Erect Pogostemon

Pogostemon deccanensis

Bright green needle-like leaves in whorls on straight stems — a group of them looks like a stand of small conifers. Compact, and simpler than the other pogostemons.

Light: medium
Difficulty: medium
Height: 15 – 30 cm (5.9 – 12 in)
Temperature: 18 – 30 °C (64 – 86 °F)

Leaf colour: green
Plant type: stem plant
Growth rate: fast
CO₂ demand: medium
Tolerates light: medium – high
pH: 5 – 7
Carbonate hardness: 1 – 14 °dKH
General hardness: 0 – 30 °dGH
Placement: background
Propagation: cuttings
Grows emersed: yes

Appearance

Thin needle leaves radiate from a slim stem 15–30 cm tall, in fresh light green. The stems stand upright and keep their shape, which is why groups of it read as a row of little trees.

Keeping

Moderate demands: medium light, carbon dioxide helpful rather than essential, and steady feeding. Strong light keeps it compact — in a dim tank the whorls spread apart and the stems lean. It roots strongly and grows quickly, so it is trimmed often; the cut tops root without trouble.

Placement

The back of the tank, in a group of several stems. It works as a focal point in both small and large tanks because the shape is regular.

Propagation

By cuttings: cut the top and plant it; the old stem branches below the cut.

Water conditions match

The water suits 841 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.

Butterflyfish Julii Corydoras Red-finned Parotocinclus Gastromyzon monticola Egg-shaped Goldfish Flame Tetra Gardner's Killifish African Tetra Hypsolebias picturatus Common Zacco Labeo Bicolor Gambusia Flying barb Gastromyzon scitulus Albino Zebra Danio Geophagus Brokopondo Homaloptera bilineata Red-tailed Rasbora Boraras naevus Lampeye Killifish Spotted Raphael Catfish Corydoras melanotaenia Festivum cichlid Pseudomugil paskai

Will eat this plant

These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.

Bengal Loach Zebra Loach Burmese Border Loach Emperor Botia Marbled Headstander Pellegrin's Leporinus Leporinus striatus False Black Tetra Common Metynnis Mylossoma duriventre Red Whiptail Catfish Moonlight Gourami Melanotaenia parva

Will uproot it

These species dig through the substrate and pull rooted plants out.

Marble Loach Peacock Eel Forktail Loach Guntea Loach Long-nosed Loach Horseface Loach Pearlscale Black Moor Goldfish Shubunkin Painted Pleco Featherfin Synodontis Reddish Mystus Catfish Blue Acara Geophagus altifrons Geophagus winemilleri Pearl Cichlid Red-spotted Cichlid Haplochromis philander Red Chromide Jack Dempsey cichlid

Matching water does not mean the fish will leave the plant alone.

The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.

Other varieties: Pogostemon deccanensis erectus, Pogostemon deccanensis erectus Topf, Pogostemon deccanensis erectus 1 2 GROW, Pogostemon deccanensis erectus in Vitro XL, Pogostemon cf deccanensis, Pogostemon cf deccanensis in Vitro XL

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names: Eusteralis deccanensis Panigrahi, Eusteralis deccanensis
Pogostemon deccanensis: (Panigrahi) Press
Family: Lamiaceae
Range regions: India

Erect Pogostemon

Tank conditions

Care and keeping