ADA Alternanthera reineckii 'Mini'

• Deeply red low-growing stem plant
• One of the very few red foreground plants
• Sets a strong colour accent

Alternanthera reineckii 'Mini' is an exquisite dwarf parrot leaf cultivar. It became known in Europe around 2007 under the name Alternanthera reineckii 'rosaefolia minor'. The species A. reineckii is native to wetlands in tropical and subtropical South America, though the exact origin of the 'Mini' form remains unknown.

This plant grows more compactly underwater and somewhat slower than other A. reineckii forms. It can be pruned to form a beautiful, purple-red to brown-red colored carpet or compact bush about 5 cm high, making it suitable for the aquarium foreground and nano aquariums. Without pruning, the plant will grow to around 20 cm high over time but will remain bushy due to branching. The leaves can grow to around 5 cm long and 1.4 cm wide, but are often smaller. Many water roots grow on old stems, but these are unlikely to be visually disturbing due to the plant's bushy growth.

Emersed Alternanthera reineckii 'Mini' grows significantly taller (at least 30 cm) and more elongated than the submersed form, with longer internodes and more green leaves. Emersed potted plants from the trade hardly differ from other A. reineckii cultivars. However, compact shoots with much shorter internodes develop underwater.

Like other Alternanthera reineckii forms, the Mini parrot leaf is a moderately demanding plant that grows best with high light levels, temperatures of around 22 - 28 °C, a complete supply of macro and micronutrients, and CO2 supplementation. Plants from tissue culture cups should be divided into smaller portions after washing off the culture medium and placed in the substrate with some space between them. The long stems of emersed pot plants are best cut into terminal cuttings and partial cuttings with about 1 - 2 stem nodes and placed in the substrate. When the plant has grown to a height of at least 5 cm, the shoot tips can be cut to encourage branching. The cut tips can in turn be used as cuttings. Propagation by dividing the compact bushes is also possible.

This compact, relatively slow-growing Alternanthera is one of the relatively few brown-red plants suitable for the aquarium foreground. Alternanthera reineckii 'Mini' can be used in a variety of ways, such as a red contrasting sprinkling in carpets of light green plants or in the middle ground as a low "plant street" in Dutch style.