African water fern(?) growing shoots with roots from a leaf, answers?

[tabletopfishguy]

Please ignore my biofilm covered cholla wood i took my crs out of here a few weeks ago, But i think this is african/congo fern (Bolbitus Heudelotii) and im quite new to keeping it but i have a few stems/leaves that started looking like this, i have a few leaves that are almost pinched at the stem of a few clipping and while the plants rhizome is fine i started noticing something that seemed like bio film but hade too much of straight uniform strands, eventually i noticed the leaves having small shoots with roots dropping from the leaf like shown in photo (im aware the photo is pretty shoddy) but is this typical of this plant? I counted the small shoots with roots and theres like 9 or 10 of them, My other question is how would i go about separating these from the stem that is pinched and brown towards the rhizome. I know once separated the leaves take FOREVER to start rotting and i mean it ive had a leaf from this guy break off and be stuck inbetween my hardscape for about 2 months and it hasnt even started to lose color or melt. Im highly doubtful a leaf that has been removed from the rhizome can grow a new one on its own. Any answers are helpful i know my questions are scattered

 

[JuiceBox52]

Yes! Leaf cuttings (or in this case breakage) can propagate into new plants!

 

[GaryE]

I would leave them on the rhizome, but attack the biofilm. I bought a piece of Bolitis heudelotti in 1992. I still have it, only the original 3 inch rhizome is probably 20 plants with at least 3-4 inch rhizomes now. One rhizome got to 27 inches a few years ago.
I lost about 70% of my Bolbitis when I moved (it just happened to hit -27c that day), and have sold or given away I don't know how many. In two years, they have rebounded spectacularly.
I never trim them, and don't divide rhizomes until they get long with many stems. Nothing taken from leaves has done anything here. It's the rhizome that is the key.

 

[Aqua67]

I’ve got a bolbitis in a 3 gallon (9 inch square) aquarium and pups are always breaching the water surface so I pull them off and drop them in my plant scrap container of water that sits on my window sill, or I toss them in another aquarium. Eventually I’ll attach them to some hardscape and if I don’t use them myself, I’ll offer them for sale or trade to another hobbyist. I believe they can do just fine emerged from the aquarium but I’d like to keep them submerged so when/if they go to a new home there won’t be much melt or adjusting needed. Attached are a couple of pups still on the mother plant in my tiny aquarium. That last one floating is in my scrap tank.

 

[tabletopfishguy]

I would leave them on the rhizome, but attack the biofilm. I bought a piece of Bolitis heudelotti in 1992. I still have it, only the original 3 inch rhizome is probably 20 plants with at least 3-4 inch rhizomes now. One rhizome got to 27 inches a few years ago.
I lost about 70% of my Bolbitis when I moved (it just happened to hit -27c that day), and have sold or given away I don't know how many. In two years, they have rebounded spectacularly.
I never trim them, and don't divide rhizomes until they get long with many stems. Nothing taken from leaves has done anything here. It's the rhizome that is the key.

I figured the rhizome could have something to do with it, goin to keep the juvenile plants on the mother rhizome till it develops better, any of my stems that have juveniles seem kinda on route to break away from the rhizome regardless of if i want to keep it on the rhizome. Moved the Bio Film infested cholla wood into my neo tank since i dont trust myself taking the biofilm off without ripping off tye stem on accident so ill let the lil guys do the job for me. (if you can tell the bottom of the stem not the rhizomes but the leaf is pinched and brown and its very weak at that point.)

 

[GaryE]

I found the best way to grow them was to place the plant so it had to reach for light. I would put four foot strips on a six foot tank, and have the Bolbitis under the darker area. It would grow fairly quickly. I never put it in a tank under 20 gallons, and really, for decent growth, a three foot tank is basic. If it takes it should be many times larger than a three gallon tank.

 

[Aqua67]

Yes, I’m fully expecting to have to remove lots of pups, and possibly the whole plant at some point, easy to do since it is glued to a rock. It isn’t supposed to get much taller than it already is (6”) and so far it hasn’t breached the surface. That isn’t the only possible issue I’ll have in that puny tank. I’ve got a rosette sword plant and I’ll be removing those pups if/when they come along as well. That one should stay short enough as well (under 7”), factoring in the 1.5” of gravel in the tank. I love planted aquariums.

 

[GaryE]

Here, Bolbitis heudelotti, fully submerged, reaches an easy 15 inches.

 

[Aqua67]

Perhaps, but I have heteroclita, not the kind you mentioned.