is a Location with daylight ideal.
Lighting by Wabi Kusa
Wabi Kusas have no special lighting requirements, so enough daylight is sufficient. If this natural light source is not available, a timer with a light time of eight to twelve hours can be used. A special light source is not required.
Danger! The combination of too much light and too high a water level can cause algae growth, especially in the lower regions.
More care instructions for wabi kusa
In order to care for and support a Wabi Kusa in the best possible way, remove dead materials and the Prune plants lightly. In the emersed growth form, fresh water should be added to the planter regularly to compensate for evaporated water. However, waterlogging in the soil substrate should be avoided.
If the growth of the plants stagnates, liquid fertilizer be added to the water used to spray plants to stimulate growth again.
Conclusion
Wabi Kusas are a good addition to the aquarium and are fairly easy to care for when they are done.